A recent EY survey of government leaders reveals that 89 percent of respondents consider IT infrastructure modernization as beneficial to their agencies while 95 percent report of plans to invest in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud in the next five years.
However, the same survey, titled the “2024 EY Government & Public Sector (GPS) Fed and SLED Trends Survey,” shows that IT infrastructure modernization — a requirement for the integration of new technologies — is a top priority for only 43 percent of respondents while the lack of funding to maintain the requisite infrastructure is a concern for 63 percent of respondents, EY said Thursday.
The survey reveals that 91 percent of respondents consider infrastructure important when it comes to defending against cyber threats. Despite the perceived connection between tech modernization and cybersecurity, only 42 percent of respondents consider employee upskilling on emerging technologies as a top priority over the next five years.
The survey was conducted online in October last year and involved 300 federal, state and local U.S. government employees. The respondents expressed preferences in a variety of areas, including budgeting, hiring and planning.