Emerging Tech

Trends on Tuesday: GOV.UK Weighs in on Mobile User Habits

England’s Government Digital Service (similar to our own U.S. Digital Services and 18F) did a study of how content on their websites is consumed on mobile and non-mobile devices and learned several key points for a future-focused and

Will Sullivan

Jul 21, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Adults Use Mobile Devices Most of the Time

Millennial Media released a new research report, Connected Consumers: Gaining Insights Across Screens, examining U.S. digital audiences from January 2014 until January 2015 with some interesting information that reinforces trends we’ve covered before.

Will Sullivan

Jul 14, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Trends in CMS

A Content Management System (CMS) allows people to easily publish, maintain and update information online. Choosing a CMS (or deciding whether you need one at all) is one that many agencies have faced. It’s not an easy choice because there are many solutions available to content managers. As government agencies, the majority of content we deliver is

Kendrick Daniel

Jul 07, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Native App Push Notifications Drive Repeat Use

Analytics company, Localytics, released a new report about mobile app retention rates from the past 4 years that agencies should heed when considering their needs for building native mobile apps, compared to mobile-friendly

Will Sullivan

Jun 30, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Global Efforts Underway to Update Mobile Accessibility Guidelines

Federal agencies do not get a free pass on accessibility for mobile—as we stated earlier this month, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act applies to ALL information and communication technology (ICT). Luckily, there are a number of organizations working on guidelines and practices to help the private and public sectors create accessible mobile websites and

Jacob Parcell

Jun 23, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Native App Lessons from the CrowdSource Mobile Testing Program

The more you test, the more you know. We recently highlighted lessons learned from the CrowdSource Mobile Testing Program, discussed the mobile emulator dilemma that many agencies face, and today we’re back with a few insights on native app testing. The Federal CrowdSource Mobile Testing Program yields a rich set of participant feedback that helps individual app

Ashley Wichman

David Fern

Jun 16, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: 7 Key Takeaways From Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Trends Report

Silicon Valley analyst Mary Meeker’s annual 2015 Internet Trends report has been released and is an exhaustive analysis of the world’s digital evolution (often mobile-first driven) and how it is affecting business, culture, and information.

Will Sullivan

Jun 09, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Thinking about Your Agency’s “Glanceable” Moment Strategy

Mobile device penetration is growing. Yhe new wave of digital screens on watches and wearables is requiring organizations to consider how to build smaller, faster and simpler interfaces to prepare for glanceable moments.

Will Sullivan

Jun 02, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: 186.3 Million People Own Smartphones in the U.S.

In April, comScore released new mobile data, and it pointed to the continuing growth of smartphones as the dominant mobile platform, especially in the United States, with almost a 77% smartphone penetration. Android and Apple continue to dominate the operating system market share with 52.8% and 41.7%, respectively. The report said that “186.3 million people in the U.S.

Will Sullivan

May 26, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: More Google Searches Now Take Place on Mobile Devices than Desktops

The drum beat of the continuing and quick cultural shift to mobile device dominance continues to grow—Google announced that more searches take place on mobile devices than desktops in 10 countries, including the U.S. and Japan. These searches are often driven

Will Sullivan

May 19, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Consumer Purchases and Usage of Tablets Shrink, as Phablets Grow

Consumers are buying less tablets and more phablets, especially in the U.S. Three recent research reports released in the past week from IDC, Flurry and Kantar each point to a shift in consumer purchasing habits over the past quarter, showing that consumers

Will Sullivan

May 12, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: U.S. Mobile-Only Internet Users Now Outnumber Desktop-Only Users

Just a week after the ‘Mobilegeddon’ shift in Google search engine rankings to favor mobile-friendly sites, comScore released a research report citing that the U.S. had reached a new inflection point—there are now more mobile-only Internet users than desktop-only. What’s even

Will Sullivan

May 05, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Federal App Development Trends

Mobile apps meet real world needs. App development is not a homogenous process, however. Apple and Android devices are overwhelmingly dominant in device ownership and app development. So, we examined the Federal Mobile Apps Directory for iOS and Android offerings. We noticed a predominance

Ashley Wichman

Apr 28, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: 10 Tips for Mobile Live Streaming

Mobile video is starting to hit its second wave for both consumption and creation, and government agencies can prepare now to ride this new channel for mobile and social engagement. Fueled by mobile bandwidth and cellular stability steadily increasing and consumers’ comfort

Will Sullivan

Apr 14, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: 40% of Smartphone Users Look up Government Information

The Pew Research Center released a deep research dive into U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015 that provided three big ideas and data points for government agencies to consider when planning their digital strategies.

Will Sullivan

Apr 07, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Smartphone Market Growth Makes Mobile-Friendly a Must

ComScore reported last week that smartphones now make up a whopping 75% of the mobile market. That’s up from 65% just one year ago. This means three-quarters of Americans over the age of 13 now have smartphones, and they are accessing government services with them more and more. This is an undeniable fact because earlier this

Jacob Parcell

Mar 31, 2015

Empowerment, Innovation, and Improved Health Outcomes: the Blue Button Initiative

Finding and getting access to our own health information can be a complex process. And most of us don’t really think about having our health information readily accessible until we really need it – like in the event of an emergency, or when switching doctors or traveling. Combing through stacks of paperwork and contacting providers

Ashley Wichman

Mar 27, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Big Data Equals Big Challenges

According to an article from Readwrite, the amount of money going to big data projects is steadily increasing despite widespread failure to achieve many results. For big data-related projects in global organizations, a total of $31 billion was spent in 2013 and that amount is expected to top $114 billion by 2018. The recognition that

Kendrick Daniel

Mar 24, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Big Ideas from Mobile World Congress

Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile infrastructure, software, hardware, product and app show, took place in Barcelona, Spain, and I attended for the fifth time. This year’s show shattered previous records with more than 93,000 attendees across

Will Sullivan

Mar 17, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: More Time-Consuming, Complex Tasks on Mobile Platforms

One of the leading mobile app analytics companies, Flurry, released their annual mobile app growth report with some interesting data showing how audiences are changing the way they engage with mobile applications. Overall, mobile app usage grew 76% in 2014, and the top app categories included: “Lifestyle & Shopping,” growing 174%; “Utilities & Productivity,” growing

Will Sullivan

Mar 10, 2015

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