Gartner reports global government IoT electronics market to reach $15bn in 2020

As per a Gartner report, in 2020 the global government Internet of Things (IoT) endpoint electronics and communications market will reach $14.7 billion, an increase of 6 per cent from 2019.

In 2020, the largest revenue opportunities in the government IoT market are in outdoor surveillance, street and outdoor lighting and road toll and traffic management.

"The Covid-19 pandemic is slowing down spending. However, governments across the globe continue to use IoT technologies and solutions to improve citizen safety. At the same time, the falling endpoint and connectivity costs make smart city initiatives more viable," said Kay Sharpington, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner.

Gartner expects that governments will deploy eight cameras per thousand urban citizens for outdoor surveillance by 2021 across globe. In 2019, it was six cameras per thousand urban citizens.

"Governments are increasing their spending on outdoor surveillance cameras to monitor cities for crime. In the wake of Covid-19, they are also used to track compliance with safety restrictions," said Sharpington.

China Government is the key contributor across all countries to the outdoor surveillance spending growth. The Chinese government is investing in cameras that are leveraging advanced image recognition techniques. It will deploy 32 cameras per thousand urban citizens for outdoor surveillance by 2021, up from 27 cameras per thousand in 2019.

Police agencies are also increasingly deploying drones to aid efficient management of traffic and gain information about dangerous situations before officers risk their lives.

"Unlike police vehicles or stationary cameras, drones offer a more effective and moveable viewpoint, independent of traffic and terrain," said Sharpington.

Globally, Gartner analysts expect that fire services and police drones will grow from one per 58,000 people to one per 18,000 between 2019 and 2021.