State/Local Governments Spend $1.2 Billion Annually On Audiovisual Products
The International Communications Industries Association, Inc. (ICIA) estimates that spending by state and local governments in the U.S. for audiovisual (AV) systems is $1.2 billion annually and is projected to grow as much as 12% each year for the next 3 years as governments increase spending on flat panel displays, projectors, videoconferencing products and AV recording devices for education, public safety, emergency services, homeland security and IT initiatives.
Findings are published in ICIA’s 2004 AV Trends and Opportunities Study: State and Local Government, which sizes the U.S. state and local government AV market, examines how AV is used in government today and projects future growth opportunities for AV providers who supply the government with solutions for command and control centers, public services, transportation monitoring, briefing rooms, training, collaborative conferencing, information displays, remote control monitoring, courtrooms, city or council meetings and more.
Local governments including counties, districts and cities account for more than $950 million of total state/local government AV spending. All levels of state and local government spending for AV are expected to increase.
A large majority of AV decision makers and planners at the state and city levels (75% and 65% of respondents respectively) anticipate a substantial increase in AV spending over the next 12-36 months. While 40 % of county/district level planners estimate increased spending over the next 12-36 months.
The demand for AV products and services is highest across these state and local government departments: Education, Public Safety, Emergency Services, Police, Homeland Security and IT. The most common AV product purchases for these departments are respectively, cables/connectors, audio/video recording devices, displays and projectors. Cable/connector purchases are highest because these are needed for most AV products and have shorter lifetime uses.
Audio/video recording equipment purchases are strong because they support training, which is one of the top applications for state and local governments.
Display products, especially thin displays for digital signage, are popular in airports, courthouses and convention centers. Projectors and displays, once considered optional, are becoming de rigueur for video- conferencing and video-streaming of live events.