Government tablet adoption may triple by 2013, survey finds

Federal technology managers expect an average of about 20 percent of their agencies' employees will be using computer tablets professionally in 2013, according to a new survey by MeriTalk, a government IT industry group.

That's up from about 7 percent in 2011, MeriTalk said.

The survey projects a smaller increase in smartphone use from 35 percent of agency employees in 2011 to 43 percent in 2013. It projects laptop use will basically hold steady at 47 percent of agency employees.

The survey of 152 federal IT managers had a margin of error of about 8 percent, MeriTalk said.

Survey respondents cited increased productivity and easier telework as their top reasons for adopting mobile technology, followed by IT hardware cost savings and improved disaster recovery.

Security concerns are the greatest barrier to wider adoption of mobile technology in government, according to 78 percent of the MeriTalk respondents, followed by insufficient IT staff to support a slew of new mobile devices and budget constraints.

More than half of respondents said their agency allows employees to use personal smartphones and tablets for work purposes, either freely or subject to agency policies.