Observability has become mission-critical for public sector organizations — powering resilience, security, and trust across government and education. As adoption deepens, the focus is shifting from technical implementation to optimization: balancing innovation with cost, ensuring security and efficiency, and turning telemetry data into actionable outcomes that strengthen public services.

Generative AI (GenAI), agentic AI, and the growing adoption of OpenTelemetry (OTel) are reshaping what’s possible. The challenge for observability leaders now? Getting more from proven solutions while embracing the next wave of innovation.

Find out what 300+ public sector IT leaders across federal, state, and local government, as well as defense and education, are prioritizing for 2026. This new report reveals how agencies are evolving observability to improve efficiency, strengthen cybersecurity, and support compliance at scale.

Highlights

• 60% now rate their observability practice as mature or expert — up significantly year over year. How are leading agencies turning maturity into measurable impact?
• 66% regularly experience unexpected costs, and 95% are taking steps to reduce them. Which cost-optimization strategies are proving most effective?
• 84% already use GenAI for observability, with adoption expected to reach 97% within two years. How are they using AI to accelerate detection and decision-making?
• 81% are using or evaluating OpenTelemetry (OTel). What’s driving agencies toward OTel-compliant observability solutions?
• 95% say multiple teams, from cybersecurity to operations, are involved in logging solution decisions. How are agencies improving collaboration across these stakeholders?

Get the full report to see how public sector leaders are advancing observability for smarter, faster, and more secure operations.