Dive Brief:
- Local governments have among the “freshest” digital signage content of any sector, updating their digital signage a median of every 7.5 days, according to a State of Digital Signage 2026 report by Kitcast, a digital signage software provider.
- Across 21 industries measured in the report, digital signage is updated a median of every 16.8 days. Governments were behind only the hospitality and nonprofit sectors, which updated signage a median of every 3.9 days and 7.3 days, respectively.
- A majority of the content governments display on digital signs includes weather, shown on 88% of screens, and information dashboards, which are displayed on 72% of government screens. “The opportunity for cities and counties now is to use more interactive, service-focused content, like wayfinding and wait times,” Kitcast spokesperson and report author Pavlo Fedykovych told Smart Cities Dive in an email.
Dive Insight:
There are roughly 100 million connected digital signage displays in use worldwide, and that number is expected to close in on 150 million by 2028, according to Kitcast.
While the technology is billed as a way to keep content updated regularly, the report found more than 27% of digital signage content is more than a year old.
While more regularly updated digital signage in local governments compared with other public institutions is a “good sign,” according to Fedykovych, 28% of government digital signage is still recycled content and more than a year old.
The education sector had the slowest rate of updating digital signage with a median of every 49.3 days, followed by the healthcare industry with 43.1 days and technology with 29.9.
Governments recorded a higher number of screens per workspace compared with other sectors, with an average of five screens per workplace compared with the overall average of four screens, per Kitcast’s findings, indicative of the multi-building, multi-department deployments managed by cities.
As more local governments explore incorporating artificial intelligence into more operations, Kitcast found that across industries, 8.3% reported using AI in their digital signage content.
