INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF GOOD GOVERNMENT AND TRANSPARENCY
From the moment James M . Cox first entered the newspaper business in 1898 , our company has believed in journalism ’ s mission to hold government accountable .
New Cox investments in Axios and OpenGov , two growing companies working to make government more responsive to the needs of the people they serve , show that commitment remains to this day .
These investments also position Cox within new verticals that are poised for future growth — part of our FutureFocus 2034 effort to diversify and grow in emerging areas like cleantech , healthcare and esports .
OpenGov Lets the Sunshine In
Now more than ever , all of us are accustomed to accessing services through our phones , whether making restaurant reservations , ordering groceries or shopping for a new car . Meanwhile , getting a building permit might take multiple visits to a county office during the workweek , with an array of paper documents in tow .
But OpenGov ’ s cloud software platform is transforming the way citizens interact with government by making it possible to access vital services at the touch of a button .
“ We really like the public sector software space ,” explained Davis Roberson , assistant vice president of strategy and investments for Cox Enterprises . “ OpenGov is a great business and there are many exciting investment opportunities for Cox in this massive , fast-growing market .”
OpenGov has built a state-of-the-art software suite tailored specifically for city , county and state agencies . In less than a decade , it has built a network of more than 1,000 government customers across the United States . OpenGov is growing revenue by more than 30 % each year and has tapped less than 1 % of the $ 25 billion government software market .
Just as importantly , the company ’ s mission to make government more transparent and accountable aligns with Cox ’ s long history of doing the same .
“ OpenGov and others are providing the modern tools and solutions that continue in that same spirit ,” Davis said . “ There are many examples of people using their transparency solutions to uncover fraud and abuse and hold government accountable . There ’ s a very clear connection point back to the beginning of Cox .”
18 SPRING 2022
AJC Experiments with NFTs
Even as Cox invests in new ventures , the company ’ s flagship media properties like The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ( AJC ) are innovating .
These days , everyone seems to be talking about a new technology known as NFTs , or nonfungible tokens . NFTs are certified digital copies of an asset , which can range from digital artwork to photos to admission tickets .