IT funding could be last budget survivor, study predicts

Technology funding is likely to be one of the few survivors of deep federal government funding cutbacks because IT actually helps agencies improve their operations, a new report concludes. New technologies are on the horizon, from smart hand-held devices to new types of business intelligence aimed at improving federal citizen services, says the IDC Government Insights market report, released March 2, which probes the IT spending proposals in the Obama administration’s fiscal 2012 budget. The report found nearly the same number of major agencies that are likely to lose money in their IT budgets as those that would get more funds. In considering 28 of the more prominent departments, 14 of them are expected to decrease in their IT budgets in fiscal 2012, compared to fiscal 2011 estimates, and 13 agencies will actually see increases. Overall, the fiscal 2012 figures predict 0.2 percent growth in IT spending.