New Report Indicates 70% of Federal IT Execs Say ‘Big Data’ Mission Critical

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Posted By: Roberta Mullin June 25, 2013

Smarter Uncle Same: The Big Data Forecast

Big Data Key to Slashing Agency Budget

MeriTalk is an online community and resource for government IT with an audience of 85,000 government community contacts. Last week the company released its latest report, Smarter Uncle Sam: The Big Data Forecast. The report analyzes responses from a survey of 150 Federal IT executives and draws the following conclusions:

  • Big Data has the potential to transform government by substantially increasing efficiency, enabling smarter decisions, deepening insight.
  • Big Data will save nearly $500 billion, or 14 percent of agency budgets, across the Federal government.
  • 69% of those surveyed say it will help create smarter government with agencies making plans to prepare for what Big Data has to offer.
  • 31% of those surveyed believe their agency has a sufficient Big Data strategy today but sequestration budget cuts pose a significant risk to launching new programs.
  • Nearly one-fourth of Federal IT executives have launched at least one Big Data initiative.

As part of building the foundation to pursue Big Data initiatives, the report shows Feds are spending research and development money to:

  • Increase server storage capacity to house and analyze Big Data.
  • Determine bandwidth needs for storage and analytics.
  • Invest in advances data mining practices.

In looking ahead, the majority of survey participants said they believe that in five years, successfully leveraging Big Data will be critical to fulfilling Federal mission objectives. When asked how Big Data will help fulfill Federal goals, survey participants responded:

  • 51% said it will help improve processes and efficiency.
  • 44% said it will enhance security.
  • 31% said it will help their agency predict trends.

“Big Data’s different from other IT initiatives – because it’s not an IT initiative,” said Steve O’Keeffe, Founder, MeriTalk. “If assuming the same behavior and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity, Big Data may provide the common-sense therapy we need to make better decisions in government.”

MeriTalk says the report has a margin of error of +/-7.97 percent at a 95% confidence level. Download the full report and infographics.