The US federal government spends between $80 and $85 billion on information technology (IT) every year, or about 2 percent of its total budget. Much of that money is wasted on mismanaged programs—initiatives that deliver either the wrong thing or nothing at all.
Our decrepit public IT infrastructure system has three root causes:
- Federal procurement rules are rigid and outdated, designed for a slower-moving era where the biggest problem was corrupt acquisition, not broken websites.
- The human capital required to design, deliver, and operate high-quality IT systems finds the private sector more rewarding.
- We’re buying the wrong things for the wrong reasons, rather than investing in tools that empower citizens.
The good news is there is a solution—one thing government could do better than any other entity or institution: Get the data right.
By data, we mean all civic data, including health, energy, education, economic, transportation, urban development, environmental, national security, and criminal justice. We don’t mean phone records or privacy-breaching intrusion—hugely important topics—instead, we are talking about an investment in civic data for citizens to build stronger communities and better lives.
- See more at: http://ssir.org/articles/entry...sthash.8y5arN4K.dpuf
[For more of this story, written by Peter L. Levin & Hallie Schneir, go to http://ssir.org/articles/entry...a_world_of_good_data]
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