Top tech CEOs gave the Obama administration some advice on how to save money — $1 trillion in 10 years—by using IT more efficiently, according to a report in InformationWeek.
The leaders of six tech firms, including IBM and Dell, presented their report “One Trillion Reasons†on Wednesday to the administration’s economic team, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and National Economic Council head Larry Summers at a meeting of the Technology CEO Council.
The plan is a solution to persistent budget woes, without resorting to unpopular measures like tax raises or program cuts, InformationWeek reports.
“We hear about draconian, across-the-board spending reductions — or equally sweeping tax hikes,†the authors of the report write. “Based on our experience in the technology industry, we believe there is a better way.”
There are seven key steps to achieving that “better way,†the report states. They are:
- Consolidating IT infrastructure
- Streamlining government supply chains
- Reducing energy use
- Switching to shared services
- Applying business analytics
- Reduce field operations and move to electronic self-service
- Monetize the government’s assets through selling and leasing
The Technology CEO Council began 22 years and meets annually with the White House to present recommendations on meeting technology goals, Politico reports.
The report falls in line with guidelines established by the White House’s Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients and its Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra and could help build bipartisan consensus on some of the administration’s major tech initiatives, according to the Politico article.
While the CEOs insist their trillion-dollar goal is attainable, others view such ambitions with a more skeptical eye, The New York Times reports.
“Government is way behind most large companies in using technology efficiently,†Darrell West, director of government studies at the Brookings Institution, told The Times. But he also added, “There are substantial cost savings that can be achieved through better use of information technology.â€
