The federal government will slightly reduce its spending on information technology through 2017, according to a forecast from the Washington-based technology trade association TechAmerica.
Technology spending will remain flat at $43 billion in the next five years, with defense spending on IT dropping to $35 billion by 2017 from $38 billion in 2012, after adjusting for inflation, according to the report.
Federal agencies will increasingly demand wireless and cybersecurity products and companies will have to meet that demand, the report said. Agencies will also focus on making more efficient use of technology, boosting demand for enterprise software, cloud computing and other shared services.
The Obama administration has embarked on IT cost-cutting initiatives, including closing federal data centers. The administration began its “cloud-first” initiative in December with former federal CIO Vivek Kundra’s 25-point federal IT reform plan.
