By Afzal Bari
Federal spending for information technology is shrinking, yet multimillion-dollar contracting opportunities abound for IT contractors who know where to look, according to a new Bloomberg Study (subscription required), titled “Exhibit 53s Reveal Federal IT Contract Opportunities“ by Technology Analyst Afzal Bari. The study identified about $824 million in new IT investments proposed by President Barack Obama in his fiscal 2013 budget request.
In addition to the new projects, the president asked Congress to increase funding for 3,485 IT projects. Of those, 136 would see spending increases of at least $10 million
compared with fiscal 2012, according to Office of Management and Budget documents.
This Bloomberg Government Study examines OMB’s “Exhibit 53″ spreadsheet, an accounting of more than 7,200 IT projects federal agencies plan to fund during fiscal 2013. The budget document provides detail on the IT component of Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget request to Congress.
The study highlights IT investments that are $5 million and more and new for fiscal 2013, and existing investments budgeted to receive at least a $50 million increase in funding. New investments include $304 million to modify systems to comply with the 2010 health-care overhaul legislation, and $99 million for the Army to equip vehicles with
programmable radios. The study examines IT spending across agencies and bureaus, and also highlights IT contractors with the most revenue by bureau.