Federal spending on e-gov efforts expected to grow

The portion of the federal information technology budget devoted to electronic government is expected to grow from 24 percent in 2001 to 28 percent in 2005, according to a new study by Input, a market research firm based in Chantilly, Va. While e-gov expenditures are growing at 10 percent a year, Input expects the traditional IT budget to grow at just 5 percent a year. "There is broad-based support for e-gov initiatives [taken] by the Clinton administration and Congress," said Kevin Plexico, Input's executive vice president. "There are a lot of obstacles for e-gov though, including security and privacy concerns as well as tight budgetary controls." Despite the projected increases, the federal government is not investing in e-gov at the level private industries are investing in e-business. According to Input, private industries' yearly e-business purchases are growing at a rate of 20 to 25 percent a year. Input looked at agency IT budgets and information research management plans and identified the programs that were e-gov-related and those that reflect more traditional IT activities. However, Plexico said that the money the government is spending on e-gov could actually be much higher if funds from non-IT budget sources are taken into account. "We only looked at IT budgets," Plexico said. "We believe there is a lot of money being spent out of the operational budget on e-gov rather than the IT budget. If you counted those dollars, the size of [e-gov spending] would be bigger."