The US Government’s Information Technology Budget

Fiscal Year 2008

Every year in early February, the President sends a budget request to Congress asking for money to fund the activities of government for the fiscal year (FY) that begins the following September. That request includes a budget for information technology (2MB excel file) to support those activities. The IT budget covers all the hardware, software, and related services that the government buys to predict the weather, issue social security checks, pay soldiers and sailors, take your online reservations for a campsite, and perform thousands of other activities every day. (This IT budget request does not include money that will be spent for classified national security activities or for IT that is embedded into weapon systems such as the guidance firmware in a cruise missile.)

Last year’s request (for fiscal year 2007) was $63.847 billion. Some market-predicting firms believe the amount for FY 2008 will be larger. Others, such as Government Futures, predict a longer-term decline in the IT budget. What do you think?