Data Analytics: A Key Focus Area for FY2024
At Marion Square, we continually research and analyze Federal Agency IT budgets and key spend priorities for our clients. This time of year, is especially busy because agencies have begun releasing and justifying their budget requests for FY24. This information provides organizations selling into Government with critical insights into key Government spending priorities and trends for the upcoming fiscal year, which is only 5 months away.
One of the key areas of focus we are seeing across government for FY24 are agency budgets to support data analytics projects and programs. The requests typically consist of two main funding areas:
To create an agency wide authoritative data source that is able to ingest and manage all of an agencies relevant data.
Provide a data analytics that takes advantage of the data source above to drive better decision making process across the agency.
A few specific examples include:
Missile Defense Agency (MDA)- which highlighted two areas in their budget request:
Modernize the MDA data repository to streamline data archive, analysis and mass dissemination.
Design and obtain accreditation for software dedicated to robust test, resource planning, and data analysis.
Veterans Administration (VA)- A stated key initiative of the Office of Information Technology:
Defining and developing authoritative data sources and ensuring data is consistent and secure across VA.
Develop and leverage data analytics to improve data-driving decision making capabilities.
Cyber Security Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
With the agencies focus on cyber security has requested $425M to replace its existing cyber analytics platform (EINSTEIN).
The new solution known as Cyber Analytics and Data System (CADS) will be a system of systems that will provide robust and scalable analytic environment capable of integrating mission visibility data sets and providing visualization tools and advanced analytics capabilities for CISA's cyber operators.
Other agencies have also highlighted in their budget requests their desire to make "data" a strategic agency asset. With this as a background for FY 24 planning, organizations with knowledge, experience, and technologies that support turning data into a strategic asset and enabling agencies to better utilize data to make decisions should be developing and executing go to market plans to make their capabilities known to agencies. Now is the time to educate and inform before budgets are passed and agencies begin to execute (in just 5 short months).