The Bush administration is calling for “about $60 billion” in federal IT spending for fiscal 2004, according to Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The IT budget represents an approximate 15 percent increase over the $52 billion request for 2003.
Davis, speaking at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event Wednesday, said IT spending would be one of the few areas of the federal budget to see any significant increases. The Bush administration is scheduled to release the 2004 budget on Feb. 3.
Overall, Daniels said, the administration is seeking a “deceleration” in federal spending outside of defense and IT items.
Daniels also said federal IT projects contain “tons of overlap and redundancies” and “far too many plans for which we do not have good business cases.”
Daniels added, “Many plans really are counterproductive in the sense that they built systems that cannot talk to systems we have now.”