FY 2017 Federal IT Budget Snapshot: Energy, Justice, and Commerce

In recent weeks, we’ve delved into the FY 2017 budget requests for federal agencies. While several of these were included in the initial budget breakdown completed by Deltek’s Federal Industry Analysis team, the blog focused on high level discretionary spending with only incidental references to technology spending. The following serves as a complement to existing analysis of departmental budgets to shed light on key elements of agency IT portfolios.

Energy

Increasing overall by one percent, the budget request for the Energy Department’s information technology remains relatively steady. Total topline numbers for IT spending are set to increase by $15 million from FY 2016 to FY 2017. The share of that funding marked for development, modernization, and enhancement in FY 2017 is down nearly 2 percent from the previous years at 14.0 percent of the total $1.7 billion request. The request maintains contractor across the 813 IT investments, holding at 97.5 percent in FY 2016 and FY 2017. The top ten investments by total request account for $290 million, 17.4 percent of the total IT request. These top investments are set to grow by a combined total of $19 million from FY 2016 to FY 2017.

Departmental infrastructure and security continues to top investments for total funds requested for FY 2017. Based on the total investment dollars outlined for FY 2017, 50.1 percent of the Department of Energy’s IT portfolio is directed towards infrastructure, security, automation and telecommunications. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) makes up $664 million (40 percent) of planned IT spending, while Energy Programs account for $487 million (29 percent).

Justice

The budget request for the Justice Department’s information technology is set to increase 6 percent above previous investment levels. Total figures for IT spending are set to increase by $167 million from FY 2016 to FY 2017. The portion allocated towards development, modernization, and enhancement in FY 2017 grows by $54 million from the previous year to make up 19.4 percent of the total $2.9 billion request. Contractor addressability rose slightly across the IT investments, increasing from 84.9 percent of the total in FY 2016 to 85.7 percent in FY 2017. By total request, the top ten out of the 232 investments account for $1,205 million, 42.0 percent of the total IT request. These top investments are set to grow by a combined total of $103 million from FY 2016 to FY 2017.

Technology foundations make up the largest share of funds requested for FY 2017. Based on the total investment dollars provided for FY 2017, 50.6 percent of Justice’s IT investments are categorized as spending on infrastructure, security, automation and telecommunications. Funding for general administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) combine to total $1,933 million, 67 percent of the entire portfolio. As you’d expect, department-wide efforts and FBI initiatives rank highly among for the total value, filling 7 of the top 10 spots.

Commerce

With a topline drop of 2 percent, the budget request for Commerce’s information technology lowers investment levels slightly from the previous request. Total top line numbers for IT spending are set to decrease by $48 million from FY 2016 to FY 2017. The share of that funding marked for development, modernization, and enhancement in FY 2017 is down by 26 percent from the previous year, comprising 28 percent of the total $2.3 billion request. Contractor addressability dipped slightly across the IT investments, decreasing from 74.0 percent in FY 2016 to 72.3 percent in FY 2017. Out of 142 investments, the top ten by total request account for $1,233 million, 54.5 percent of the total IT request. These top investments are set to decline by a combined total of $21 million from FY 2016 to FY 2017.

Mission oriented investments dominate the request for total funds requested for FY 2017. Based on the total investment dollars provided for FY 2017, spending mission delivery and management support accounts for 62.8 percent of Commerce’s IT portfolio. The Census Bureau (32 percent of the total) requests the largest share of the technology funds, followed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (26 percent) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (24 percent). Ongoing investments to develop mission-focused capabilities drive bureau planning, including efforts to related to the 2020 Census, data analysis capabilities, infrastructure, and business processing.

 

 

Additional insights on the FY2017 federal budget request will be available in the forthcoming budget assessment and IT market forecast reports.