Growth Expected in Intelligence IT Market

Climate change, space, cyber activities, and global and domestic terrorism are only a few of the areas where the diversity and complexity of threats by U.S. adversaries is growing. As such, the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) seeks to grow its cadre of innovative IT services and solutions to combat this increasing threat landscape. And ironically enough, even the emerging technologies needed to combat adversaries also present their own set of threats to national security.

Given this, data management, analytics, cybersecurity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and modeling and simulation remain among the IC’s top IT priorities to improve missions and operations. IC agencies are guided by several overarching IT strategies and policies to help drive investment and partnerships in several technology areas.  The IC is also using multiple approaches to increase the speed and effectiveness of acquisitions to implement IT including bailment agreements, other transaction authority, prize competitions and agency pitch days, among others.

In a recent report, Deltek analyzed the budget, legislation, workforce, contracting and technology environments driving the IC’s tech investments to assist contractors in navigating the demands of an elusive marketplace. Based on this analysis, Deltek predicts the IC contractor-addressable market will grow from $10.5B in FY 2021 to $10.9B in FY 2023 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2%.

Source: Deltek

Additional key findings from Deltek’s report include:

• Growing Threats - U.S. threat landscapes, such as space, cyber space, the Internet of Things, and insider threats, continue to grow while adversaries become more tech-savvy and sophisticated. IC demand for technology, tools and information to predict, monitor and combat adversary behavior will remain strong.
• Stable Budgets - Intelligence agencies’ overall and IT budgets remain strong, however IC agencies continue to invest in tools to drive cost savings and efficiency, driving modest growth over the forecast period. Given the complexity of demands, IC agencies are focused on deploying technology and innovation to combat the growing and diverse threat landscape. 
• Strategic Modernization - Technology modernization and innovation are major tenants of the interim National Security Strategy for DOD and the IC, specifically in the areas of cybersecurity, cutting-edge technology for the workforce, streamlined processes for acquiring technology, and fostering a culture of innovation.
• IT Demand - IT priorities in the IC include data management, cloud computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum technology, modeling and simulation, augmented and virtual reality, and partnerships to enable IC mission fulfillment.
• Hiring Reform - The IC is working to reform personnel practices that currently hinder the acquisition of innovative and diverse talent, including broadening targeted hiring authorities, security clearance reform, and creating a STEM fellowship program. In the meantime, contractors may find opportunities to fill these workforce gaps.

For more, read Deltek’s Intelligence Community Landscape, 2021-2022 report which takes a deep dive look into the trends and drivers of the IC IT market and IC agencies to assist contractors in doing business with the U.S. intelligence community.