Mary-Louise Hoffman
Angie Petty, a principal research analyst at Deltek, has said she does not expect the pending change in U.S. administration to have a significant impact on federal information technology budgets and contract spending by agencies.
She wrote in a blog entry posted Tuesday that Deltek analysts have observed that governmental efforts to develop and implement new policies are likely to occur within six months of presidential inauguration.
A study by the Herndon-based information technology firm showed that IT contract spending during George W. Bush’s administration grew 10.8 percent year-over-year on average, according to Petty.
She added the company found that IT budgets and actual IT investments in President Barack Obama’s administration showed an overall YOY growth of 1.2 percent but IT contract spending recorded a negative annual growth rate of 4 percent.
Fifty percent of IT industry executives who responded to a Deltek survey said they believe senior leadership changes at federal agencies will affect agency IT priorities more than the election of new U.S. president or congressional members.
Petty said 80 percent of respondents think Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will have more of an impact on the government’s IT programs if he wins the election and 43 percent believe Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will have a neutral impact on federal IT if elected.
Trump and Clinton vowed during separate political campaigns they would allocate funds to support programs at the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, which Petty said could offer multiple opportunities for the contracting sector regardless of whom is chosen by the majority of voters.
