Data Mining: Government spending by the numbers

Predicting IT Spending

The federal government will spend nearly 4 percent more in 2010 for information technology investments than it did in 2009,  according to IDC Government Insights.

The government will make the investments to stimulate the economy and lower operating costs while improving IT capabilities and capacity.

Government spending on IT

Fiscal 2008
Total: $67.4 billion (Civilian agencies: $35.9 billion; Defense agencies: $31.5 billion)

Fiscal 2009
Total: $73 billion (Civilian: $40.1 billion; Defense: $32.9 billion)

Fiscal 2010
Total: $75.7 billion (Civilian: $41.8 billion; Defense: $33.9 billion)

Source: IDC Government Insights

The Most Vulnerable Web Browsers

Firefox was the most vulnerable Web browser in the first half of 2009, according to Internet security company Cenzic. Most of the Web-based vulnerabilities in that time period — 90 percent — were in commercial applications, and Web browsers accounted for 8 percent of the total.

Safari came in second, mostly because of vulnerabilities in the version that runs as the default browser for Apple iPhones.

Firefox - 44 percent
Safari - 35 percent
Internet Explorer - 15 percent
Opera - 6 percent

Source: Cenzic’s “Web Application Security Trends Report, Q1-Q2, 2009”

Public Satisfaction With Federal Web Sites on the Rise

Google and Amazon could learn a thing or two from the Social Security Administration. SSA's Retirement Estimator and iClaim Web sites ranked a notch higher than the widely used commercial sites in a recent customer satisfaction survey by ForeSee Results.

Satisfaction with e-government sites came in at 75.2 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index's 100-point scale, while the score for off-line federal government services was 68.7. Agencies’ focus on President Barack Obama's open-government and transparency initiatives contributed to e-government's strong performance, according to the survey.

Government sites
SSA Retirement Estimator: 90
SSA iClaim: 90
Free Application for Federal Student Aid, Education Department: 88

Commercial sites
Newegg.com: 88
Google: 86
Amazon: 86

Source: ForeSee Results’ E-Government Satisfaction Index