Consolidate IT infrastructure, save $1 trillion, CEOs say

A group of technology chief executive officers recommends more strategic use of technology by federal agencies to improve productivity, increase competition and reduce budget deficits.

The Technology CEO Council, led by IBM Corp. CEO Samuel Palmisano, claimed the federal government can save more that $1 trillion in 10 years by implementing its recommendations for streamlining supply chains, consolidating data centers, automating paper processes and applying anti-fraud analytic tools, among others.

The council outlined its strategy in a 10-page report released on Oct. 6. “Our report contains straightforward, proven ways to pare back $1 trillion from the deficit while increasing productivity and enabling sustainable competitiveness,” Michael Dell, council member and CEO of Dell, said in a statement.

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The council''s recommendations and estimated savings or revenues to be generated by 2020 included:

• Streamlining federal supply chains and making service delivery more efficient to save $500 billion
• Using advanced business analytics to reduce improper federal payments to save $200 billion
• Consolidating data centers and other IT infrastructure and shift to cloud computing to save $150 billion to $200 billion
• Monetizing federal assets to generate $150 billion in revenues
• Expanding the use of shared services for agency administration to save $50 billion
• Reducing field operations and shift to electronic self-service for citizens and telework for federal employees to save $50 billion and
• Reducing energy use through facility consolidation and improved building management, advanced fleet management, and reductions in personnel travel expenses made possible by Web 2.0 collaboration tools to save $20 billion.