Government Technology Trends to Watch in 2014: Big Data
OVERVIEW The federal government manages a wide variety of civilian, defense and intelligence programs and services, which both produce and require massive amounts of data, often unstructured and increasingly in real-time. This data comes from numerous sources including historical, video, audio, cell phones, geospatial, imagery, sensors, and social media. From crime prevention to transportation, defense, national security, revenue management, environmental stewardship and social services, governments must wrestle every day with collecting, protecting, analyzing and using this data. Quick Facts 90% Of the data in the world today was created in the past two years, according to IBM Big Data is a relatively new term describing a range of technologies that IT directors have had to manage for a while. The difference is that today, in addition to the data that government agencies have historically captured, they now have massive amounts of unstructured and machine generated data, and observational data from video surveillance and reconnaissance technologies, along with the related sensor information. $28B Total Big Data technology spending in 2012 Big Data is also typically characterized by three specific characteristics: 1. Volume: The sheer amount of data generated is growing exponentially. According to IDC s Digital Universe Study, the world s digital universe is in the process of generating 1.8 Zettabytes of information - with continuing exponential growth projecting to 35 Zettabytes in 2020 2
OVERVIEW 2. Velocity: With data streaming into the server in a continuous torrent, it is only useful if the data is processed and analyzed in real-time. The importance lies in the speed of the feedback loop, taking data from input through to decision. 3. Variety: Rarely does data present itself in a form perfectly ordered and ready for processing. The data collected is diverse, and doesn t fall into neat relational structures. This unstructured data must be reordered either by humans or as a structured input to an application. $200B Federal spending commitments to the Big Data & Research Initiative 60% The Data Explosion 2009-2012 Annual Data 56% 40% 20% 29% 30% 38% 0% Dec-09 Feb-11 Jan-12 Dec-12 Source: Aberdeen Group, 3
KEY GOVT MANDATES the (Big Data Research and Development) Initiative we are launching today promises to transform our ability to use Big Data for scientific discovery, environmental and biomedical research, education, and national security. - Director of White House OSTP The Obama Administration recently unveiled its Big Data Research and Development Initiative to "improve [American] capability to extract knowledge and insights from large and complex collections of digital data; harness these technologies to accelerate the pace of discovery in science and engineering; strengthen national security and transform teaching and learning. Government agencies are now faced with the task of extracting implicit, previously unrecognized, and potentially useful information from large amounts of incomplete, noisy, fuzzy, and random data. Big Data processing enables governments to make choices based on large-scale analysis. Goals include allowances for greater policy transparency, and identification of high social and economic value. Most broadly, data mining aids decision-making through the discovery of patterns in large data sets based on facts or observations. Data mining and analytic tools can process structured numeric data in traditional databases or extract relevance from semi-structured and unstructured data, such as text, graphics, images, and web data. 56% Annual expansion rate of data being collected 4
KEY GOVT MANDATES In December 2013, the Obama administration issued its second Open Government National Action Plan, which details the actions planned for the next two years. These include modernizing the administration of the Freedom of Information Act and upgrading the Data.gov website to provide more access and transparency to collected government data. 5
CRITICAL ISSUES Government agencies are concerned with how to keep pace with the paradigm shift to Big Data while balancing tight IT budgets. The opportunities for using Big Data are tremendous, because it can help agencies solve some of the key problems government faces today but these promises also introduce new technical challenges. 19% Annual increase in the number of new, unique data sources Security The underlying technologies that drive Big Data, such as cloud computing and virtualization, add complexities and elements that must be addressed to maintain a strong security posture. While there are also opportunities for improvements, including aggregating collected data and putting it into the cloud, Big Data could be used to help agencies address their security issues by understanding activity on their networks in near real-time, giving them the ability to make better security decisions. 60% 45% Business Pressures Driving Data Investment 53% Percentage of Respondents 46% 46% 2011 2012 40% 39% 34% 20% 21% 18% 0% Data stored in too many silos Source: Aberdeen Group, January 2012 Volume of data is growing too rapidly Unable to use unstructured data Poor data quality is impacting decisions 6
CRITICAL ISSUES Analytics Big Data analytics provide extremely powerful capabilities in terms of being able to ingest, store, exploit and disseminate imagery and full motion video. That s a non-trivial task as it involves being able to handle a lot of large volume data very quickly, and Big Data is well suited to that task. Big Data enables the fusion of disparate data sources. In terms of the data that s produced by social media alone, there s a huge amount of this data on the Web. There are many agencies looking at ways to use that data to support their missions and user base. Again, it s all about bringing data sources together and using Big Data analytics to help agencies make better decisions and take more effective action. Technologies to Drive Value from Big Data Percentage of Respondents Predictive analytics 43% 47% Enterprise content management 62% 15% Mobile BI tools 10% 61% Social media monitoring 45% 18% Adopted Plan to Adopt 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Source: Aberdeen 7
GOVT SALES ACTIVITY The following Top 25 federal procurements from FY 2013 that specifically included Big Data related technologies clearly confirm the federal government s increasing adoption of Big Data technologies. Although the total award value for these contracts was not entirely committed to Big Data technologies, they specifically called for distinct Big Data elements, including cloud storage, SaaS, IaaS and PaaS. The agencies awarding these contracts also confirms our analysis that the government is incorporating Big Data technologies across both civilian and defense agencies. Agency Name Award Date Awarded Value Department of Veterans Affairs 2013-7-1 $12,783,741,774 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2014-2-28 $4,490,433,768 Department of Energy 2014-1-31 $4,288,121,374 Department of Energy 2014-2-4 $3,843,794,127 Department of the Army 2013-7-16 $3,358,395,023 Department of the Navy 2013-7-11 $2,337,269,985 Department of the Navy 2014-1-31 $1,973,282,519 Department of the Army 2013-7-15 $1,096,595,477 Missile Defense Agency, DoD 2013-6-26 $1,031,855,373 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2014-2-7 $1,002,156,959 Defense Logistics Agency, DoD 2013-7-9 $771,725,806 Department of the Army 2013-7-16 $738,338,753 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2014-2-18 $689,254,440 Department of the Army 2013-7-16 $642,166,931 Department of the Air Force 2013-7-16 $640,084,170 Department of the Army 2013-7-16 $582,488,711 Department of the Navy 2013-7-9 $551,521,078 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HHS 2013-11-22 $549,760,144 Department of the Air Force 2014-1-31 $537,723,486 Department of Veterans Affairs 2014-1-31 $518,397,350 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2014-2-25 $478,205,952 Department of the Army 2013-10-28 $386,315,006 Transportation Security Administration, DHS 2014-1-10 $365,674,402 Public Buildings Service, GSA 2014-2-25 $341,929,490 United States Transportation Command 2013-9-13 $318,844,149 8
OUTLOOK The federal government will continue to be the single largest data collector in the world for the foreseeable future. This means that they will be spending increasing sums on technologies that enhance their ability to collect, store, process and analyze data. In 2014 we predict that: 1. More federal datasets will be released and made publicly available. This data will enable entrepreneurs and researchers to make better decisions regarding agriculture, nutrition, natural resources, and consumer safety. 2. The need for automated tools will become increasingly important. As data volumes increase, the need for pattern matching, simulation, and predictive analytics technologies become more crucial. Engines that can automatically sift through the growing mass of data, identify issues or opportunities, and even take automated action to capitalize on those findings will be a necessity. 3. Big Data will move to the cloud. Government will turn to cloud solutions that generate fast time to value and do not require highly specialized skill sets to manage.
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