To exclude information technology from any infrastructure investment program would be a severe oversight. If we are going to increase expenditures to stimulate the economy, we should be doing it in areas that give us the greatest long-term benefit. As taxpayers, an investment in the competitiveness of government, more efficient and enhanced services, and skills-development that will pay off in the future, is an investment that is easier to justify in this time of economic crisis.

Public sector infrastructure has traditionally been thought of as buildings, roads and bridges. Given the impacts of the current financial crisis, concerned politicians across the globe are contemplating increased funding for such infrastructure as a means to stimulate economies. In essence these expenditures amount to moving long term planned infrastructure projects forward, i.e. we need to replace a bridge in five years, do it now to stimulate labor.

In the age of information, public sector infrastructures now include computers, networks, systems and applications. Many if not most of the mission-critical information processing systems deployed in the public sector are over twenty years old. They have served the public well and were planned with the then current needs of the government and it’s citizens. With the rapid evolution of information technology and new ways to service the needs of government and citizen, these systems have become obsolete, archaic and costly to operate. On average, 75% of public sector information technology (IT) budgets are directed to maintaining these legacy systems. The average age of the support staff for these legacy systems is well over 50 years and they are nearing retirement. The inflexibility of these systems is preventing government from quickly and cost-effectively providing the services that are being demanded. The exposure and risk of inoperative or un-secure systems is growing every day. This predicament is not unique to the public sector. Across industries, the renewal or modernization of systems is a priority for IT management. In short, the dated information processing infrastructures deployed in the public sector are no longer fit-for-purpose, not unlike old bridges, roads and buildings.

As taxpayers we should strongly encourage government’s to consider information technology on the same basis as brick’s and mortar infrastructure.

An investment in traditional infrastructure improves the safety and extends the useful life of structures we all depend on. Increased spending on bricks and mortar would stimulate labor in that sector for a period of time. What happens when the economy returns to normal? Are those skills in demand? An investment in IT infrastructure does the same thing but much more.

An investment in IT infrastructure, particularly the replacement and retirement of legacy systems, would:

• Prevent and avoid operational and security risk of critical systems like motor vehicles, health, vital statistics, social services and justice.
• Allow for the adoption of new and enhanced service capabilities using technologies readily available to the citizens the government serves.
• Significantly reduce the operational expenses, up to 70%, of old and antiquated technology.
• Employ the contemporary IT skills that are available and/or entering the market, replacing the legacy skills that are becoming scarce and will soon be obsolete.
• Provide agile systems that can adapt quickly and cost-effectively to new program priorities and legislative changes, necessary for modern and responsive government.

An investment in replacing and retiring legacy systems would:

• Provide local jobs in the short term for modernization projects.
• Extend the careers of mature staff with legacy skills through the modernization program.
• Deliver new systems using contemporary technologies that are currently taught in post-secondary technology programs
• Train a work force with high-value skills that will be in demand in both the public and private sectors once the economy is back on track.
• Maintain and enhance the technical capabilities of modern governments or conversely not lose the global competitiveness that good government provides to industry.

A typical application modernization project, done properly, will take two years and dramatically reduce the ongoing maintenance expense, while significantly enhancing the capability, flexibility and security of the application.

In summary, to exclude information technology from any infrastructure investment program would be a severe oversight. If we are going to increase expenditures to stimulate the economy, we should be doing it in areas that give us the greatest long-term benefit. As taxpayers, an investment in the competitiveness of government, more efficient and enhanced services, and skills-development that will pay off in the future, is an investment that is easier to justify in this time of economic crisis.

Bill Bergen
CEO
MAKE Technologies Inc.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 4:23 pm and is filed under Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.