Management Agenda Drives IT Growth: Report While the federal government tightens budgets, the Obama administration’s management agenda will drive IT spending higher in the next few years, according to analysts at the market research firm Input. They’re forecasting more than 5% annual growth in IT programs through 2015, bringing the government’s contract spending in that category to $112 billion a year. “There’s no doubt that the administration will continue to push for cost-cutting measures,” said John Slye, one of the authors of the report. “However, the criticality of IT to government operations and priorities, as well as the gap in federal IT expertise, suggests that IT spending will continue with modest growth.” The Obama administration has repeatedly emphasized the need to spend money upgrading the government’s outmoded IT systems in order to save money and improve performance. Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag wrote in a recent blog post, “We pay a price in allowing the IT gap between the public and private sectors to persist.” Because of that gap, Input analysts believe the government will continue to lean heavily on IT contractors despite the Obama administration’s insourcing initiative. They expect cloud computing and cybersecurity are two areas that will see rapid growth. Input says IT spending will decline slightly in fiscal 2011, as Recovery Act programs wind down, then increase in the years ahead.