Budget Cuts: Time to invest in something new!

 

                Breaking News: Government IT organization’s funding will be reduced in the coming years. Everyone knows this is the theme throughout the country these days. The old saying “Do more with less” has been echoed on Capitol Hill. Some say the quickest route to improve efficiency while reducing cost is actually to invest in something new…. That don’t quite sound right, but actually it does make sense. I know personally we tend to continue to invest money into things that we will never receive value back from. Cars and computer maintenance is just a couple of examples. The government has endless examples of programs that will never add meaningful value, but they just won’t cancel it because they have spent so much money on it in the past. “Throwing good money after bad” is definitely prevalent in the government, so why not just switch horses and invest in something new. As discussed in this GCN article, Data analytics will require an initial extra investment, but this is a great time to invest. As technology pushes the cloud-based analytics envelope, there are more and more companies investing time, money, and resources into Big Data ideas.

                The government has multiple facets for big data implementation that include: encompassing business analytics, fraud analytics, identification of improper payments, threat evaluation, web traffic review and more. Of course the Department of Defense has different mandates and objectives that the Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, or Department of Health and Human Services. Within each department solutions would not come without an initial investment, but the return on investment could not be measured. The first step an agency could take without having to make big internal infrastructure upgrades is to look at cloud-based services. IBM and the SAS Institute both offer a variety of business analytics and statistical analysis functions in a hosted environment. 

                Both companies have had great success with recent solutions for fraud detection and tax evasion. SAS Analytics has been chosen to power Michigan’s Enterprise Fraud Detection System, with will identify fraud, waste and abuse in Michigan’s unemployment insurance and food stamp programs, with the goal of spotting fraud across all executive branch departments and programs. It is estimated that just in 2012, $10.3 billion in improper unemployment insurance payments were made across the country, according to Labor Department figures listed on the PaymentAccuracy.gov website. The EFDS initially will integrate and analyze data from the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency and the state’s Departments of Human Services and Community Health. Additional data sources will be added over time. This has become such a major concern; other states have begun to look at ways to identify fraud. Georgia is now using the LexisNexis Tax Refund Investigate Solution to mitigate identity fraud. “Tax refund fraud is a growing problem nationwide, and increasingly it is perpetrated by criminals who steal the identities of innocent taxpayers and then submit returns requesting refunds before the real taxpayer has a chance to do so,” said Doug MacGinnitie, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Revenue. Some of the identity based filters can uncover categories such as: People who have died, Altered Social Security numbers (changed to elude to Do Not Pay lists), People no associated with the given address they list, People not associated with the Social Security number they list, Identities not found in public-records searches, and People incarcerated in prisons. 

                IBM Research and IBM Global Business Services have produced automated tools to help audit returns and collect delinquent taxes. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance deputy commissioner of tax enforcement, William Comiskey, said his office has saved approximately $1 billion since 2003 by improving its audit process with the Tax Audit and Compliance System. Combining automated audit and compliance evaluation with an enforcement decision and workflow system has produced what Comiskey called a “spectacular system that moves enforcement into the processing stage. It’s a change that is leading to greater efficiency.” IBM has provides predictive analytics software for North Carolina to help identify potentially fraudulent Medicaid payments. 

                Other examples of government agencies using Big Data tools include, Nuix Inc. recently received a contract from The Transportation Security Administration to provide fast analysis of large data sets (that could include over 1.5 terabytes per day) during the agency’s investigations and electronic discovery operations. The Homeland Security Department designate Google Analytics as the official agency tool for Web internal search data collection and traffic analysis, and it also set a metrics plan which guides employees to use the service and share the data with a central internal resource. 

                But while there are numerous solutions and applications for data analytics, finding the necessary funding for long term investment will be large challenge to overcome. Big data analytics can help government agencies and organizations be proactive vs. reactive. This is becoming increasingly important as data sources and available information skyrockets in most government organizations.