If the federal IT sector had a news year’s party, the theme could easily be “What old is new again.”

Along with the new Trump administration, the initial priority areas for federal agencies, and specifically for technology programs, is efficiency and effectiveness.

As one federal expert said, we haven’t seen this type of specific call out for E&E — what I’m calling efficiency and effectiveness starting now — since the early 2000s. Clay Johnson, the former deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget during the George W. Bush administration, was often quoted as saying the goal of managing federal programs is to ensure they are getting better every year.

This is not to say the preceding or post-Bush administrations didn’t have similar goals, but the whole point of the first President’s Management Agenda was to drive E&E across back office and administrative functions.

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is picking up that mantle, setting a much wilder goal of cutting $2.6 trillion from the federal budget.

Whatever DOGE ends up doing, federal technology will undoubtedly play a major role in all aspects of the effort.

Putting the DOGE effort aside for a minute, federal experts recognize the upcoming year will mean driving their focus deeper to moving away from legacy IT systems and modernizing systems and services.

These two activities will lead to better cybersecurity and better capabilities through artificial intelligence and generative AI.

Federal News Network asked a panel of current and former federal executives for their opinions about 2025 and what federal IT and acquisition storylines they are following over the next 12 months. If you are interested in previous year’s predictions, here is what experts said about 2023 and 2024.

• Gundeep Ahluwalia, the former Labor Department CIO and now executive vice president and chief innovation officer at NuAxis
• Julie Dunne, former House Oversight and Accountability staff member and now a principal with Monument Advocacy
• Mike Hettinger, former House Oversight and Accountability staff member and now a president of Hettinger Strategy Group
• David Larrimore, the chief technology officer for the Department of Homeland Security
• Gary Washington, the chief information officer of the Agriculture Department

What are two IT or acquisition programs/initiatives that you are watching closest for signs of progress and why?

MH: I am definitely watching the Federal Risk Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) for progress. They’ve made a lot of changes this year and I think there are still some.

JD: Secure Software development (Office of Management and Budget memos September 2022 and June 2023). In March 2024, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency finalized the common secure software development attestation form which triggered deadlines for agencies to start collecting these attestation forms from vendors for critical software in June 2024 and other software in September 2024. It will be interesting to see how this secure software attestation requirement is implemented across agencies in the transition between administrations. Secure software is critical to secure IT solutions.

Alliant 3. The General Services Administration released the request for proposals over the summer and proposals now due Jan 10. Alliant 2 has been an extremely successful contract vehicle facilitating agency customers access to IT infrastructure services, cybersecurity capabilities and emerging technologies. The successor will also be critical to agencies’ cybersecurity and IT modernization goals.

GA: GSA’s multiple award schedules and the National Institutes of Health’s IT Acquisition Assessment Center’s (NITAAC) CIO-SP4 governmentwide acquisition contract.

DL: We are watching HART for progress in 2025. When it reaches operational capability, the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) will replace the legacy Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) as the primary Department of Homeland Security (DHS) system for storage and processing of biometric and associated biographic information for national security; law enforcement; immigration and border management; intelligence; background investigations for national security positions and certain positions of public trust; and associated testing, training, management reporting, planning and analysis, development of new technologies and other administrative use. We are excited to see substantive progress based upon the technical restructuring and the work we did in 2024 to integrate security into the development and deployment workflows.

We are also looking closely at the evolution of the financial system modernization (FSM) – FEMA program. It is designed to handle various financial transactions, including budgeting, accounting, and financial reporting. The system helps FEMA manage its financial resources efficiently and ensures compliance with federal financial management standards. We’ve made significant progress in improving efficiency, transparency and compliance with federal financial management standards. Some key areas of progress include modernization and integration, automation, enhanced reporting, compliance, grants management and data security and integrity. These improvements in FEMA’s financial management system contribute to the agency’s ability to manage its financial resources effectively, support disaster response and recovery efforts and maintain public trust through transparent and accountable financial practices. We look forward to more progress in 2025!

Rank in order these federal IT priorities and offer a few sentences about why you ranked them in this order. (1 being the top priority and 5 being the least)

• Cybersecurity
• Implementing AI, including GenAI
• IT modernization to include moving to the cloud and getting rid of legacy debt
• Using data to improve decision-making
• Driving efficiency in programs

JD:
1. Cybersecurity
2. Driving efficiency in programs
3. IT modernization
4. Using data to improve decision making
5. Implementing AI, including GenAI

On cybersecurity, history is repeating itself and telling us what the future will bring. At the end of the last administration, the government was dealing with the aftereffects of Solar Winds-related attack, which ultimately inspired a major cybersecurity executive order (14028).

At the end of this administration, the government is working to understand and respond to the Salt Typhoon attack that reportedly involves a Chinese government hacking group gaining access to U.S. and global telecommunications providers. The government like the rest of the world relies upon this critical infrastructure to accomplish their mission. It remains to be seen what we will learn from Salt Typhoon attack and how that will impact cybersecurity requirements for federal agencies.

I could also see lessons learned impacting GSA’s follow on effort to the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract, which supports federal agencies’ modernization of network infrastructure, and is currently referenced as Next Generation Network Infrastructure strategy.

On driving efficiency in programs, the other items are all tools to accomplish this goal. The topic of IT modernization never gets old and is being discussed in the X/Twitter world as the co-chairmen of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tweeted a link to a 2019 Government Accountability Office’s report identifying federal IT systems ranging in age from eight to 51 years old.

DL:
1. Cybersecurity
2. Implementing AI, including GenAI
3. IT modernization to include moving to the cloud and getting rid of legacy debt
4. Using data to improve decision-making
5. Driving efficiency in programs

DHS rolled out an IT strategic plan for fiscal years 2024-2028, and all of these priorities are built into our priorities. DHS has a vital mission: With honor and integrity, we will safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values. This responsibility is carried out by over 260,000 dedicated employees who perform diverse duties, including aviation and border security, promoting trade and travel for economic security, emergency response and cybersecurity. We are committed to embodying the relentless resilience of the American people, ensuring a safe, secure and prosperous homeland in a constantly evolving global environment. To adapt to the ever-changing landscape, the DHS IT community will equip the department with secure and resilient capabilities. This will also promote interoperability, information sharing and collaboration among DHS and its partners.

GA:
1. Driving efficiency in programs with focus on customer experience
2. Using data to improve decision-making
3. Implementing AI, including GenAI
4. IT modernization to include moving to the cloud and getting rid of legacy debt — DevSecCXops will pick up!
5. Cybersecurity

GW: Most of them have a dependency on the others. All these need to be priorities and implemented to reach more enterprise IT goals. If you are to be secure, provide value and reduce total cost of ownership, I believe these are major components towards accomplishing those goals. I also believe we need to have a more digital ready workforce.

1. Cybersecurity
2. IT modernization to include moving to the cloud and getting rid of legacy debt
3. Implementing AI, including GenAI
3(a). Using data to improve decision-making
3(b). Driving efficiency in programs

MH:
1. Implementing AI, including GenAI — I think AI remains at the top of the priority list. The incoming administration is almost certain to rescind the Biden AI executive order and replace it with their own version. That alone will keep it at the top of the priority list.

2. Cybersecurity — Cyber remains a top two priority and we are always one breach away from it moving up the list.

2. Driving efficiency in programs — It’s been a while since we’ve really put efficiency and effectiveness front and center, maybe going all the way back to the George W. Bush administration but the DOGE is putting a major spotlight on this area of focus.

4. IT modernization to include moving to the cloud and getting rid of legacy debt — IT modernization is likely to remain a top issue for the incoming administration. Like data and some of the other issues it likely gets folded under the DOGE umbrella.

5. Using data to improve decision-making — Data remains a top five area of interest, but it’s likely to get pulled more into the DOGE effort than it is to stand out on its own.

If 2023 was all about zero trust and customer experience and 2024 was all about AI, what do you think will emerge as the buzzword of 2025 and why?

DL: We think AI will continue to be the buzzword of 2025. I previously mentioned the progress we made in 2024 on our AI pilots, and there are more tremendous opportunities for AI to enhance the

DHS mission. We plan on continuing our lines of effort around AI, including:

• Responsibly leveraging AI to advance homeland security missions while protecting individuals’ privacy, civil rights and civil liberties
• Promoting nationwide AI safety and security, and
• Continuing to lead in AI through strong, cohesive partnerships.

DHS is looking forward to using the results of our 2024 AI pilots to assess the efficacy of AI in improving its mission capabilities. Currently, each pilot team is partnering with privacy, cybersecurity and civil rights and civil liberties experts throughout their development and evaluation process. This work will inform departmentwide policies on AI governance.

GA: Customer experience and efficiency. With the change of party, the focus on efficiency and effectiveness will be an obvious focus. It is my belief that this cannot come without unfaltering focus on customer experience and digital tools to deliver it. DevSecCXops.

MH: I definitely think AI carries over from 2024 into 2025, so we will continue to see a lot of focus there. The emerging trend is efficiency and effectiveness (broadly) but this will play out in the context of the DOGE.

JD: Quantum computing. Quantum computing is a serious national security challenge and will impact federal agencies IT systems. Quantum computing is expected to make current encryption methods obsolete; thereby exposing highly sensitive government communications and data. Data stolen today that may not be accessible today could be accessible in the future with the application of quantum computing capabilities. The United States and China are locked in a national security race to master this technology.

Some experts estimate such quantum computing capabilities could be available in 2030. This means the U.S. government like the rest of the world must prepare. In this Congress, there were efforts to move forward on the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act (S.5411), which we can expect to resurface in the next Congress. Also watch for NIST developments. NIST has been preparing for years to support Federal Information Processing (FIPs) standards for the post-quantum cryptography to support key security applications like digital identity verification.

GW: AI and legacy IT.

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