The bipartisan Modernizing Government Technology Act, which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in May, represents one area of bipartisan cooperation, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight senior science writer Maggie Koerth-Baker.
The bill — introduced by Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Gerry Connolly, D-Va. — would establish a fund to finance technology modernization efforts and would authorize agencies to reallocate any funds they save by consolidating data centers. The Senate version of the bill has been in committee since April.
The federal government has too many data centers — physical locations where agencies store computers, which archive governmental information — leading to unnecessary rent, electricity demands, maintenance workers and air conditioning bills, Ms. Koerth-Baker wrote. Since 2010, only 4,300 of the 5,597 federal data centers scheduled to close have been eliminated.
Part of the issue comes down to cost, since data center consolidation might necessitate technological upgrades. "If it was started in the '90s, it's running on '90s technology. If it started in the '60s, it's running on '60s tech," Tony Scott, former federal CIO under the Obama administration, told Ms. Koerth-Baker. These differences in software capabilities make merging data centers difficult.
However, since 2012, increasing technological infrastructure through data center consolidation has saved taxpayers $2.3 billion. With these financial and operational benefits in mind, Ms. Koerth-Baker believes the legislation "has the power to bridge partisan divides, uniting Jared Kushner and congressional Republicans with congressional Democrats and Obama-appointed scientific experts."
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