Informatica looks into crystal ball

Data management company Informatica has outlined several predications for the year ahead in public sector ICT, and has called for the better use of data. While social media and organising the ongoing "data deluge" formed two of the predictions, it's the countdown to the London 2012 Olympics, Cloud Computing, and the need for public sector organisations to make cost savings that formed the key predictions.

"We may be through the worst of the recession, but cost saving will remain front of mind," said Mark Seager, vice president technology EMEA at Informatica. "During this year's government budget announcement, the chancellor made it clear that IT would be central to cost reductions in both business and public sector organisations. Seager said systems and database integration would enable organisations identify opportunities and reap the subsequent rewards over the next year, "and beyond".

As the Cloud continues to condense in 2011, Informatica's Seager said it would be essential for organisations to continue aligning their data management strategies with the technology. "Alignment is key to keeping data integrated and in sync so business users know they can trust the data to be relevant and accurate," he added.

While the actual events won't be taking place until July and August next year, the need for government organisations to ensure access to real-time information for security intelligence is seen as a "top of the agenda" effort. "[The need to] yield actionable intelligence identity resolution technology will enable organisations to search, find, match and group identity data, so that disparate data sources can be connected in order to identify matches and relationships," Seager said.

"Governments must be able to "connect the dots" to be able to respond to potential public safety threats before they occur."