President Obama recently issued an Executive Order that will promote more efficient spending across the federal government as a part of his Campaign to Cut Waste, which has saved billions in taxpayer dollars since its inception two years ago.
Specifically, the President is directing agencies to identify wasteful and inefficient spending on things such as travel, executive fleets, publications and office equipment. These dollars can instead be used by federal agencies for more important, mission-critical initiatives.
To help trim budgets on business travel, agencies are turning to unified communications (UC). These UC technologies, such as video teleconferencing (VTC) solutions, can help eliminate the need for business travel by enabling government employees to attend meetings, conferences, classes and other events via video.
VTC is also enabling agencies to embrace other mandates and directives. Take the government’s mandate to go green as an example. VTC solutions are eco-friendly because they eliminate the need for excessive air and road travel. They are also enabling the government’s move towards telework since they enable government employees to interact and collaborate with their co-workers effectively and efficiently regardless of their location.
Utilizing VTC solutions, the Department of Energy is expected to save about $15.7 million within a year by replacing business travel with video communication. NASA is also considering VTC, which is projected to save the agency $17 million in the 2012 Fiscal Year. VTC is also expected to deliver the IRS a 27% decrease in spending on travel expenses in FY2012.
Similarly, UC technologies could help your agency eliminate wasteful spending on business travel and embrace other initiatives, such as telework and going green.
With the Executive Order focusing on cutting waste, has your agency explored the savings it can see via UC?
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