{"id":57885,"date":"2021-09-23T13:14:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T13:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/09\/23\/presentation-is-everything-the-pentagons-budget-data-needs-a-makeover\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:15:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:15:27","slug":"presentation-is-everything-the-pentagons-budget-data-needs-a-makeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2021\/09\/23\/presentation-is-everything-the-pentagons-budget-data-needs-a-makeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Presentation is key: Why the Pentagon\u2019s budget data needs a makeover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Within the fiscal 2022 defense budget request<\/a>, the Department of Defense has invested in the next generation of leading emerging technologies and capabilities. Ironically, at the same time, the way in which the funding of these new capabilities is organized is entirely outdated. As a pleasant surprise, however, the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act, which had its House Armed Services Committee markup hearing earlier this month, requires the DoD to provide reports on how to improve defense budget-related materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While improvements to budget data materials don\u2019t earn the award for sexiest line in the NDAA, it was a pleasant surprise to see this issue garner some attention. Although we\u2019ve become accustomed to traversing the treasure trove of budget data, improvements to the materials are long overdue \u2014 not only to make the lives of budget analysts easier, but to ensure greater transparency and oversight, thus helping ensure resources align to strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each year, the department releases budget justification documents, which consist of essential budget data, in the form of thousands of PDF pages and several Excel files across multiple websites. The format of these materials has not changed for roughly 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first major issue with the presentation of defense budget data is that it\u2019s scattered. Data is dispersed across PDFs and Excel files, making it difficult to accurately and comprehensively cover the financial tracks of an entire program. Moreover, the sorting and tagging functions within the materials are rudimentary at best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, while possible, the budget data is difficult to compare across time. Not only is it challenging to extract the right numbers to view a program\u2019s funding over the course of a Future Years Defense Program, but deflators and other economic indicators are not integrated. Instead, the formulas live in separate materials called green books. This impedes comprehensive oversight of major investments because it takes time and know-how to accurately pull the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\t