While undoubtedly tenuous, as of this writing, a bipartisan compromise infrastructure bill is still a go in Congress. Bipartisan legislation is a rarity these days; while any sort of bipartisan legislation is surprising, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise infrastructure is the topic of such a bill.
Infrastructure spending creates both working-class jobs in the short-term as well as increased economic efficiencies in the longer term. The result is that the estimated return on investment for infrastructure spending typically comes before most other classes of fiscal allocations in legislation, be it new spending or tax cuts. For example, according to the Economic Policy Institute in 2017, every $1.00 spent on infrastructure will result in an $1.57 increase in GDP. For the specific infrastructure bill currently in negotiation, estimates are that it will boost GDP 1% by 2025.
One notable storyline that has come out of the negotiations has been what exactly qualifies as “infrastructure.” The GOP has insisted on a package that stick close to historical definitions (e.g., roads and bridges) while Democrats have advocated infrastructure should encompass a much broader set of programs including childcare and paid leave. It is notable, however, that there is little debate IT falls under infrastructure, with the compromise calling for a $65B investment in broadband (more than half of the funds in the proposal for roads and bridges). This is especially true as COVID forced businesses of all sizes to find ways for employees to maximize productivity in work-from-home environment.
Of course, IT infrastructure can go well beyond broadband connections that make work-from-home possible. That is why workflow automation software is another thing we can all agree on. Automating tedious tasks to empower employees to focus on tasks that add value was on track to grow at an annualized rate of 24% even before COVID put renewed emphasis on IT infrastructure.
At Extract, we are proud to be part of this market and consider ourselves to be building power workflow automation infrastructure solutions that empower large returns on investment for our government, healthcare, and business customers forward. After all, the value of our solutions is something our customers can all agree on.
Written By:
Steve Kurth- Software Development Manager