U.S. citizens expect the government to run efficiently and to deliver services that will make their lives better. The GSA, which supports the basic functioning of federal agencies, is one of the keys to making this happen. But the massive amount of data the GSA collects was segregated in distinct places, which meant it couldn't be shared across the federal government. This resulted in inaccurate analytics, inefficiencies, and potentially poor decisions—ultimately impacting the services delivered to citizens.

To make the best use of its data, the GSA called on Acuity Systems, a technology solutions provider and Red Hat^® partner. Acuity used Red Hat's open source solutions to build the GSA’s new Data to Decisions (D2D) platform. The platform collects data from more than 100 data sources and 190 data sets, and meets the federal government's mandate to use open source technologies and solutions whenever possible. “Open source provides an affordable solution that is more scalable and easier to integrate with other solutions and technologies,” said Paul Shulman, president of Acuity.

The D2D platform is delivering better ways for the GSA to use its data. Information is no longer separated but is available for analysis by many government departments. The platform is easy for users without much technical knowledge, and it scales readily and lowers the cost of ownership. Citizens benefit when their government is more efficient and better positioned to make the right decisions based on accurate analytics.