How data can become information, then insights, followed by intelligence

The world of government contracting is no doubt a vital aspect of the U.S.’s economy, global competitiveness, and national security efforts.

But over the years, this market has become increasingly congested with organizations vying for a limited number of bids, making standing out amongst the competition no easy feat.

However, abundant opportunities are available to organizations that are able to tap into rich data sources and extract the right information, provide the experienced resources needed to identify trends and glean meaningful insights, and translate these insights into actionable market intelligence.

Specifically, U.S. government data can be leveraged to gain a competitive advantage in the saturated GovCon landscape by uncovering unique findings that produce substantial opportunities for success.

But the main challenge associated with using government data for market intelligence may seem trivial: actually making sense of the data.

As Einstein noted, “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”

Sorting through mountains of available data where experience and understanding are requisite to reveal meaning is not for the faint of heart. Complicating these efforts are the anomalies present within most government data sets, and, more recently, the shifts in priorities and emphasis on cost-cutting from the Trump administration which caused significant implications on historical spending data.

So, how exactly can companies make market intelligence work for them despite these daunting challenges?

Collecting and Processing Government Data

To start the process, government contractors must seek out the data that will eventually become market intelligence. Although highly dependent on organizations’ intended outcomes, certain types of government data are often more valuable for gaining a competitive advantage in the market than others.

Typically, among the most fruitful are procurement, contracting, and financial insights; policies, plans, and budgets; and market trends and announcements.

Businesses should keep in mind that getting the “big picture” to truly lead with market intelligence often requires insights generated with data from multiple sources.

To identify, access, and utilize government data most effectively, companies must adopt a structured approach that prioritizes the alignment of key business objectives to available resources.

By taking the time to define business goals and set specific objectives, organizations will set themselves up to more easily identify the areas where government data can provide actionable insights. When it is time to locate data sources, businesses can look to centralized platforms like Data.gov or GovSpend, for example, to explore government spending data across various categories.

In addition, they can stay in the loop by subscribing to updates from key agencies and keeping apprised of notable government announcements concerning funding, grants, or other regulatory changes.

While the most significant way to ensure success relies on experienced staff fully understanding the government information, there are tools and technologies that can be used to streamline the data collection and processing stages.

As budgets allow, companies can explore options designed for data discovery, integration, analysis, and visualization to aid in their market intelligence journeys.

Transforming Piles of Data into Digestible Information

The analysis and interpretation of government data is as much an art as it is a science. Nuances exist in every single data set, regardless of an organization's objective.

Because the foundation of each initiative varies, identifying data patterns requires a willingness to explore the unknown, developing hypotheses and then testing them— a process that often takes more than just one try.

But government data, like all other types, is no stranger to human biases. Through skewed analysis and interpretation, data sets can be manipulated to derive an intended result. Because of this, it is imperative to define clear goals for extraction, avoid initial assumptions, and remain open to all possible outcomes.

By using reliable and valid data, documenting interpretation approaches, and presenting all discoveries, findings should remain impartial.

Extracting Insights from Abundant Information Sets

The most effective means of synthesizing data to uncover valuable insights starts with organizing and structuring data in a meaningful way based on companies’ specific objectives. To identify patterns and trends, there are three valuable techniques commonly recognized:

1. Compare and contrast similarities, differences, and anomalies.
2. Examine how variables change over time to detect trends or cycles.
3. Identify groupings within data.

Combining quantitative and qualitative data is required to produce the most robust insights possible. By integrating numerical data (e.g., statistics and metrics) with qualitative findings (e.g., personal perspectives, surveys, and interviews) a holistic view of data is provided, allowing for qualitative themes to be translated into measurable metrics, and vice versa.

Data visualization is one way to effectively communicate information derived from government data. Visual aids can distill complex information into more understandable formats, making it easier for viewers to grasp key points quickly. Representing dull data sets in a dynamic dashboard can tell a compelling story to guide the audience in a logical and engaging way.

By allowing for straightforward comparisons between different data sets, visualization can reveal trends, patterns, and outliers that may not be easily apparent in raw data.

Shifting These Insights to Intelligence

Translating insights into strategic and tactical intelligence involves bridging the gap between analysis and action. It’s the interpretation of the final output and what follows that creates meaningful and lasting results. Strategic intelligence focuses on longer-term goals, trends, and macro-level planning, whereas tactical Intelligence focuses on immediate operational objectives. Therefore, organizations must determine which type of intelligence they require.

If done effectively, market intelligence can play a critical role in driving desired business outcomes by providing a comprehensive understanding of the market environment, competitors, teammates, customers, and industry trends.

Quality intelligence is invaluable, allowing companies to identify relevant business opportunities, mitigate risk, inform innovation efforts, improve agility, and optimize performance.

As the Trump Administration continues to find opportunities for cost-cutting and other efficiencies, having access to agency experts who can interpret quantitative data in light of these new priorities becomes a game changer.
To measure and evaluate the effectiveness of market intelligence, businesses should review their impact on the business objectives (e.g., revenue metrics, win rate, market share, customer acquisition/retention/satisfaction, etc.) outlined in their original goals. After evaluating the results, they can determine what, if anything, should be changed ahead of the next iteration of intelligence generation.

Moving Ahead of the Competition with Strong Market Intelligence

Though the GovCon market is certainly a crowded one, generating powerful intelligence is the key to standing out amongst competition. As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence continue to shape the future of the market intelligence landscape, the value provided by experienced employees cannot be overlooked.

Contractors must not rush the process and should be patient with results, as the notable outcomes will be well worth the effort. With the right team in place, aided by industry and government experts providing deep market knowledge, organizations will have the resources needed to thrive in the new year and for years to come.

Ryan Felts is vice president of strategy and market intelligence at Deep Water Point & Associates.