“Synergy” is thought by many to be merely a buzz word reserved for cantankerous discussions on business news radio, but with little literal meaning. When applied in an appropriate context, however, “synergy” can have both significant meaning and significant value for organizations in the public and private sectors alike.

Earlier this month, OMB Director Jacob Lew released a memorandum for the heads of all Federal Departments and Agencies, which focused on four areas for which all Federal Chief Information Officers (CIOs) have authority and “a lead role”: Governance, Commodity IT, Program Management, and Information Security.  The Memorandum further reinforced responsibilities of the Federal CIO Council to manage the Federal IT portfolio across agency boundaries.

Noted government observer Donald Kettl, wrote several years ago that the government of the future needs to develop three things to deal with increased complexity:  knowledge-driven organizations, the agility to deal with non-routine problems, and the capacity to implement non-hierarchical solutions.

Execution – the Last of the Es: Having skilled personnel and management, including governance, in place is another foundational element of picking consolidation targets. Budget constraints, investment scrutiny and customer satisfaction concerns necessitate investigation of this final and likely the most expensive criterion.

Execution – the Last of the Es: Having skilled personnel and management, including governance, in place is another foundational element of picking consolidation targets. Budget constraints, investment scrutiny and customer satisfaction concerns necessitate investigation of this final and likely the most expensive criterion.

Most experts can rattle off compelling technical and financial reasons in favor of IT consolidation. But it’s important to remember that unless agencies undertake a strategic approach early on, they are likely to end up worse-off post-consolidation than pre-consolidation. There are some aspects that are vital to long term success of agencies’ transition to a new environment: committed strategy, governance, business case, asset discovery, chargeback planning, expertise on hand, and structured architecture.

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued its first-ever Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) that delineates a strategy focusing on five mission priority areas for the homeland security enterprise. “Mission one is preventing terrorism and enhancing the security of the country.

The Minnesota Legislature recently passed a bi-partisan bill that was signed into law to create a Collaborative Governance Council that will increase collaboration between state and local government.  Might this be an inspiration for the federal government?   The law creates a 12-member council to develop recommendations to increase governmental collaboration by: reviewing laws and rules that slow collaboration efforts;<

Chris Mihm is the Managing Director for Strategic Issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). He leads GAO's work on governance and government-wide management reforms to support the transition to a more results-oriented and accountable federal government. Strategic Issues addresses such topics as strategic planning and performance management, budgeting and the Nation's long-term fiscal outlook, human capital management and civil service reform, intergovernmental issues, federal tax policy and administration, and the census.

The end of the Cold War marked the dawn of a new era in global security. It brought with it a time of tumultuous change in the U.S. intelligence community. September 11th further prompted the U.S.