Dan Chenok

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Technology

A non-profit, educational organization, the American Council for Technology, in conjunction with the Industry Advisory Council, engaged over 100 volunteers in preparing a series of papers that comprise a “Quadrennial Government Technology Review.”  The executive summary of the Review highlights three recommendations that the authors believe could lead to annual cost reductions of $220 billion – f

Right now, those three years are FY2012 (the budget for which spending is currently happening); FY2013 (the year beginning this October 1, now under consideration by Congress regarding the president’s budget request); and FY2014 (the budget year agencies begin to plan for in the spring, submit to OMB in September, and carry out the request that ultimately emerges from the president in February). Then the three-year cycle begins anew.

This is because government now has thousands of mission systems using legacy architecture, each built for a single purpose to support the needs of a single program or agency. Common standards, common definitions of like data, or enterprise approaches are rarely used in the federal government. Government does not often leverage IT to make things simpler, generate economies of scale, or increase collaboration. Over the last 20 years, mission systems have become more customized and focused on single programs or needs, making government information systems at once more siloed and complex.

Both are strategic assets to an agency that understands managing these resources efficiently and effectively is essential to its success. In fact, it was the 19th largest federal civilian agency in terms of IT spending in FY 2010, with a budget of $466 million.

 

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra announced the Administration’s 25-point plan for IT reform last December.  Since that time, and much attention has focused on reviewing the plan’s elements (including in this blog), and OMB has led an active implementation agenda to achieve the milestones laid out by the plan.  Last week’s White House meeting with IT leaders added an important new c

 

  As occurs each year, the President’s Budget Proposal includes a Chapter on IT spending – it’s in the “Analytical Perspectives” document, Chapter 20.  This chapter highlights key current and forthcoming priorities, and represents the IT spending report required under the Clinger Cohen Act.