IT

(This article first appeared on the Brookings Blog "TechTank.")

A review of the federal budget process

Today, more than ever, with the increasing number of cybersecurity attacks on government organizations and threats of data breaches to the privacy of government officials and their staffs, and government contractor staffs, strong IT Governance based on sound IT risk management is critical to restoring confidence in the security and privacy protections provided by our Federal Government.  This is no longer purely an IT technology issue but an issue that must be addressed at the top layers of government – from the “overseers” of IT policy (e.g., Office of Management and Budget (OMB), National

As previously discussed, all Federal departments/agencies were charged with establishing an IT Governance program per OMB Memorandum M-09-02.

To start, guiding principles can ensure that all staff have a common understanding of the core IT Governance criteria. These guiding principles let staff know that IT Governance is recognized by the C-Suite as critical to the organization’s success, and that IT resources result in maximum effectiveness and efficiency across the organization. It ensures that security is integrated in meeting requirements and delivers benefits set by an organization’s business leaders.

This consists of a definition of IT Governance communicated throughout the agency, and the establishment of a new organizational structure to ensure the IT Governance Program is effective and continuously improved. Continuing with the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) example discussed in the previous blog, below is the definition VA developed and a generic discussion of the organizational structure that VA adopted.

This post is the fourth in a series on how strong IT Governance can help drive effective security across Federal enterprises.  See the first installment.

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 component t

Report card day: Agencies remain average or below on IT reforms. House lawmakers are set to release the second scorecard grading agencies’ implementation of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and the progress across all four categories is limited.

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.