Will the White House give CIOs more power in the 2011 budget?
By Aliya Sternstein

November 11, 2009

As the White House readies the fiscal 2011 federal budget, language in some fiscal 2010 spending bills indicates a commitment from Congress and the executive branch to broaden the power of chief information officers, say some industry professionals.

A report accompanying the 2010 Veterans Affairs Department spending bill, which is awaiting full Senate consideration, calls on the department's CIO to certify a number of beleaguered information technology projects in order for them to receive funding.
Senate appropriators wrote that the VA secretary or CIO is permitted to revise its fiscal 2010 budget request, given that the department in July temporarily halted 45 IT projects that were either behind schedule or over budget. Roger Baker, the Veterans Affairs CIO, is reviewing the projects to decide whether they will be terminated.

"The committee understands how such a comprehensive review could alter the fiscal 2010 request for projects and programs that are to receive proposed funding," the report stated. "The committee has included bill language that restricts the obligation of IT development funds until the secretary or the chief information officer submits a certification letter to [appropriators] identifying which project/program is to receive funding in fiscal 2010 and for how much. . . . These letters will serve as the base reprogramming figures for development programs."

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel of the Professional Services Council, a trade group representing federal contractors, said the language signals Congress' intent to ensure the CIO has the managerial authority to hold contractors and program managers accountable, unlike previous years when CIOs didn't have the power or the influence to make sweeping changes.

The language differs from past years' reports and legislation on CIO funding authority "because it's more directive and it actually links spending to decisions," he added. Chvotkin perceives two factors driving Baker's actions and lawmakers' response: transparency and control.

The problems in some IT programs came to light while Baker and other top VA officials were preparing data for the White House's IT Dashboard Web site, which aims to increase transparency and accountability by tracking IT investments for the public.

Chvotkin said the budget also reflects a reaffirmation of congressional support for the function of the CIO.

Jennifer Kerber, vice president for federal and homeland security policy at TechAmerica, said the industry group's members are reporting more CIO involvement in IT spending decisions. "The CIO is playing more of a role in discussions about investment," she said. "The CIOs are being elevated. And the agencies are really turning to their technology expertise more than they have in the past."

Still, some believe Congress isn't giving CIOs more power and federal agencies and the IT industry should wait for the fiscal 2011 budget, the first that will fully reflect President Obama's spending and managerial priorities, for indications that the administration is giving CIOs more authority. For example, the fiscal 2010 spending mandate for the Agriculture Department's CIO closely resembles wording in the fiscal 2009 budget. The 2009 and 2010 Agriculture language stipulates that the CIO, with backing from the department's investment review board, must approve IT acquisitions and significant upgrades.

The fiscal 2010 budget, which was released shortly after Obama took office, was formulated in fiscal 2008 under the Bush administration, and edited quickly in early 2009 by the Obama White House, said Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at FedSources, a market research firm in McLean, Va. It would be premature to conclude much about Obama's promised endorsement of CIOs from the fiscal 2010 budget messages, Bjorklund said.

"This administration campaigned with a vision that IT could help to further improve the efficiency of government," he said.

Obama tapped Vivek Kundra and Aneesh Chopra to become the first-ever federal CIO and chief technology officer, respectively, to develop that vision. The White House could decide to centralize IT oversight within the Office of Management and Budget or to shift more power to agency CIOs, according to Bjorklund.

"While public servants naturally want to do the right thing, an enterprise as complex as the federal government often requires more galvanization to get things done effectively," he said. "I'm not sure which way it's going to go. OMB's Web site still says e-government initiatives and information technology policy are coming soon.'"