Dunkin, Cavallo, Kent, GAO to Testify at Jan. 20 FITARA 13.0 Hearing

The House Government Operations Subcommittee has confirmed scheduling for its Jan. 20 hearing on the 13^th edition of the FITARA Scorecard issued by the House Oversight and Reform Committee that grades major Federal agencies for progress across a range of IT-related goals.

The subcommittee’s announcement of the Jan. 20 hearing, set for 10 a.m., confirms MeriTalk’s earlier reporting on the hearing scheduling.

Cybersecurity issues, among others, are likely to get some attention at the hearing, based on interest stated earlier this week by subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., the panel’s ranking member.  Subcommittee members are also due to discuss evolving metrics for the scorecard.

Federal agency CIO ranks will be represented among hearing witnesses by Ann Dunkin, CIO at the Energy Department, and Guy Cavallo, CIO at the Office of Personnel Management, along with former Federal CIO Suzette Kent, who now heads her own consulting firm.

Also testifying will be Carol Harris, Director of Information Technology and Cybersecurity at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which assists the House committee in formulating the FITARA Scorecard grades.  Rounding out the witness list are former GAO IT and Cybersecurity Director Dave Powner, who is now Executive Director of MITRE Corp.’s Center for Data-Driven Policy, and Richard Spires, principal at Richard A. Spires Consulting.

In announcing the hearing, the subcommittee said that a “variety of factors, including methodology, data availability, agency motivation, and the cycle of the Scorecard, have resulted in stalling grades.”

“Given this stagnation, the Subcommittee plans to update the methodology behind the Scorecard to ensure it accurately reflects the agency progress,” the panel said. “This hearing will explore possibilities for future updates to the FITARA Scorecard so that it can continue to serve as an effective tool for oversight of federal IT management and acquisition.”

The 12^th edition of the FITARA Scorecard saw most of the 24 CFO Act agencies with overall grades in the “B” and “C” range.  Four agencies earned higher grades, two saw their grades decline, and 18 received the same grade compared to the 11^th version of the scorecard.

The subcommittee noted today that the scorecard process has resulted in savings of more than $20 billion to the government over the past six years, along with improvements to Federal agency IT security.