The United States Agency for International Development became the first agency to receive an A on the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard on June 13. However, the scorecard reveals an overall decline in agencies’ performances. […]
Congress will be busy with future tech initiatives and members have high hopes for the potential of current programs, according to two congressmen who spoke June 7 at MeriTalk’s Cloud Computing Brainstorm. Congressional IT leaders Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Gerry Connolly, D-Va., talked about the future of major IT initiatives such as FedRAMP, the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, FITARA, and executive leadership, offering insight into the shape of IT developments in the coming months. […]
Nine of the 24 agencies evaluated under the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act are currently guided by acting chief information officers, raising the question of whether IT modernization efforts will be stalled. […]
The Department of Health and Human Services created an agencywide Integrated Project Team to meet the criteria outlined in the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act. […]
The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard should be embellished with yet another column indicating whether agencies have set up the rotating capital fund outlined in the Modernizing Government Technology Act, according to Karen Evans, national director for U.S. Cyber Challenge’s Center for Internet Security. […]
Although the Small Business Administration’s modernization efforts are well underway, they may not be reflected on the upcoming Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard, according to Maria Roat, the agency’s chief information officer. […]
Government is slowly working to modernize its legacy IT systems, with help from policies like FITARA and the Modernizing Government Technology Act, but government should consider the implications of leaving the IT business to the private sector, according to Roger Baker, former chief information officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs. […]
The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act could go the way of the Clinger-Cohen Act, according to some IT experts who attended a forum hosted by the Government Accountability Office. […]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will probably make the 2018 deadline to optimize its data centers, according to Karen Petraska, program executive for computing services at NASA. […]
More than two years after Congress passed the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act—the biggest overhaul of Federal IT acquisition in decades—most Federal chief information officers say they still don’t have the authority necessary to manage technology throughout their agencies. […]
Civil servants who create complex regulations are often their own worst enemy, according to Joe Paiva, chief information officer of the International Trade Administration. […]
The deadline for Federal agencies to close all of their data centers by 2018 will probably be extended for an unspecified amount of time, according to Dave Powner, director of IT issues at the Government Accountability Office. […]
Catch up on some reading this weekend. Here are a few interesting items from MeriTalk. […]
Renee Wynn, chief information officer for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said that the agency’s internal Business Service Assessment can account for its improvement in IT management. […]
The Department of Transportation’s F+ on the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard does not reflect all of the agency’s compliance work, according to a DOT spokesperson who asked to remain anonymous. […]
One agency received an overall F on its Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard—and it was not the agency that has failed the past two times. […]
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is concerned that Federal Chief Information Officers are struggling to make sure their agencies follow the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act. […]
Censeo Consulting Group worked with Cyrrus Analytics and Hettinger Strategy Group to create the report “FITARA at a Crossroads.” MeriTalk summarizes the 10 recommendations. […]
Sheila Yahyazadeh, senior consultant of KPMG’s Federal sector, said that Federal agencies’ disappointing scores on the FITARA report card could be an opportunity for learning and growth. […]
Tony Summerlin, who helped write FedRAMP, said he envisioned the program as a much quicker and sleeker version of what it is today. He says speed is one of the biggest challenges to Federal initiatives across the board, not just in the application of FedRAMP. […]
FITARA aims to empower CIOs by granting them authority over IT investments. But, shadow IT weakens FITARA efforts, leaving CIOs in the dark. What can agencies do to control shadow IT in order to protect data, but enable innovation? […]
When Richard McKinney started his job as chief information officer of the Department of Transportation, he didn’t know what its network looked like. “Our network was the child of many hands,” McKinney said. “There was no overarching architectural approach to our network.” […]
FITARA addresses the following four areas: Incremental development, risk assessment transparency, IT portfolio review savings, and data center consolidation. How do these areas support cybersecurity actions? […]
Transparency is key in demonstrating the value of money spent on information technology, according to the Federal Commission on IT Cost, Opportunity, Strategy, and Transparency. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture received a C grade on its Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard, which was released in May. Flip Anderson, acting executive director of FITARA for USDA, was so frustrated with the FITARA grading system that he created his own scorecard to gauge how closely the USDA complies with the act’s mandates. […]
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., outlines the many dangers facing the government’s effort to modernize its aging IT infrastructure. But the time to act is now, he said. […]
Time may be running out on the Federal government’s plan to replace and modernize billions of dollars’ worth of legacy IT systems—some of which date back more than 40 years and control critical programs, including the U.S. military’s nuclear arsenal. […]
Proponents of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) worry that a change in presidential administration could derail the progress made to release Federal financial data to the public. […]
NASA’s progress meeting the requirements of FITARA has been anything but out of this world. Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voiced disappointment at the mediocre progress made by most agency chief information officers, but NASA, arguably the most high-tech of all Federal agencies, was the only one to receive an F. […]
Congress next week plans to hold a hearing on how Federal agencies are doing in their adherence to the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, known as FITARA, and the public will get its first look at the second round of agency grades. […]