All Federal agencies of the United States government are experiencing issues and setbacks in one of the most critical areas, if not the most important part of the agencies, information technology. The United States Government lacks a universal solution of sharing IT policies and best practices. This missing virtual Wikipedia across all agencies is creating numerous problems in terms of organization, time, and resources. Many government agencies are using their own repositories that are either outdated and/or incompetent to standards that are questionable, arguably non-existing. Because of the lack of standards, IT productivity and security are at a low. With the increase of technology used across the agencies, it is customary to always adapt …show more content…
The scorecards reveal how IT operations are progressing. Based on the 2014 scores, no agency received an A grade while majority received Ds and Fs. The goal of FITARA is to provide a set of guidance to better manage IT systems. With scores on the lower ends, this raises the question on what the agencies will do to improve moving into the future. If agencies are scoring this low, a universal sharing system will offer collaboration and share solutions to issues one may have. Most of the agencies do not have an architecture in place that offers a goal tracking collaboration tool. A lack of this type of system is wasting time and resources. There is hope however that FITARA is raising awareness and the scorecard grades will improve. The grades are the overall performance, but the elements of each agency will deliver the transformation. Congress and the Office of Management and Budget are offering assistance, but limitations …show more content…
There are efforts from the White House directing a shift to the Office of management and Budget (OMB) along with the Department of Homeland Security, however the efforts are minimal at best. The bridge of this gap potentially is cloud computing. The use of cloud computing services is tricky as it must meet many guidelines of the agencies involving currents IT security and risk management policies. According to current standards, the agency wanting to carry out the cloud computing source must meet all laws and regulations. The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), which is a program that provides the standard for cloud assessment, assists with leverage towards facilitation, however it is not sufficient enough to meet the requirements. Many agencies such as the Department of Energy and Defense Information Systems Agency are using cloud systems, but both for different reasons with no known
Most IT departments agree that less is more in the grand scheme of systems to maintain, manage and administer. This recommendation follows that
With any organization, rather it be civilian or military focused, there is a common element that resides; organizational competencies. These competencies is what makes any organization unique and identifies how they do the things they do, how relationships with institution division and external entities are developed and handled. With Information technology shifting from an administrative support tool to a strategic role within the organization, the question, or debate, is whether or not the planning and implementation of information technology, based on strategic goals, essentially share the same organizational competencies. This article will
The selected agency chosen for this paper is the City of Memphis Information Services, (IS). The City of Memphis has existing and emerging technologies in government operations, and its delivery of services to the public. The IS works to improve City government efficiency through technology and to make communications with the City uncomplicated and clear. The vision of the IS is to be recognized as a leading provider of innovative IT solutions for municipal services. The mission statement is: “Collaborate with City divisions in leveraging technology which provides responsive and cost effective services which support the City’s four priorities” (The City of Memphis, 2015). The Information Services Division’s FY 2015-2019 IS strategic
US Citizenship and Immigration Services are in the midst of an unprecedented shift in technology where end-user and mission demands are fast exceeding IT’s capacity to fulfill them. The office of the CIO needs to deploy an enterprise wide architecture to meet the demanding agency needs. The Next generation applications such as an electronic immigrant processing, record submission and online status verification require a next generation infrastructure architecture. The goal is to establish an operational model where resources can be provisioned dynamically and minimize capital investments in order to expedite time to production with agency capabilities. The question is should the USCIS government agency switch from their current operational
The primary performance measures are related to student achievement based on standardized tests. Still, as with any organization today, cyberspace support plays an important part in reaching the strategic goals which include organization excellence and outreach. The IT division supports the DoDEA goals by “delivering reliable, secure, high-performing and cost-effective networks and services to our students, teachers and staff.” (CSP, 2013) The IT division is comprised of five branches: CIO-Enterprise Architecture, System Development, HQ Operations & Customer Support, Information Resources, and Information Assurance.
Title III of the E-Government Act, entitled the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) requires each federal agency to develop, document, and implement an agency-wide program to provide information security for the information and systems that support the operations and assets of the agency, including those provided or managed by another agency, contractor, or other sources (Staff, 2016). FISMA was amended by The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014. The amendment was established to modernize the Federal security practices to focus on security concerns. The results of these changes will strengthen continuous monitoring, continue focusing on agency compliance, and report on issues caused by security incidents. FISMA, Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (Clinger-Cohen Act), clearly highlights the plans for a cost-effective security program. In support of and reinforcing this legislation, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) through Circular A-130, “Managing Federal Information as a Strategic Resource,”1 requires executive agencies within the federal government to:
The Department of Defense needed an architecture model to address growing complex systems where integration and interoperability were posing problems. February 1996, the Information Technology Management Reform Act, more commonly known as the Clinger-Cohen Act, was to reform and improve the ways that Federal agencies managed and acquired information technology resources with specific guidance in the United States Office of Management and Budget Circular (OMB). “The Clinger-Cohen Act supplements the information resources management policies by establishing a comprehensive approach for executive agencies to improve the acquisitions and management of their information resources by; focusing information resource planning to support strategic missions,
The purpose of this paper is to implement an Information Technological (IT) operational plan into the Fresno region of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). A successful IT operational plan identifies specific activities and projects that will support the information service strategy within an organization. An IT operational plan contributes to the organization’s framework, and outlines operational plans that will achieve strategic goals. IT operational plans will layout the ground works of how different entity or servers communicate and work together. A successful IT operational plan will result in various systems working in collaboration with each other and enhance organizational flexibility.
The implementation of “10-Point Plan for IT Modernization” began as Teri’s big initiative to upgrade the information technology infrastructure. An assessment on typical IT infrastructures we look at the organization, technological, and the strategy overall. In order to begin implementing new plans, the current infrastructure and architecture must be assessed, a design and model for the new system must be created and then the strategy to implement the new
Without centralized IT leadership defining program goals, alignment within the agency’s IT programs was not possible. Culturally, existing tools, such as the Automated Case Support (ACS) system, were under-utilized, and agents did not trust them to protect evidence and confidential sources (OIG Audit Report 05-07, 2005). Numerous techniques exist that would have allowed Trilogy leadership to gain key input from system users, which would have had the dual benefit of creating understanding of the ground-level needs of users and fostering user buy-in at the project’s outset.
Abstract. The Internet is permeating all aspects of our lives. This includes business and organizational endeavors as well as our personal lives. Businesses have become to depend on the Internet for their supply chain, advertising, and sales. E-commerce has experienced a tremendous growth in the last decade. Organizations are looking for new ways to leverage the Internet for business growth. Web Services is a growing technology in the Information Systems field. Data Management is also an ever-increasing endeavor for many organizations. The need for information is
To guide and assist organizations with implementing the security program that is appropriate for their needs, certain industry accepted standards have been designed and made available to the market. NIST is popular predominantly in the USA – a recent survey found that 82 percent of 150 IT and security professionals in the federal government said their agencies are either fully or partially implementing the
The impact of information technology has been tremendous within the public sector. Over the years, the growth and development of technology has caused the public sector to change. One of the most significant changes in technology has been the evolution of the information systems and how their development has reshaped the way the world uses technology. “It has been just over fifty years since the worlds first programmable computer became operational. It cost millions of dollars to build and processed an unprecedented 5,000 instructions per second. By 1971, Intel was able to pack 25 times that power into a single, two hundred-dollar chip. Today’s personal computers process
The Federal Government needs to create information systems which are more effective shielded systems to protect their assets and resources at home. The foundation of any mandated cybersecurity strategies that secure our nation national security must incorporate worldwide or state local threats whether targeted toward the federal government or the private sector forces. The OPM breach highlighted the insufficient and inconsistence security approaches the federal government has already used in modernizing the existing cybersecurity policies. There is a requirement for the United States government to institute polices that would incorporate and implement new government cybersecurity structures and centralized the protection of their assets to avert future breaches (Source). Examining the inadequacies in the current national cybersecurity policies and regulations is disappointing as OPM choice to implement these mechanisms and the current authoritative propositions to cybersecurity must change immediately. It was reported that OPM only spent $2 million in 2015 to avert pernicious digital assaults, while the Department of Agriculture spent $39 million. The Department of Commerce, Department of Education, and Department of Labor likewise invested more money in cybersecurity resources than the Office of Personnel Management. The Small Business Administration devoted a similar amount into cybersecurity to recognizing, examining, and alleviate any cyber breaches as OPM, however
In deploying the use of IT in an agency there will be challenges which will be encountered, in the case where the federal agency could be moving to a cloud, it may not be welcomed by most employees of the federal agencies. It was the case of City of Pittsburgh, they had some strict limitation and challenges in the deployment of their new IT project involving the use of the Cloud. They did some analysis on the Internal and External Environment. Some specific challenges they were faced include;