Jacob Lew

OMB’s CIO Memo: Clarifies and Reinforces Primary CIO Responsibilities

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COMMENTARY:
Earlier last month, OMB Director Jacob Lew released a memorandum for the heads of all federal departments and agencies, which focused on four areas for which all federal chief information officers (CIOs) have authority and “a lead role”: Governance, Commodity IT, Program Management, and Information Security. The memorandum further reinforced responsibilities of the Federal CIO Council to manage the federal IT portfolio across agency boundaries.

The OMB action provides impetus for CIOs to leverage Obama Administration initiatives in driving change in their agencies, and represents and important signal of support for the position from the Administration – especially notable in light of its issuance just as the new Federal CIO, Steve VanRoekel, was taking the reigns from Vivek Kundra. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 2, 2011 at 10:01 AM

Agencies Must Prepare For 10% Cuts in 2013 Fiscal Year Budget

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Federal agency and department leaders should plan for a 5 percent reduction in discretionary spending in fiscal year 2013, and prepare for more cuts –at least 10 percent–according to a White House Office of Management and Budget memo. At the same time, OMB urged agencies to look for opportunities to enhance economic growth.

Unless agencies have been given explicit direction to the contrary by OMB, overall agency funding requests for fiscal year 2013 should be “at least 5 percent below your 2011 enacted discretionary appropriation,” OMB Director Jacob Lew wrote in an Aug. 17 memo to federal agency and department heads. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 18, 2011 at 11:02 AM

White House Expands Duties Of Federal CIOs

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The role of federal chief information officers is about to shift, according to the government’s new top CIO, Steven VanRoekel, who was named last week to succeed outgoing CIO, Vivek Kundra.

In a White House blog post published last night, VanRoekel highlighted four new areas of focus for federal CIOs: Governance, Commodity IT, Program Management, and Information Security. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 9, 2011 at 11:00 AM