Who's Minding the Store?

t's been two years since the General Services Administration got out of the information technology oversight business, leaving the Office of Management and Budget as the sole executive branch policy-maker and watchdog.

The IT oversight work at OMB is coordinated with budget reviews and other management activities, but it's primarily the responsibility of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. IT, though, is only a sideline for OIRA. Its main job is reviewing all the rules and regulations promulgated by federal agencies. OIRA has been without a permanent administrator for more than a year, and its longtime IT branch chief, Bruce McConnell, recently moved to another post in OMB.

Hardly anyone misses the heavy-handed GSA oversight, but some question whether OMB is providing enough leadership and coordination as the government makes the transition to online operations. In particular, there have been renewed proposals for a national chief information officer to coordinate the federal government's $30 billion annual spending on IT.

One coordination mechanism created by executive order as part of Clinger-Cohen implementation is the Chief Information Officers Council, headed by OMB's deputy director for management, G. Edward DeSeve. Its members are the 28 CIOs of the Cabinet departments and large independent agencies. DeSeve describes the council as "a self-regulating organization" similar conceptually to U.S. stock exchanges, which enact the rules that govern how their members transact business.

Some people involved with the council say it has little real authority. The council has not passed mandates that require much change in how IT is acquired, managed and used. The members "are not allowed too much thinking out of the box," says former Interior CIO Donald R. Lasher. "It has become very clear that it [the council] makes a decision on nothing," says Health and Human Services Deputy CIO Neil J. Stillman.

Other council members, such as Housing and Urban Development CIO Gloria R. Parker, disagree. "We're not rubber-stamping what OMB does," Parker says. "We are a very independent voice."

The council wins high marks from almost everyone as a mechanism for cooperation on common problems and issues.