It's Just Business

Chief information officers come out of the technology closet.

For federal chief information officers, business is no longer about technology. It's about business.

That might seem like an enigma at first, but look at it from a CIO's perspective. Technology is infused in everything we do. Nowadays, people don't see technology as something they must master, and they are not terribly impressed by gadgetry. Technology is something we expect to be there, to "enable outcomes," to borrow from CIO parlance.

CIOs are more focused on how their agencies do business than on the tools they use. Take the Agriculture Department. Thirty agencies and staff offices carry out a disparate array of "business processes," including managing the national food stamp and school lunch programs, overseeing 192 million acres of national forests and rangelands, and ensuring the safety of meat, poultry and egg products. These functions must work together at some level in conjunction with the department's overall mission. CIOs map out the processes and the vision in documents called enterprise architectures. Only then do they worry about which technology to use.

Nowhere is the CIO's focus on business and mission more pronounced than in the lines-of-business initiatives being led by the Office of Management and Budget. Launched in March 2004, the effort involves interagency task forces that examine business processes in five key management areas across government: financial management, human resources, grants, health care, and law enforcement case management. The goal is to identify common business processes in each area and to eliminate duplicates. Ultimately, OMB wants to create "centers of excellence" that will manage whole chunks of daily business tasks for many agencies. Already, four payroll processing centers are handling that function for more than 20 agencies, with plans to bring on more.

The lines-of-business projects mark a turning point in how the government understands and uses technology, and CIOs are leading the effort. Therefore, it marks an evolution for these chiefs, as well, since their position was created by the Clinger-Cohen Act in 1996. Career employees as well as political appointees are eligible for the job, which doesn't require Senate confirmation. For CIOs, the goal is to no longer to be called "the tech guys." It's to be seen as executives with real skin in the management game.

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS

• Karen S. Evans
  Office of Management and Budget: Administrator of the Office of E-Government and Information Technology, Director of the Chief Information Officers Council
• Dave Combs
  Agriculture: Acting Chief Information Officer
• Tom Pyke
  Commerce: Chief Information Officer
• John G. Grimes
  Defense: Chief Information Officer (Designate)
• William T. Hobbins
  Air Force: Acting Chief Information Officer
• Steven W. Boutelle
  Army: Chief Information Officer
• David Wennergren
  Navy: Chief Information Officer
• Michell Clark
  Education: Acting Assistant Secretary for Management, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief Information Officer
• Rosita Parkes
  Energy: Chief Information Officer
• Michael W. Carleton
  General Services Administration: Chief Information Officer
• Charles Havekost
  Health and Human Services: Chief Information Officer
• Scott Charbo
  Homeland Security: Chief Information Officer
• Lisa Schlosser
  Housing and Urban Development: Chief Information Officer
• W. Hord Tipton
  Interior: Chief Information Officer
• Vance Hitch
  Justice: Chief Information Officer
• Patrick Pizzella
  Labor: Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, Chief Information Officer, Chief Acquisition Officer, Chief Human Capital Officer
• Patricia Dunnington
  NASA: Chief Information Officer
• Janet L. Barnes
  Office of Personnel and Management: Chief Information Officer
• Thomas P. Hughes
  Social Security Administration: Chief Information Officer
• Jay Anania
  State: Acting Chief Information Officer
• Daniel P. Matthews
  Transportation: Chief Information Officer
• Ira Hobbs
  Treasury: Chief Information Officer
• Robert N. McFarland
  Veterans Affairs: Chief Information Officer, Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology