Senators press OMB for A-130 update
Two key senators are getting impatient waiting for a new version of a key piece of governmentwide IT policy that hasn't been updated in 15 years.
Sens. Ron Johnson (l) and Tom Carper, the leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, are growing impatient with the pace of the scheduled updates to the A-130 circular, which governs federal information policy.
The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have pressed the Office of Management and Budget on when it will release an update to a key IT management policy for the executive branch.
In a letter to OMB Director Shaun Donovan, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) emphasized the importance of finishing the update to the policy, known as Circular A-130, in a timely manner. OMB has indicated it will release the final version of the policy this summer, but the senators want a specific release date and want OMB to brief their staffs on the document's status within a month.Circular A-130 is a broad framework for federal IT policy that includes topics such as open data, privacy and security, records management and acquisition. However, the document has not been updated in more than 15 years. Calls for revising Circular A-130 date back to at least 2005, the senators said, citing an FCW story.
Proposed changes take into account the centralized budget authorities under the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, the new emphasis on shorter software development cycles and the push to upgrade legacy technology. The revised document also carves out areas of responsibility for OMB and the Department of Homeland Security in protecting federal networks .
The stale document "remains an obstacle to the full adoption of [a] modern, automated approach to cybersecurity across government," the senators wrote.
The circular currently requires agencies to audit the security controls for major applications at least every three years, the senators said, arguing that the paper-laden process is neither cost-effective nor in line with other federal policies.
"The A-130 has been around for a while and the world has changed during the times it's been around and we just want to make sure that OMB is mindful that time is passing," Carper told FCW.
FCW staff writer Aisha Chowdhry contributed to this report.