OMB chief tells Trump team IT modernization is key
In his exit memo to the next administration, OMB Director Shaun Donovan advises continuing IT modernization efforts, shared services and support for U.S. Digital Services.
Outgoing OMB chief Shaun Donovan wants his successor to continue with IT modernization efforts launched under the Obama administration.
The outgoing director of the Office of Management and Budget is urging his successor to continue the federal government's work on IT modernization and maintain its emphasis on shared services, new paths to procurement and digital services.
"It will be critical for OMB's Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer to continue to drive significant changes in governance, budgeting, financing, monitoring, and policymaking practices to most effectively support modernization and digitalization work across government on an ongoing basis," OMB Director Shaun Donovan wrote in a Jan. 5 exit memo.
The document was one in a series prepared by cabinet chiefs to highlight the record of the Obama administration and offer advice for the future.
In mid-December, President-elect Donald Trump tapped Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) to head OMB. Mulvaney does not have a long record on IT issues, but his time in Congress suggests an interest in cutting spending, outsourcing to the private sector and shrinking the federal workforce by attrition.
Donovan's letter said the Obama administration, through OMB's many IT initiatives, has leveraged technology and innovation to "produce a smarter, savvier, and more effective government for the American people."
Donovan contended that the Obama administration's approach to tech and IT modernization is working, saving nearly $4.7 billion over the past eight years.
He urged the incoming OMB director to continue to build Digital Service capabilities and support the General Service Administration's Technology Transformation Service, which includes the "fee-for-service consultancy"18F.
The fee that agencies pay to 18F for its work, Donovan wrote, "uniquely positions 18F to be able to scale to meet demand."
TTS, said Donovan, is also moving in other key areas, such as developing common, reusable products and platforms that can be applied across government. Those products and platforms include the platform-as-a-service Cloud.gov and the Login.gov universal login system, which will let the public access multiple government agency services with a single, secure account.
Donovan also advised the incoming director to "aggressively advance tech procurement reform and hiring/workforce reform."
Those efforts, he said, include 18F's Agile Blanket Purchase Agreement, the Department of Homeland Security's new Flash marketplace, GSA's efforts to reduce the barriers to entry for new federal contractors and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy's work to provide formal guidance to agencies on how to acquire agile software development services as a "commercial item."
More cloud-based service offerings, common in the commercial world, should be made more accessible and usable by government agencies, Donovan said.