CIOs: Counselor vs. Value Seeker

In case you didn't catch it, Nextgov posted a story containing a conversation I had with Karen Evans, administrator for e-government and information technology at the Office of Management and Budget. Evans discussed a number of topics -- from OMB's date to release the final President's Management Agenda scorecard (December 3) to her plans to retire from the government at the end of the Bush administration.

But the focus of our discussion was on OMB memo M-09-02, which outlined the responsibilities and authority of federal chief information officers.

Nextgov has written extensively on the memo and how it did not address what much of the federal CIO community has been asking for: a clear reporting line of authority from the CIO to the head of the agency. Most management consultants we've spoken to strongly believe that for IT to be deployed most effectively, CIOs must be involved in strategic and budgetary discussions at the highest level.