OMB names e-gov chief

Mark Forman will lead the administration's e-government and information technology initiatives

OMB

The Office of Management and Budget today named Mark Forman to lead the Bush administration's e-government and information technology initiatives starting June 25.

OMB Director Mitchell Daniels Jr. created Forman's new position, associate director for information technology and e-government, as the "leading executive" for technology issues. He will serve under the deputy director for management, a position not yet filled in the Bush administration. The person in that position will also hold the title of federal chief information officer, according to a statement from OMB.

Forman will be responsible for overseeing agencies' efforts to use technology to improve best practices and performance. He also will lead the administration's development of internal IT policy, direct the federal CIO Council, and will have responsibility over the $100 million e-government fund for interagency initiatives that President Bush created in his fiscal 2002 budget request.

Forman currently serves as vice president for e-business at Unisys Corp., where he also oversees the company's e-government efforts. Before that, he was head of global e-business strategy in IBM Global Service's public sector.

He previously served as the senior professional staff member of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, where he helped develop legislation that included the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996, which created the position of agency CIO and regulates federal IT management.

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