President’s Management Council approves 23 federal projects

The President’s Management Council, made up of 29 chief agency operating officers, this week approved 23 e-government projects.“Each of these initiatives represent this concept that I’ve been laying out: Unify and simplify,” said Mark Forman, associate director for IT and e-government at the Office of Management and Budget.Some projects will consolidate redundant federal systems, and others will simplify agencies’ business processes. OMB will release the list of the approved initiatives soon, said Forman.“It’s a major recognition that there are key priorities on how we do business as a government,” Forman said. “This represents, for the first time since e-gov has been at the forefront, setting priorities on how to leverage multiagency efforts.”Forman, the head of OMB’s Interagency Task Force in charge of allocating the $100 million e-gov fund, said only some of the money for the initiatives will come from that fund. “Some of it can come from better use of agency IT investments,” he said.The rest of the sources, including $400 million to start his own systems consolidation projects, will be decided during budget talks.