OMB sniffing out system overlap
HUD's deputy chief information officer is on detail to OMB, looking for ways to cut costs and redundant systems
The Office of Management and Budget this month tapped Debra Stouffer to lead a thorough assessment of all overlapping information technology systems and programs across government, according to Mark Forman, OMB's associate director of IT and e-government.
Stouffer, who has been temporarily detailed to OMB, is the deputy chief information officer at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and co-chairwoman of the CIO Council's Best Practices Committee.
At OMB, she will lead the administration's "architecture analysis assessment" to identify further opportunities to cut down on redundant systems and reduce costs across agencies, Forman said. The administration already is addressing several overlapping areas through the 24 e-government initiatives developed by the interagency e-government task force last year.
The analysis will build on the task force's assessment of IT programs and systems across government, he said. The task force, working under the President's Management Council, developed a vision for an integrated, governmentwide business architecture after the assessment found almost 500 lines of business being supported by federal IT programs. This means that, on average, 19 agencies are performing each line of business, which wastes money and personnel resources.
"Obviously, a lot of analysis has got to go on," Forman said.
Stouffer will work closely with Norman Lorentz, OMB's new federal chief technology officer. OMB hired Lorentz this month to identify and coordinate the technology needed to support e-government initiatives and the Office of Homeland Security.
"Norm will be covering lots of bases and will be our home-run hitter so he'll spend a lot of time working with Debra as she runs the architecture assessment project," Forman said.