OPM will fund at least one e-gov plan on its own

The Office of Personnel Management is making an aggressive effort to find money for its five e-government initiatives approved by the Office of Management and Budget. In weekly meetings with Mark Forman, OMB’s associate director for IT and e-government, OPM is refining the goals set in the individual business cases submitted in December.“When you get into the weeds, you see things that will shake out,” said Mike Fitzgerald, project manager for OPM’s e-Training initiative. OPM director Kay Coles James reportedly has agreed to consider funding one of the OPM initiatives even if other agency partners don’t contribute.“If someone says something will never work, and you’re showing success, at some point they have to say, ‘I guess it can work’,” Fitzgerald said. He said he could not confirm that e-Training would be the first prototype developed.“Market, market, market,” he said. “I’m talking road show” to prove to partner agencies that the OPM initiatives are a good investment. “Get those leaders in there and show them. That’s part of our strategy,” he said.