OMB wants results aligned with strategic plans

ORLANDO, Fla. – Karen Evans, administrator of e-government and information technology at the Office of Management and Budget, reminded agencies that OMB wants to see their results from technology implementations match their programs’ strategic plans.

Evans, a keynote speaker at the Information Processing Interagency Conference in Orlando, Fla., said OMB is looking to see if agencies are achieving the purposes and meeting the goals of their programs.

To determine that, the agency uses a standard questionnaire called the Program Assessment Rating Tool. PART rates a program’s cost, schedule and performance, comparing current data to data from the program’s initial plans.

“We have to achieve results,” Evans said. In this era of limited budgets, agencies can't afford to continue to spend money on programs that are ineffective, she added.

OMB has set up ExpectMore.gov to display the results of PART reviews. The Web site allows the public to see the performance of every federal program. The site includes assessments of about 800 programs, accounting for 80 percent of the federal budget.

Despite the PART’s rigor, “it’s not about nailing the agencies,” Evans said. Instead it intends to fix their perspective on their programs.