Agencies get direction on implementing standardized enterprise architecture

The White House has added another framework to the lineup to help federal agencies double down on eliminating waste and streamline processes.

The Common Approach to Federal Enterprise Architecture directs executive branch agency leaders to craft an agencywide enterprise architecture that fuses strategic drivers, business requirements and technology.

Its main focus is to standardize the development and use of architectures within and between agencies, in hopes of eliminating duplication and enhancing engagement with industry and the public. 

U.S. CIO Steven VanRoekel briefly touched upon the new guidance at InformationWeek’s Government IT Leadership forum held May 3, describing the common EA approach as a “shared services layer cake” that starts with a systems-up architectural stack.

The overarching goal purpose is better governance, and “we can’t have visibility and make data-driven decisions unless we have this level of consistency across agencies,” VanRoekel said.

In addition to providing standardization, the common approach gives agency heads guidance on how business, information and technology architectures should be developed. The road map also provides integration points with areas such as strategic planning, capital planning, program management, human capital management, and cybersecurity.

Other recent, major announcements around federal IT include the Office of Management and Budget's May 3 unveiling of the IT shared services framework and the soon-to-be released digital strategy, which focuses on enhancing how the government delivers services to citizens.  

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