|
United States
Department of
Agriculture
Office of
the Chief
Information
Officer
DR 3600-000
USDA Information and
Technology Transformation
USDA Information and
Technology Transformation
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Page
Table of Contents i
1 Purpose 1
2 Policy 1
3 Background 1
4 Definitions 2
5 Authorities and References 4
6 USDA’s Approach to Information and Technology 5
Transformation
7 USDA’s Transformation Framework 6
8 USDA’s Enterprise Architecture 7
9 USDA’s Capital Planning and Investment Control Process 8
10 Roles and Responsibilities 9
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C.
DEPARTMENTAL REGULATION |
NUMBER: 3600-000 |
SUBJECT: USDA Information and
Technology Transformation |
DATE: November 2, 2004 |
OPI: Office of the Chief Information Officer |
This
Departmental Regulation establishes USDA policies on the use of common USDA and
external services to deliver USDA’s information and services to customers and
employees. These policies are defined
around USDA’s enterprise architecture and investment strategies.
USDA’s enterprise architecture reflects USDA’s priorities and commitments to common enterprise-wide and external initiatives, including the Federal Enterprise Architecture. These initiatives fall under the auspices of “Expanding Electronic Government” as defined by the USDA eGovernment Strategic Plan, the President’s Management Agenda, and the eGovernment Act of 2002.
USDA agencies shall utilize the common enterprise-wide and external services defined by USDA’s enterprise architecture and eGovernment strategic plan to the maximum degree practicable. Investments in duplicative services are permitted only with the written approval of USDA’s Chief Information Officer through the capital planning and the information technology waiver processes.
USDA’s Enterprise Architecture offers extraordinary possibilities to deliver dynamic customer services, strengthen relationships with partners and stakeholders, share information across traditional boundaries, and reduce operating costs. It fundamentally changes how USDA interacts with, and provides information and services to its customers, stakeholders and employees.
The eGovernment Act of 2002 codified the Federal Government’s commitment to transforming its service delivery to its customers using modern electronic delivery channels. This Act provides USDA with the further impetus to integrate services around customer needs. It changes USDA’s business models in relationship to people, process, information and technology. These changes are accomplished through cross-agency business planning and integrated investment approaches that focus on delivering services collaboratively and reducing costs.
a Capital Planning and Investment Control Process - A management process for ongoing identification, selection, control and evaluation of investments in information resources. The process links budget formulation and execution, and is focused on agency missions and achieving specific program outcomes.
b eGovernment - The use by the Government of Internet-based applications and other
digital technologies, combined with processes that implement these technologies,
to:
· enhance the access to, and delivery of, Government information and services to the public, other agencies and other Government entities, and
· leverage investments in information technology to eliminate unnecessary duplication and improve effectiveness, efficiency, and service quality.
This includes addressing the people and process changes associated with transformed business delivery.
c Enterprise – The
enterprise is comprised of every USDA agency and office, including all of their
business activities, the information they create and use, and the products and
services they deliver to their internal and external customers. The enterprise also extends to the business
relationships USDA organizations maintain with their external suppliers and
partners.
d Enterprise Architecture – A strategic information asset base which defines the mission, the information necessary to perform the mission, the technologies necessary to perform the mission, and the transitional processes for implementing new technologies in response to changing mission needs. The Enterprise Architecture includes a baseline architecture, a target architecture, and a sequencing plan. It is a framework for streamlining business processes, information flows, applications and infrastructure to support agency and interagency goals.
e USDA Enterprise Configuration Control Board (ECCB) - The ECCB advises and recommends to the Chief Information Officer ways in which the Department manages its technology, data, and information through the development, maintenance, and oversight of the enterprise architecture.
f Executive Information Technology and Investment Review Board (E-Board) - The E-Board represents the Department’s information and information technology policy decision-makers. They are responsible for reviewing and approving strategic investments at USDA.
g Federal Enterprise Architecture - A business-based framework for Government-wide improvement
developed by the Office of Management and Budget to facilitate efforts to transform the Federal Government to one that is
citizen-centered, results-oriented, and market-based. The Federal Enterprise Architecture is constructed through a
collection of interrelated "reference models" designed to facilitate
cross-agency analysis and the identification of duplicative investments, gaps,
and opportunities for collaboration within and across Federal Agencies. These
models are defined as: Performance Reference Model (PRM), Business Reference
Model (BRM), Service Component Reference Model (SRM), Data and Information
Reference Model (DRM), and Technical Reference Model (TRM).
h Information
- Any communication or representation of knowledge such as
facts, data or opinions in any medium or form, including textual, numerical,
graphic, cartographic, narrative or audiovisual forms.
i Information Dissemination Product
- Any book, paper, map, machine-readable material, query-friendly databases,
audiovisual production or other documentary material, regardless of physical
form or characteristic, disseminated by an agency to the public.
j Information
Management - The planning, budgeting, manipulating, and
controlling of information throughout its life cycle.
k Information Resources - Includes both government information and information technology.
l Information Resources Management
- The process of managing information resources to accomplish agency missions.
The term encompasses both information itself and the related resources, such as
personnel, equipment, funds, and information technology.
m Information
Technology – The
term "information technology" means:
·
the hardware and software operated by an
organization to accomplish a federal function, regardless of the technology involved
(e.g. computers, telecommunications, etc.);
·
any equipment or
interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the automatic
acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display,
switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information by an
executive agency. (Equipment is used by
an executive agency if the equipment is used by the agency directly or is used
by a contractor under a contract with the executive agency which (i) requires
the use of such equipment, or (ii) requires the use, to a significant extent,
of such equipment in the performance of a service or the furnishing of a
product.);
·
computers, ancillary
equipment, software, firmware and similar procedures, services (including
support services) and related resources.
The term
"information technology" does not include:
·
any equipment that is
acquired by a Federal contractor incidental to a Federal contract;
·
national security
systems as defined in the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C. 1452).
n Integrated Service
Delivery
- The provision of Internet-based federal government information or services
related according to function rather than separated according to the
boundaries of agency jurisdiction.
The E-Government Act of 2002
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act of 1990
The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993
(GPRA)
The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA)
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA)
The Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (CCA)
The Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998 (GPEA)
The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
Privacy Act
Federal Records Act
OMB Circular A-11
OMB Circular A-130
USDA Strategic Plan
USDA eGovernment Strategic Plan and Agency eGovernment
Tactical Plans
USDA’s
transformation approach requires both leveraged investments and
customer-centric focus demanding a shift from working in independent agency-
and project-specific systems to delivering information and services through
integrated, enterprise-wide and interdepartmental solutions. Specifically, as approved through on
USDA’s Capital Planning and Investment Control PCapital
Planning and Investment Control process, all information technology
investments must: (a1)
address opportunities to provide services through collaborative verses single
agency approaches; (b2) integrate
processes and transactions to improve the customer’s experience; and (c3)
align with USDA’s current and future Enterprise Architecture. USDA’s approach considers the needs of all
customers and recognizes that USDA may need to operate dual delivery channels
as customers transition to web-based and other electronic systems.
The three major components of
USDA’s Information and Technology Transformation are the: USDA’s Transformation
Framework, USDA’sthe Enterprise Architecture,
and the USDA’s
Capital Planning and Investment ControCapital
Planning and Investment Control pProcess. These three components provide linkage
through the planning, budgeting, and decision makingdecision-making
processes to advance USDA’s implementation of the President’s Management Agenda and the
Federal Enterprise Architecture and its own desire to improve customer
service to its customers, stakeholders, and
employees.
The Information and Technology Transformation effort is guided by the President’s Management Agenda, USDA’s Strategic Plan, USDA’s eGovernment Strategic Plan, Agency eGovernment Tactical Plans, the USDA’s Capital Planning and Investment Control guide, the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Clinger-Cohen Act, the eGovernment Act, OMB Circulars A-11 and A-130, and the Federal Enterprise Architecture model.
7 USDA’s TRANSFORMATION FRAMEWORK
Effective customer service and program delivery is facilitated through efficient business practices, ease of information sharing, and prudent investments in technology infrastructure. Achieving transformed program delivery requires the knowledge, perspectives, and participation of employees at all levels in the USDA enterprise. Contributions from both the business and information technology communities ensure the current and future enterprise architecture support the needs of business and customer requirements of the organization. Effecting this transformation will require a commitment from all mission areas, agencies and staff offices, executives and non-executives, technical information technology professionals and program leads.
All existing and proposed USDA
information management and technology investments will be evaluated to ensure
that Internet-based and other electronic information, services and program
delivery channels have been sufficiently considered. Investments must align with USDA business goals and objectives
and the USDA eGovernment mission, vision, goals and objectives. They must further integrate with and not
duplicate USDA and government-wide eGovernment initiatives. Only those information management and
technology projects that align with USDA’s overall information and information
technology investment strategy will be approved. Exemptions for non-conforming investments are granted only in
exceptional circumstances.
The below describedfollowing
initiatives are integral parts of USDA’s Transformation Framework and
USDA’s current and future enterprise architecture direction:.
a President’s
Management Agenda – Presidential eGovernment Initiatives and Lines of Business. “Expanding Electronic Government” is one of
the five key elements in the President’s Management Agenda. The key goals of this element are to improve
information resources management planning through the budget process and
champion citizen-centered electronic government that will result in a major
improvement in the federal government’s value to the citizen. USDA participantstes in a
significant number21 of these inter-departmental projects and
line of business initiatives and is required to align overlapping Departmental
projects with the broader Government-wide efforts. Lines of business include financial management, human resources,
grants, Federal Health Architecture,, and
case management.
b USDA eGovernment Strategic Plan
–USDA eGovernment Smart Choices.
USDA’s eGovernment Strategic Plan serves as the Department’s guide to
transforming the development and delivery of USDA information and
services. The plan identifies 24
cross-agency eGovernment opportunities that were adopted by the Deputy
Secretary and the E-Board. These 24
opportunities are categorized as either Strategic or Enabler initiatives. The 15 Strategic initiatives are
programmatic in nature and directly impact how information, services,,
and products are delivered to USDA customers.
The 9 Enabler initiatives provide foundational architectural components
that allow program delivery from an enterprise perspective and build USDA’s
current and future enterprise architecture direction.
c Agency eGovernment Tactical Plans. To augment the Department’s eGovernment
Strategic Plan, each agency develops an annual Agency eGovernment Tactical
Plan. The Agency eGovernment Tactical
Plans describe how each organization will support and integrate with the USDA
eGovernment Strategic Plan, the Presidential eGovernment Initiatives, and other
eGovernment priorities that are critical to its business. The plans provide an opportunity to further
enhance the visibility and integration of eGovernment planning efforts across
the Department and allow the Office of the Chief Information Officer to better
manage USDA’s information technology portfolio. Each agency is required to submit in its information technology budget
an investment proposal for each initiative listed in its eGovernment Tactical
Plan. Agency eGovernment Tactical Plans
must integrate with the agency programmatic budget development and
request, align with USDA’s enterprise architecture, and comply with
USDA’s capital planning and investment controlCapital
Planning and Investment Control and information technology waiver processes.
USDA’s Transformation Framework is advanced through its governance structure consisting of the eGovernment Working Group, the Agency eGovernment Steering Committee, the USDA Presidential and Lines of Business Initiative Leads, and Agency Decision Makers. Agency Heads ensure that the individuals fulfilling the roles and responsibilities required by these positions have the authority and executive support required to make critical resource decisions and lead change within the organization. Members of the eGovernment Working Group have the principal communication responsibility within their agency and in representing their agency to USDA’s eGovernment initiative leaders.
It
is imperative that the information technology investments selected
significantly improve the performance of the USDA. The enterprise architecture is designed to yield
significant results in the areas of business productivity, information
technology asset productivity, and risk management. This critical asset It will
helps prevent the duplication of information
technology resources by providing a modernized blueprint for investments and
the business capabilities supported across USDA. Moreover, it will allows managers
to quickly identify opportunities to utilize corporate contracting for
equipment and consulting services.
These practices will significantly reduce costs associated to
with
future information technology investments. In those cases where USDA enterprise architecture and the Federal
Enterprise Architecture require alignment, the Federal Enterprise Architecture
takes precedence.
USDA’s
enterprise architecture is managed by the USDA Enterprise Configuration Control
Board (ECCB). All recommendations by
the ECCB are made to the USDA Chief Information Officer, who may approve (with
or without modifications) or reject a recommendation of the ECCB. Similarly, all decisions and dispensations
made by the ECCB are subject to the review by the Chief Information Officer,
who may endorse, reject, or remand for reconsideration any
decision of the ECCB. USDA’s Executive
Information Technology and Investment Review -Board has
the ultimate authority for approving USDA’s Enterprise Architecture.
Recognizing both the importance
of information management and technology investments to the organization and
their role in supporting the success of these investments, the Office of the
Chief Information Officer is engaged in an ongoing effort to establish,
maintain, and support an information and technology investment analysis and
decision-making environment. This environment consists of three key components:
executive decision-makers, supporting tools, and repeatable processes.
a Executive decision-makers – Consists
primarily of an Executive Information Technology and Review
Board (the Executive Information Technology Review
Board (E-Board)) that, which oversees the process, approves
investments, and is a stakeholder in the success
of USDA.
b Tools
– USDA uses a variety of tools to manage its
information technology investments. A
primary tool is a web-based project portfolio management tool that integrates
fundamental project management activities with portfolio level reporting across
USDA.
c Processes – Capital
Planning and Investment ControlCapital Planning and Investment Control is USDA’s primary process for (1)
making decisions about which initiatives and systems in which USDA
should invest,
in and (2) and
creating and analyzing the associated rationale for these investments.
The Capital
Planning and Investment ControlCapital Planning and Investment Control pProcess
ensures that USDA’s investments in information and information technology are well
thought out, cost-effective, and support the missions and business goals of the
organization advancing USDA’s enterprise architecture. Ongoing information technology investments
in the operational mode (i.e., steady state phase) must undergo an eGovernment
Strategy Review. Through sound
management of these investments, the E-Board determines the information
technology direction for USDA through the USA enterprise architecture, and
ensures that agencies manage information and technology investments with the
objective of maximizing return to the Department and achieving business goals.
a The Office of the Chief Information
Officer (OCIO),
Deputy CIO, and Associate CIOs will provide leadership for
Department-wide implementation of USDA’s Transformational Framework, Enterprise
Architecture, and the Capital Planning and Investment Control process.Capital
Planning and Investment Control.
(1) Specific responsibilities within the OCIO
include:
(a) Leading and providing oversight of the common enterprise and external initiatives in USDA’s enterprise architecture and eGovernment Strategic Plan.
(b) Designing, implementing, and managing the enterprise architecture and Capital Planning and Investment Control programs.
(c)
Implementing, managing and maintaining USDA-wide
telecommunications services, including intrusion detection, as well asand
establishing telecommunications technical standards and business practices for
the Department.
(d) Managing all aspects of cyber security across the enterprise architecture.
(e) Working with agencies to provide cost effective solutions that enhance service to customers and USDA employees.
(2) Each of the OCIO organizational components shall address USDA’s information and information technology requirements as collaborative and integrated processes. The processes shall:
(a) Provide
for the selection of information technology investments to be made by
USDA, and the management of such investments,
and the evaluation of the results of such
investments;
(b) Be
integrated with the Departmental processes for making budget,
financial, and program management decisions
within the executive agency;
(c) Include: 1) minimum
criteria to be applied in considering whether to undertake a particular
investment in information systems, 2) criteria related to the quantitatively
expressed projected net risk-adjusted return on investment and 3) specific
quantitative and qualitative criteria for comparing and prioritizing
alternative information systems investment projects;
(d) Provide
for identifying information systems investments that would result in shared
benefits or costs for other Federal agencies or State or local governments;
(e) Require
identification of quantifiable measurements for determining the net benefits
and risks of a proposed investment; and
(f) Provide
the means for senior management to obtain timely information regarding the
progress of an investment, including a system of milestones for measuring
progress, such as earned value management systems, on an independently
verifiable basis, in terms of cost, capability of the system to meet specified
requirements, timeliness, and quality.
b Executive Information Technology and
Investment Review Board (E-Board). The E-Board represents the
Department’s information and information technology policy decision-makers. They who are responsible for reviewing and
approving strategic investments at and USDA’
enterprise architecture. The
E-Board is comprised of the Department’s senior-level policy executives, as
follows, and is chaired by the Deputy Secretary and
vice-chaired by the CIO:
(1) Deputy
Secretary— - Chair
(2)
Chief Information Officer— - Vice-Chair
and Executive Secretary
(3)
Chief Financial Officer
(4)
General Counsel
(5)
Director of the Office of Budget and Program Analysis
(6)
Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service
(7)
Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and
Consumer Service
(8)
Under Secretary for Food Safety
(9)
Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs
(10)
Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment
(11)
Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics
(12) Under
Secretary for Rural Development
(13)
Assistant Secretary for Administration
(14)
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.
At the Board’s
discretion, ex-officio members may be named to provide specialized expertise
and advice.
The E-Board provides overall strategic direction and guidance for USDA’s evolving enterprise architecture and for capital investments. The E-Board reviews spending proposals for major information technology initiatives from a very broad and strategic perspective to assess their potential for long-term improvements in program and service delivery within the context of current and projected budget realities.
c USDA Enterprise Configuration
Control Board (ECCB). The ECCB
advises and recommends to the Chief Information Officer ways in which the
Department manages its technology, data, and information through the
development, maintenance, and oversight of the enterprise architecture. The ECCB wWorks
with existing and new system-level Configuration Control Boards.
NOTE: The Chief Information Officer provides day-to-day management and stewardship of the enterprise architecture on behalf of the E-Board, which owns the enterprise architecture and is responsible for protecting and supporting it.
d USDA’s eGovernment Governance Structure. Agency Heads ensure that the individuals fulfilling the below described roles have the authority and executive support to make critical resource decisions and lead change within the organization.
(1) eGovernment Decision-Makers. eGovernment Decision-Makers are Executive
Sponsors from either the business or information technology area that have the
authority to commit financial and human resources for eGovernment initiatives
on behalf of their agency. These
individuals establish the level of agency commitment to various
initiatives. They are responsible for
championing, coordinating, sharing information, and facilitating implementation
of USDA’s major eGovernment initiatives.
(21) eGovernment Working Group (EGWG). EGWG members are Executive Sponsors from
either the agency
business or information technology area and are responsible for leading all
eGovernment activities for their respective agencies. They are responsible for championing, coordinating, sharing
information, and facilitating implementation of
USDA’s major eGovernment initiatives and chairing the agency eGovernment
Steering Committee. They ensure that agency
eGovernment Decision Makers and all agency program areas to
ensure they are fully apprised of USDA’s enterprise architecture
and eGovernment direction.
(32) Agency eGovernment Steering
Committee. The EGWG member
will chair the agency eGovernment Steering Committee. This Committee is comprised of the of program
leaders and specialists representing public affairs, information technology,
security, privacy, forms management, and
records management. The Committee
addresses agency compliance with USDA’s current and future enterprise
architecture and USDA’s eGovernment Strategic Plan. The Committee develops and annually updates the agency
eGovernment Tactical Plan and monitors its implementation. The agency’s EGWG member will chair the steering committee.
(a) Represents USDA on government-wide decision-making bodies deciding USDA’s financial and human resource contributions and ensuring USDA is getting a return on these investments;
(b) Coordinates USDA’s involvement in the initiative, including working with the initiative’s Managing Partner, the OCIO and all participating USDA agencies; and
(c) Provides overall stewardship for the initiative at USDA, including measuring the performance of all USDA agencies participating in the effort and serving as the point of contact for all inquiries concerning the initiative.
e Chief
Acquisition Officer and Heads of the Contracting Activities. USDA’s Chief
Acquisition Officer and hHeads
of cContracting
aActivities
ensure that information technology procurements adhere to information
technology investment policies and fFederal
aAcquisition
rRegulations
and policies.
f Agency
and Staff Office Executives, Program Managers, and Chief Information Officers. USDA agencies are responsible for supporting
USDA’s eGovernment, enterprise architecture, and capital planning
and investment controlCapital Planning and Investment Control
direction. Agency leadership ensures
that each investment in information technology complies with the eGovernment
and enterprise architecture vision, principles,
and standards,;
and is consistent with agreements reached through the collaborative
decision-making processes.
Agencies will ensure collaboration and
integration of functions across agency leadership and management
functions. These functions include, but
are not limited to, the EGWGAgency
eGovernment Working Group member and eGovernment Steering
Committee, PI
leads, eGovernment decision-makers, the Government Paperwork Elimination
Act Coordinator, records management officer, forms management officer, and
information collection coordinator, information technology portfolio manager(s) and ,enterprise
architect.