Chief Information Officers Council
CIOC
A Federal Government that strategically, efficiently and effectively uses IT to serve and protect our citizens.To foster the collaboration of Federal Government Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in strengthening Government-wide IT management practices.Supporting all areas of the President’s Management Agenda.Attracting and retaining a high performance IT Workforce.Optimizing Federal Government information resources and investments.Aligning IT solutions with Federal enterprise business processes.Adopting and sharing best IT management practices.1A cadre of highly capable IT professionals with the mission critical competencies needed to meet agency goals.1Improve IT workforce identification, assessment and reporting capabilities to support agency requirements and to respond to overall Federal IT workforce trends.MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Conduct Federal-wide IT Workforce Capability Assessment (ITWCA) Survey. This online survey is designed to collect information regarding the types of work that Federal IT employees carry out to inform agency workforce planning. The survey allows agencies to capture the "supply" of IT workforce capabilities, including proficiency in a set of IT-related competencies and skills, the percentage of the workforce possessing certain IT-related certification areas, the amount of time spent on selected specialized job activities, and a demographic profile of the IT workforce. - Analysis of Government-wide results of IT Workforce Capability Assessment. The Federal CIO Council developed the Survey and a Capability Planning and Analysis Tool (CPAT) for Federal agencies to identify a "demand" model of capabilities needed to support their IT mission. A Federal-wide analysis is conducted to present a comprehensive picture of strengths and gaps. Individual agencies can compare their agency capabilities against Federal-wide capabilities. This tool also allows agencies to compare the current capabilities of its IT workforce to its desired target capabilities, and to identify specific competency and skill gaps. Utilization of the two major tools, the ITWCA Survey and the CPAT developed for Federal-wide use, avoids significant costs. Agencies are able to leverage a mature set of workforce planning tools in a standardized environment to address and close critical skill gaps. - Issue updated Clinger-Cohen Core Competencies. Core universal knowledge requirements have been identified for IT staff across the Federal Government. The Competencies are updated biennially and are used to define learning objectives for Federal educational institutions which support IT workforce development, including the Federal CIO University consortium, the National Defense University’s (NDU’s) Information Resources Management College and the USDA Graduate School. - IT Roadmap. The IT Roadmap, developed by the Federal CIO Council, is a tool used by the IT workforce for career planning. The Roadmap is based on the GS-2210 series parenthetical titles and is an interactive, web-based application that allows individuals to identify competency requirements, conduct a competency gap analysis, and identify training that will help each individual develop needed competencies. The IT Roadmap also enables employees to compile competency information into a long-term, customized plan for professional development.2Ensure that robust Federal IT professional development programs are offered that reflect current initiatives and the Federal Government’s strategic direction.MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Conduct IT Quarterly Forums. Since April 2005, over 500 federal IT workers and their colleagues have attended forums that focus on "hot" topics in Information Technology. The IT Quarterly Forum goal is to educate workers on key issues to increase competency in mission critical work. In addition, the sessions allow networking and information-sharing to promote best practices. Topics covered include: FISMA, Enterprise Architecture, HSPD-12 and Designing for Survivability, and the Acquisition Workforce. Information about the IT Quarterly Forums is available at www.cio.gov/itqf. - Continue to work with OPM and participating agencies to encourage IT Exchange opportunities. This program allows for temporary details (3 months to 1 year) of civilian IT employees to the private sector or for temporary details of private sector employees to agency positions. Interested agencies are currently developing ITEP agency plans and programs in order to implement IT exchanges.3Identify opportunities to strengthen and leverage IT project management skills in the Federal Government. MAJOR ACTIVITY: To be determined4Promote the development and implementation of competitive compensation and workforce flexibilities that attract and retain top-level IT talent within the Federal Government.MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Develop and institute changes to GS-2210 titling. The ability to identify and target specialties in the dynamic field of IT is essential to workforce planning and successful recruiting. The Council is working with the Office of Personnel Management to update and add critical specialty titles. - Expand specialized recruitment activities to increase awareness of and interest in federal IT service. In the past, the Federal CIO Council has assisted OPM in the development of special salary rates, hosted a Virtual IT Job Fair, and produced an IT recruitment video. It has also implemented a pilot recruitment project with the Partnership for Public Service, and has fostered an active high school outreach effort, partnering with local high schools and the National Academy Foundation. The Council will continue to promote Federal IT careers by working closely with the National Science Foundation to facilitate use of the Scholarship for Service Program to place qualified information assurance students and graduates in agency summer and permanent positions. The Council will also continue with student outreach efforts such as career fairs and Groundhog Job Shadow Day. DESCRIPTION: IT workforce planning is a dynamic process. The rate of change in information technology, Congressionally-mandated requirements, and other Federal policies all contribute to the ongoing evolution in IT workforce management. As the Federal Government continues to streamline IT resources, resulting in more enterprise-wide programs, it must also ensure that the IT workforce remains highly competent and well versed in critical IT skills. To carry out its objectives, the Federal CIO Council works in close cooperation with OPM, OMB, GSA, the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, academia, and many private sector organizations in the IT industry. These partnerships enhance IT product and service delivery by ensuring that Federal agencies possess the necessary tools to enable the recruitment, retention, and development of a skilled IT workforce. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - 50% of agencies actively using the Capability Planning & Analysis Tool for IT workforce planning in support of the President’s Management Agenda. - 75% of agencies sending participants to IT Quarterly Forums and Federal IT Summits; and programs are evaluated as good to excellent by 90% of agency participants. - 50% of agencies using IT recruitment video as part of recruitment and outreach efforts within one year after release. - 10% increase in the number of agencies participating in the Scholarship for Service Job Fair each year. SUCCESS STORY: Developing the strategies and actions to recruit, develop, and maintain a best-in-class professional IT workforce has been a Federal CIO Council priority since the establishment of the Council. Workforce issues are real, compelling, and rank consistently at the top of CIO critical issues lists. The Clinger-Cohen core competencies have served as the foundation of the Council’s IT workforce activities. These competencies have been used in the establishment of the 2210 IT Specialist series which incorporates titling for critical job areas. They are used in recruitment, and also as the basis for the essential learning objectives supporting our major educational programs. Hundreds of individuals are gaining knowledge and ability based on these competencies through the IT curriculum at institutions such as the NDU’s IRMC College, USDA Graduate School, and universities offering the Federal CIO University certificate. Workforce initiatives target today’s employees and tomorrow’s leaders. Since 2000, 770 students from private industry and Government have earned Federal CIO University certificates. A sizeable student outreach effort has provided hundreds of high school students with Federal job shadow opportunities. With the establishment of the IT Workforce Survey in 2003, the IT community took the lead in assessing existing skill gaps and determining agency IT bench strength across the Federal Government. Agencies are realizing considerable benefits as a result of targeted workforce planning efforts focused on closing critical skill gaps. In FY 2006, 65 percent of agencies met all gap closure milestones, and 58 percent of agencies met their IT hiring targets. Significant economies of scale have been achieved by the use of one survey and gap analysis tool for all agencies. In addition, the survey has also been of great interest to several other governmental organizations. For example, the State of New York modified the survey tool for its own IT workforce assessment requirements. Additionally, academic institutions have used this Federal survey data for research in improving IT competency management. In years past, IT workforce planning was an afterthought, now it is a targeted approach.2Information securely, rapidly, and reliably delivered to our stakeholders.1Develop policies and promulgate best practices to improve the integrity, delivery and usability of Federal Government information.MAJOR ACTIVITY: Provide updates to the FEA Data Reference Model (DRM) and establish DRM implementation strategies, best practices, and success stories. The purpose of these activities is to contribute to the usability of the DRM by maintaining an effective process for modifying the DRM and sharing strategies for success.2Implement the Data Reference Model (DRM) as a common framework for managing and sharing information across the Federal Government.MAJOR ACTIVITY: Provide updates to the FEA Data Reference Model (DRM) and establish DRM implementation strategies, best practices, and success stories. The purpose of these activities is to contribute to the usability of the DRM by maintaining an effective process for modifying the DRM and sharing strategies for success.3Establish and communicate best practices to improve the management of knowledge and the use of knowledge-based solutions in providing Government products and services to the public.MAJOR ACTIVITY: Establish an authoritative knowledge center for Federal data issues and opportunities. Given the need for data-sharing in the Federal Government, a resource for Government employees to access relevant data information will be developed.DESCRIPTION: Information is an asset used by the public to comprehend the myriad activities performed by the Federal Government. It is also an internal asset to be leveraged across the single, unified enterprise to improve processes, support decision-making, document agency activities, and enable accurate reporting. The effective functioning of our constitutional democracy depends upon the participation in public life of a well-informed citizenry, thus information must be readily available to them, and information must be shared among agencies as well, in order to maximize the effectiveness of business decision-making throughout the Federal Government and beyond to external partners. The Federal CIO Council supports timely and equitable delivery of Government information and services transcending organizational and geographic barriers. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: - All agencies begin to document their architectures in conformance with DRM 2.0. - All of the e-Gov and Lines of Business (LoB) project management offices have fully documented the data architecture in conformance with the XML schema for DRM 2.0. - Agencies begin to use DRM to fulfill obligations of the e-Gov act sub-section 207(d) to make agency information readily available to the citizens. SUCCESS STORY: Extensive research was conducted by the Knowledge Management (KM) Working Group of the Federal CIO Council in 2005 and 2006 to determine the status of the implementation of KM practices in U.S. Federal agencies. The research determined the factors that influence the success of KM practices within Federal agencies - e.g., the size of the agency, whether the agency is a Cabinet-level department or an independent agency, the longevity of established KM Practices in the agency, whether or not the agency had adopted an effective KM policy or strategy, and whether the primary responsibility for KM practices was directed by a Chief Knowledge Officer or KM unit (as opposed to another type of functional unit in the agency, such as Information Technology or Human Resources).The results of the research will be used over the next several years for a number of purposes including: serving as a source of best practices and opportunities for improvement in KM practices; serving as a basis for identifying knowledge, skill, and competency gaps, with a view to developing a comprehensive KM blueprint for the Federal sector; serving as a basis for demonstrating the relationships between effective KM practices and improved individual and organizational performance; and serving as a basis for follow-on and spin-off research projects.3Interoperable IT solutions, identified and used efficiently and effectively across the Federal Government.1Integrate the FEA into the Federal budget process as a tool for evaluating IT investments to identify redundancies and opportunities for shared solutions.MAJOR ACTIVITY: To be determined2Implement the SmartBuy project plan.MAJOR ACTIVITY: Self explanatory3Collaborate with the LoBs to identify and establish shared service providers for select cross-agency business processes.MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Facilitate the development of collaborative management processes and best practices for e-Gov shared services. - Encourage and assist agencies, LoBs, and e-Gov project managers to use the Federal Transition Framework (FTF) Catalog to identify and incorporate shared solutions into their architectural plans and IT acquisitions.4Accelerate the use of e-Gov solutions across all departments/agencies.MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Facilitate the development of collaborative management processes and best practices for e-Gov shared services. - Continue to implement and refine the life-cycle management process and website (ET-gov) to enable the identification and discovery of emerging technology components and specifications, via full-text searching as well as mappings to the FEA Service Component Reference Model (SRM) and Technical Reference Model (TRM). - Encourage and assist agencies, LoBs, and e-Gov project managers to use the Federal Transition Framework (FTF) Catalog to identify and incorporate shared solutions into their architectural plans and IT acquisitions.5Adopt service-oriented design allowing integration of standard business service components across the Federal Government.MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Facilitate the development of collaborative management processes and best practices for e-Gov shared services. - - Continue to implement and refine the life-cycle management process and website (ET-gov) to enable the identification and discovery of emerging technology components and specifications, via full-text searching as well as mappings to the FEA Service Component Reference Model (SRM) and Technical Reference Model (TRM).6Encourage the adoption of standards-based best practices across government.MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Facilitate the development of collaborative management processes and best practices for e-Gov shared services. - Continue to implement and refine the life-cycle management process and website (ET-gov) to enable the identification and discovery of emerging technology components and specifications, via full-text searching as well as mappings to the FEA Service Component Reference Model (SRM) and Technical Reference Model (TRM).7Incorporate best practices into the inherently governmental processes to be developed and deployed by agencies, LoBs, and e-Gov projects.MAJOR ACTIVITY: Offer training and awareness through CIO Bootcamps, best practices, forums, and other council meetings.8Provide the government’s IT leaders with the knowledge and skills they need through best practices forums, CIO Bootcamps and an effective website and collaboration tool.MAJOR ACTIVITY: Offer training and awareness through CIO Bootcamps, best practices, forums, and other council meetings.9Continue to develop more efficient and effective methods for sharing information on emerging technologies. MAJOR ACTIVITY: Continue to implement and refine the life-cycle management process and website (ET-gov) to enable the identification and discovery of emerging technology components and specifications, via full-text searching as well as mappings to the FEA Service Component Reference Model (SRM) and Technical Reference Model (TRM).DESCRIPTION: In accordance with the eGovernment component of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), the CIOC will champion the Lines of Business (LoB) initiatives to identify and consolidate functions performed widely and with little differentiation across many, if not all agencies. Target business processes are being developed through a collaborative approach and implemented through shared solutions, enabling standardization throughout the Federal Government. Reducing the number of redundant systems decreases both cost and risk while reducing distractions from the performance of agency core missions. Competitive selection among public and private service providers will leverage economies of scale, reduce costs, and increase the quality and consistency of service. Programs like SmartBUY will allow agencies to acquire software under better terms and at lower prices. Such programs will encourage and enable service providers competing to support the Federal government to propose the best service and most innovative solutions at the lowest cost. To carry out its objectives, the CIOC works in close cooperation with OMB, GSA, and other organizations such as the Interagency Management Council for Federal Telecommunications, Federal Chief Acquisition Officers Council, and Federal Chief Financial Officers Council. These partnerships enhance our ability to optimize our investment in IT to enable more efficient and effective Government service to our citizens. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: - 50% of agencies with OMB EA assessment ratings of 4.0 or higher. - 100% of e-Gov and LoB solutions implemented by agencies targeted to partner in the use of those solutions. - Number of IT solutions, components, services, and specifications identified and demonstrated to be reusable across multiple agencies, programs, eGov projects, and LoBs. - Percentage of shared solutions used by agencies in relation to the number of lines of business in which each agency is engaged and amounts of money they spend on IT. - Annual growth rate of spending by agencies on IT products and services in relation to the number of functions they are required to perform and the volumes of records they must compile and maintain. SUCCESS STORY: Early in 2003 the co-chairs of the Architecture and Infrastructure Committee (AIC), tasked the Emerging Technology (ET) Subcommittee to assist in responding to paragraph 3602(f)(4) of P.L. 107-347, the Electronic Government Act of 2002 (e-Gov Act), which requires the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government to: "Promote innovative uses of information technology by agencies, particularly initiatives involving multiagency collaboration, through support of pilot projects, research, experimentation, and the use of innovative technologies."One co-chair explained that a process was needed whereby the emerging technology life-cycle could be more efficiently and effectively managed on a Government-wide basis. The other stated the problem more colloquially when he said, "Look guys, we can’t deal with all of the vendors coming at us with intergalactic solutions."The ET Subcommittee deliberated on how best to address the task, and then outlined a logical eight-stage process. With volunteer development support, an ET-gov prototype (Stage 1) was demonstrated at the XML 2003 conference. Subsequently, the project was included as task 6 in the AIC’s FY 2005 spend plan. Funds that had been set aside were allocated to the project, and following a short development cycle, Stage 1 was unveiled at the GovCon05 conference in 29 March 2005.Through a substantial volunteer effort, Stage 1 of the ET.gov site and process has now been operational for more than a year. More than 50 emerging technology components and specifications have been identified and communities of practice have formed around an increasing number of them. While few, if any of them might be considered to be "intergalactic" in nature, Government officials now have a Web site and a process to which to refer vendors offering innovative information technology products and services. The site is a step toward fostering multi-agency collaboration, pilot projects, experimentation, and use, as required by the e-Gov Act.In turn, vendors can use the process to map their products and services to the FEA Service Component Reference Model (SRM) and Technical Reference Model (TRM). In addition, anyone can use the process to propose additions to the SRM and TRM. The IPv6 Work Group plans to refer vendors to the site. As others begin to do likewise, the ET-gov site and process will become an increasingly valuable shared service benefiting the entire Federal enterprise. 4An integrated, accessible Federal infrastructure enabling interoperability across Federal, state, tribal, and local governments, as well as partners in the commercial and academic sectors.1Accelerate the alignment of agency architectures with the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA).MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Facilitate strategic dialogue among communities of interest. Through the Expedition Workshops, sponsored by the AIC, interested participants experience and learn about new opportunities to adhere to sound architectural principles and implement shared, service-oriented solutions. - Continue to refine the FEA Reference Model Maintenance Process (RMMP) and develop the Consolidated Reference Model. Through the RMMP, the AIC is working to ensure the ongoing usability and utility of the models by maintaining an effective process for modifying them in light of new information and changing circumstances.2Develop a strategy in coordination with state and local (major city) governments to promote the alignment of Federal, state, tribal, and local (major city) enterprise architectures.MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Facilitate strategic dialogue among communities of interest. Through the Expedition Workshops, sponsored by the AIC, interested participants experience and learn about new opportunities to adhere to sound architectural principles and implement shared, service-oriented solutions. - Continue to refine the FEA Reference Model Maintenance Process (RMMP) and develop the Consolidated Reference Model. Through the RMMP, the AIC is working to ensure the ongoing usability and utility of the models by maintaining an effective process for modifying them in light of new information and changing circumstances.3Work closely with national and international governmental and private sector organizations to advance the use of common enterprise architecture standards.MAJOR ACTIVITIES: - Facilitate strategic dialogue among communities of interest. Through the Expedition Workshops, sponsored by the AIC, interested participants experience and learn about new opportunities to adhere to sound architectural principles and implement shared, service-oriented solutions. - Continue to refine the FEA Reference Model Maintenance Process (RMMP) and develop the Consolidated Reference Model. Through the RMMP, the AIC is working to ensure the ongoing usability and utility of the models by maintaining an effective process for modifying them in light of new information and changing circumstances.4Assist Federal agencies with the transition to incorporate Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) into their networks.MAJOR ACTIVITY: Facilitate the development of effective IPv6 strategies. The Office of Management and Budget requires that all Federal agencies comply with the new infrastructure standard, IPv6, by June 2008. The AIC will work to develop and share realistic strategies for implementation. By enabling the transition from IPv4 to IPv6, the AIC will contribute to the CIOC’s goal to develop an integrated and accessible Federal infrastructure.5Adopt service-oriented design, allowing integration of standard business service components across the Federal Government.MAJOR ACTIVITY: Facilitate strategic dialogue among communities of interest. Through the Expedition Workshops, sponsored by the AIC, interested participants experience and learn about new opportunities to adhere to sound architectural principles and implement shared, service-oriented solutions.6Establish a Government-wide repository of standardized business service components.MAJOR ACTIVITY: Create user and strategy-driven CORE.gov tools, a product roadmap, and solution architecture. CORE.gov is a collaboration tool and component repository intended to facilitate cross-agency collaboration and component reuse. Supporting documentation is designed to assist the AIC in promoting the value of CORE.gov as the premier collaboration tool for the Government.7Promote the accessibility of Federal Rehabilitation Act (Section 508) best practices and tools to all Federal agencies.MAJOR ACTIVITY: To be determinedDESCRIPTION: In most cases Federal agencies’ infrastructures grew organically over time without an overall plan of development and implementation. The CIOC is leading the effort to integrate these home-grown networks into an interoperable network, encompassing agencies at all levels of Government, thereby helping to realize the President’s vision of a Government that is truly citizen centered. The challenge has grown because, even as we make the transition, agency networks must continue to meet increasing demands for bandwidth and connectivity in support of expansion of agency-specific systems. At the same time, by continuing to incorporate the accessibility standards of Section 508, agencies will ensure that employees and others with disabilities will have full access to Federal information and technology. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: - 100% of Federal agencies have implemented IPv6.17 components registered in CORE.gov that are actually being reused. - 100% of agencies reusing components available in CORE.gov. - At least 3 components actually being reused by each agency. - Stakeholder satisfaction with government information and services. SUCCESS STORY: The Architecture and Infrastructure Committee (AIC), in conjunction with OMB, created the Federal Enterprise Architecture Security and Privacy Profile v2.0 (FEA SPP). The purpose of the FEA SPP is to provide agency decision-makers with a scalable and repeatable methodology for addressing information security and privacy from a business enterprise perspective. To develop the FEA SPP, the AIC formed a cross-agency team to update the goals and process for augmenting the FEA SPP. The process developed by the FEA SPP team to expand on the FEA SPP documentation was a ground-breaking and innovative approach that allowed multiple disparate groups to collaborate and create a more effective guidance document. The FEA SPP team linked system and program-level security and privacy activities to agency architectures through the FEA reference models, providing agencies with a methodology for managing security and privacy issues according to the business-focused enterprise viewpoint. The FEA SPP was field tested through validation exercises at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice. During these exercises, senior cross-functional teams applied and reviewed the FEA SPP methodology to ensure its usability and applicability. Through the validation process, the FEA SPP team identified best practices and developed recommendations designed to promote the successful incorporation of security and privacy into an organization’s enterprise architecture. The validation process also helped to ensure appropriate consideration of security and privacy requirements in agencies’ strategic planning and investment decision processes. The process used to validate the FEA SPP benefited validating agencies by providing them with an opportunity to explore relationships between security processes and enterprise resources within their agencies. In addition, this process allowed for the thorough testing of the FEA SPP model before applying it to a wider audience. The execution of this process provided an exemplary method for testing and validating best practices and recommended techniques for incorporating security and privacy activities into an organization’s enterprise architecture. The validation process used to develop the FEA SPP will ultimately lead to the widespread acceptance of information security best practices because the process allowed for transparent decision-making and a clear understanding of the application of the proposed methodology. The FEA SPP provides agencies with a tool to facilitate the incorporation of security and privacy activities within their architectures. The FEA SPP is designed to assist organizations in understanding security and privacy requirements, their ability to meet those requirements, and the business risks associated with failures to meet security requirements. In addition, the FEA SPP will help program executives select the best solutions for meeting requirements and improving current capabilities, and improves agencies’ processes for incorporating privacy and security into major investments by selecting solutions most in keeping with enterprise needs. It is expected that through the implementation of the FEA SPP, federal agencies’ security and privacy programs will see an improvement in their effectiveness by applying a proven methodology to advance agency security and privacy. The FEA SPP exemplifies one of the many successes of the AIC by demonstrating the value of a sound process for developing a methodology that will be applied across the Federal government and by providing a repeatable methodology for addressing information security that will help to improve the business of Federal agencies.