About OCIO

The agency's Chief Information Officer is charged with implementing the operative principles identified in the Act requiring the establishment of a management framework to improve the planning and control of information technology investments and leading change to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of agency operations.

The CIO reports directly to the Secretary of Education and provides leadership and direction to:

• Develop, maintain, and facilitate the implementation of a sound and integrated information technology enterprise architecture;
• Promote the effective and efficient design and operation of major Departmental information resource management processes and recommend, as appropriate, improvements to agency business processes;
• Manage agency information resources to improve the productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness of Federal programs inclusive of information dissemination initiatives and efforts to reduce information collection burdens;
• Develop Information Technology (IT), Information Management (IM), and Information Assurance (IA) requirements, completing cost/benefit analysis of proposed solutions, managing projects in accordance with sound systems life cycle management procedures and establishing performance standards and measures to assess success of short and long term solutions;
• Define and manage IT, IM, and IA capital planning and investment management processes to ensure that they are successfully implemented and integrated with the Department's budget, acquisition and planning processes;
• Develop and submit recommendations to the Investment Review Board (IRB) regarding IT, IM, IA capital investments to assure that investment decisions are mission aligned, cost justified and approved only after careful and systematic review;
• Monitor the performance of the agency's IT, IM, and IA programs and investments, evaluating them against performance and other applicable measures, and advising the Secretary regarding their continuation, modification or termination;
• Assess IT, IM, and IA competencies defined for agency personnel to ensure that Departmental employees are technologically prepared to achieve the Department's strategic goals;
• Develop IT and IM requirements, analyze the projected cost and benefits of alternative IT and IM solutions, and establish performance standards and measures to assess short and long range solutions;
• Administer the Department's information resource management program, including records management, automated data processing activities, the Paperwork Reduction Act, Government Paperwork Elimination Act, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act;
• Manage the agency's IT Security Program for automated information systems, developing agency-wide policy for the protection and control of information resources directly or indirectly related to the activities of the Department;
• Implement a Department-wide communications Internet/Intranet strategy;
• Deploy and maintain all enterprise-wide information technology;
• Develop recommendations and implement information technology solutions designed to enhance and enable agency business processes;
• Develop and provide technology standards to assure business alignment and promote a viable enterprise technology framework;
• Provide administrative and technical support to the agency's Data Integrity Board and monitor the Department's compliance with the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act.