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The E-Government Framework also includes—
- The Technical Review Board (TRB), which conducts IT investment
analysis, recommends IT portfolios to the MRB, guides IT architecture and
standards programs, and establishes forums to increase collaboration and
interagency communication
- The Internet Management Group (IMG), which was established to ensure
compliance with the Secretary’s Order 2-2000.
MANAGING E-GOVERNMENT
PROJECTS
E-Government projects fail for the same reason that other projects fail:
lack of vision, poor planning, staff with the wrong skills, lack of management
support, and lack of buy-in from key stakeholders. To guard against these
pitfalls, DOL has established a comprehensive IT investment management program
to select, manage, and evaluate IT projects. E-Government projects will be
managed in accordance with this process to ensure that the right projects are
selected; that risk analyses have been conducted; and that the projects are
monitored to make sure that they are operating within acceptable cost,
schedule, and technical performance parameters. E-Government projects will also
be managed in accordance with the Department’s systems development
life-cycle management methodology.
In addition, working with OMB, the Department established the Federal
Government’s first centralized IT Crosscut Fund in FY 2001. The fund helps
reduce duplicative spending across agencies, coordinate Department-wide IT
spending, and capitalize on the economies of scale made possible by managing IT
projects across agencies. Using the IT Crosscut Fund, DOL achieved nearly $120
million in cost avoidance savings between FY 2001 and FY 2004.
Figure 7 provides an overview of the Department’s integrated
project management framework. An overview of the project management framework
is also presented in DOL’s brochure, the IT Project Management Framework
Guide. This guide includes information on project management, security and
privacy, IT capital investment management, system development, and DOL’s
investment review board structure. The CIO Council has cited the guide as a
best practice.
DOL’s management approach ensures that its transition to being a
digital department will proceed in a structured manner and that the Department
will meet its E-Government commitments.
INTEGRATING
E-GOVERNMENT INTO PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
DOL continues to make progress in measuring its programs against
strategic and outcome goals. At the same time, the Department is improving its
management of Department IT through the DOL IT investment management process.
These efforts enable DOL to more effectively align its
E-Government efforts with program goals and priorities and to measure
the contribution of DOL IT systems to customer-facing programs.
DOL will also benefit from OMB’s newly launched performance
measurement initiative, the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). PART is a
series of questions focused on four areas: program purpose and design,
strategic planning, program management, and program results. Together, these
questions are designed to assess overall program performance. OMB began using
PART in the FY 2004 budget cycle. Initially the tool is being used to evaluate
approximately 20 percent of Federal agency programs. That percentage is
scheduled to increase to 100 percent over the next 5 years.
OMB evaluated nine DOL programs for the FY 2004 budget cycle:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
- Trade Adjustment Assistance
- Dislocated Worker Assistance
- Youth Activities
- Community Service Employment for Older Americans.
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