Agency Snapshot: Department of Education

The Department of Education was the 14th largest Federal civilian agency in terms of Information Technology (IT) spending in fiscal Year (FY) 2010, with a budget of $812 million. The Department’s IT investments support its mission of promoting student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. Major IT investments in FY 2010 include EDFacts, MSIX (Migrant Student Information Exchange), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In addition to working on improving investment management, the Department is working to streamline IT operations and secure communication and information assets.

CIO
Dr. Danny A. Harris
website: 
www.ED.gov

Key Initiatives

Effectively managing the many ongoing IT investments is one of the biggest challenges for agencies. These IT investments can range from new citizen-facing services to systems that help government employees perform their jobs more effectively. Effective management of these projects is necessary to ensure that investments do not exceed estimated costs, are completed on time, and provide promised capabilities. The metrics shown here, as well as on the more detailed IT Dashboard, provide a measure of how well agencies are doing in managing their largest investments so that citizens and managers know which investments are performing well and which need attention.

Tabular View

While technology is critical for agencies to work effectively, we must ensure that we efficiently manage our technology operations, from our infrastructure to our software to our user service, in order to prevent waste of taxpayer dollars. The government’s current priorities include centralizing key Federal IT services to decrease duplicative and wasteful spending, reducing facility space usage and energy consumption, and improving service delivery. More information on achieving operational efficiency can be found in the 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management.

Our Nation's security and economic prosperity depend on the stability and integrity of our Federal communications and information infrastructure. Threats to cyberspace pose some of the most serious challenges of the 21st century for the United States. OMB is working with agencies, the Government Accountability Office and Congress to strengthen the Federal government's IT security and privacy programs.