Members of the federal Chief Information Officers Council laid out their top six priorities Wednesday: privacy and security, workforce improvement, capital planning, interoperability, e-government and outreach to other governments and the public.
Thirteen CIOs gathered at the FOSE government technology conference in Washington to describe the government's top technology challenges in mock game show style, complete with sound effects. The game, "Who Wants to be a CIO?", was a spoof of the popular ABC game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Alan "Regis" Balutis, outgoing deputy CIO at the Commerce Department, served as host of the game.
In response to a question about the top challenge facing federal information executives, State Department CIO Fernando Burbano said information security is the top priority, noting that the Web sites of the White House, FBI, State Department and others have been attacked by malicious hackers in recent months. Burbano heads the council's Security, Privacy and Critical Infrastructure Committee.
Roger Baker, Burbano's co-chairman and CIO at the Commerce Department, said Americans have high expectations of the government when it comes to ensuring privacy. "We have a fiduciary responsibility to just do it better than the private sector," Baker said.
Interior Department CIO Daryl White, co-chair of the Capital Planning and IT Management committee, said the best way to avoid making headlines with failed information technology projects is to focus on capital planning.
"We probably don't do what we need to do in cradle-to-grave management," White said.
In discussing the importance of conducting the government's business online, Social Security Administration CIO John Dyer invoked the threat of bad coverage in the media as a reason to pay attention to privacy issues when developing electronic services. Social Security received bad press when its online application for accessing personal earnings and benefits information was criticized for lacking effective privacy checks.
"You want to make sure you don't end up on the front page of USA Today," Dyer said.
After the CIOs outlined their priorities, Balutis asked Commerce CIO Baker whether there should be a governmentwide CIO. Baker asked for help from Sally Katzen, a counselor to OMB Director Jacob Lew and the Clinton administration's nominee to be deputy director for management at OMB-a position which has not been held by a confirmed appointee since July 1997.
Katzen said the federal government doesn't need a top chief information officer because the deputy director for management oversees information technology management across government. Katzen also said the CIO Council provides a means of ensuring that agencies work together and follow executive branch directives.
After hanging up his hat as mock game show host, Balutis will also leave his post as deputy CIO at Commerce. On Tuesday, the Commerce Department announced that Balutis will be the new director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program.
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