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Return to Article: The Clinger-Cohen Act, 10 Years Later: The Five Percent Solution

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  My compliments to Mr. Andrues for putting perspective on trends that we all know are not mutually exclusive:

  (1) Instead of falling, the price of IT for federal government is rising at 9 percent a year;

  (2) "A great deal the of the expertise associated ... lies not in government but in industry, which has resulted in significant increases in outsourcing."

  The trend toward outsourcing and the abandonment of skilled federal staff positions for more costly contractors and consultants have been the major factors resulting in rising IT expenditures. Management at many agencies is beginning to openly recognize this nuts and bolts fact.

  Beneath layers of creative accounting and more layers of profits, the solid numbers are bearing this out. Even with all the limits placed on federal employees by the A-76 competition rules, employees have won the majority of those competitions.

  The current "approach" to recruit and retain the best and brightest into the federal government will be sorely tested as retirements of the most experienced federal employees increase in coming years.

  Michael Posted July 12, 2006 1:06 PM
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  Glad to see the federal press take on this issue, as there are many in government who care about this issue and wonder who in government leadership ranks cares enough to take practical steps in stemming the tide of IT failure rates. Failure rates in government are pegged between 72 and 80 percent of major IT programs. GAO estimates the cost to the taxpayer to be approximately $23.1 billion each year, a staggering number, especially when facing major cuts in critical programs. Several years ago, Karen Evans issued a letter to the CIO Council and Industry calling for both to partner for success. Unfortunately, most of the "partnerships" were lobbying efforts disguised as public service initiatives, creating significant conflicts of interests.

  I believe industry and government can form public/private partnerships as suggested by Karen Evan, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of agency efforts to leverage innovations of the market. These partnerships can overcome the number one failure pattern in government; aligning common business requirements with proven commercial solutions.

  But this requires leadership and dedicated industry leaders to put our country first. Our country's IT leadership is at risk, and our national leadership must provide practical guidance on how government and industry can engage in trusted partnerships as suggested in the E-Government Act, and recommended in many, many industry recommendations.

  John Weiler, E.D. Posted July 12, 2006 7:21 AM