Tech officials troubled by lack of skilled federal IT managers
When Karen Evans takes over as the Office of Management and Budget's technology chief this month, she will face a shortage of well-trained federal IT project managers, according to panelists at a technology forum Tuesday.
Evans, scheduled to begin her new job as early as next week, will inherit an IT workforce adept at technological innovation but lacking in business acumen, according to Dan Chenok, branch chief for information policy and technology at OMB. The Bush administration is engaged in a major effort to develop skilled technology managers in-house, he said at a discussion hosted by the National Press Club.
Building a workforce with both scientific and management expertise should be one of the "defining concerns" of any CIO, said Scott Hasting, chief information officer of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Homeland Security Department. The government has already made some progress on recruiting MBAs and others with significant business experience to head IT initiatives, he said.
But more progress on developing in-house management talent is needed, according to Kim Nelson, chief information officer for the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has some very able IT managers, she said, but in general, the state and federal technology workers under her charge are ill-equipped to handle big-budget projects, she said. As a result, they end up taking too long to complete work and spend more money than planned.
Failure to meet deadlines and overspending can in turn influence OMB's recommendations for future project funding. When forced to prioritize among various technology initiatives during the budget process, the administration favors projects for which managers present a strong "business case" and demonstrate that they have met previously agreed upon performance standards, Chenok said.
The Office of Personnel Management is addressing the gap in IT management skills through its e-learning Web site-one of its five e-government projects. A section of the site called the "IT Workforce Development Roadmap" allows technology specialists to assess their level of management competency, formulate a personal career development plan and find training courses to help them reach their goals.
Privately run programs also offer management courses for federal technology experts. For instance, the Council for Excellence in Government runs a year-long fellows program to prepare mid-managers for senior executive positions. Fellows can specialize in e-government.
In addition, the e-government bill signed into law last December gives agency CIOs the option of sending staff members on exchange programs, where they could temporarily switch positions with private sector technology managers. This type of "cross-fertilization" would benefit agencies greatly, George Molaski, president and chief executive officer of E-Associates LLC, a technology consulting company in Falls Church, Va., said on Wednesday.
Other issues Evans faces as federal technology chief include information systems security, privacy concerns and a lack of adequate funding for some projects, the panelists said. The federal government will also need to do a better job of coordinating its technology projects with those at the state and local levels, said panelist Jim Flyzik, a security consultant and a former senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.