IG: Homeland Security CIO lacks necessary power
Technology chief is poorly positioned to manage departmentwide IT projects, report says.
The Homeland Security Department's chief information officer lacks the authority and influence necessary to integrate DHS' information technology systems, according to a recent inspector general audit.
In an excerpt from the fiscal 2005 DHS Performance and Accountability report released last week, Inspector General Richard Skinner said despite federal law, the department's CIO is not a member of the senior management team and lacks the authority to strategically manage departmentwide technology programs and assets.
"While the CIO currently participates as an integral member at each level of the investment review process, the department would benefit from following the successful examples of other federal agencies in positioning their CIOs with the authority and influence needed to guide executive decisions on departmentwide IT investments and strategies," the IG stated.
The 26-page performance report excerpt, which describes Homeland Security's major management challenges, was sent to department officials, the Office of Management and Budget, and congressional committees.
By law, the IG must provide an annual assessment of the department's management challenges.
In a response, department officials wrote that the CIO, Scott Charbo, believes his office is "properly positioned and has the authority it needs to accomplish its mission." The technology chief will continue to work on the integration of the IT systems and will continue to be the main IT authority under the secretary and the deputy secretary, the response stated.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has defended his July decision to leave his management chiefs reporting to the undersecretary for management.
Chertoff has said he already receives 29 direct reports and adding more would create "the illusion of coordination without necessarily the reality of coordination."
In his report, Skinner also stated that the Infrastructure Transformation Office, tasked with improving information sharing, is still working to establish a standardized departmentwide network, a common e-mail service, a centralized help desk, two data center services for backing up information and a standard departmentwide video service.
The six-year effort by DHS' Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a $1.5 billion digital flood maps program lacks effective coordination as well and does not address user and funding needs, according to the report.
Skinner did, however, commend the department for completing a comprehensive inventory of its major IT applications and support systems as well as a departmentwide certification and accreditation tool that will help DHS comply with the 2002 Federal Information Security Management Act, a computer security law governing federal agencies.
The IG's report also addressed the consolidation of the department's components and the management of contracts, grants, finances and personnel.