OMB official discusses possibility of reinvesting IT savings

Agencies that find ways to run information technology operations more efficiently may be eligible to spend the money saved on other technology work related to their mission, an Office of Management and Budget official said Thursday.

OMB recently asked agencies to start documenting the savings associated with their participation in IT-related efforts such as the Bush administration's e-government projects and lines of business initiatives to consolidate back-end systems in areas such as financial management.

"The intent is to provide the agencies with incentives," said Karen Evans, administrator of OMB's Office of E-Government and Information Technology, at a conference. "[If] you get greater efficiency in your IT operations, it allows you to do other mission … activities."

Agency responses to OMB's request to document savings were due by Sept. 30. Evans did not say whether all agencies have responded.

She emphasized the distinction between savings and cost avoidance, and noted that it is only possible to apply savings toward other mission-related technology activities. Cost avoidance is when agencies find ways to perform more work for the same budget.

"The only way that an agency gets credit for actual cost savings is when you see a reduction in baseline," Evans said. "And that means that you see the IT numbers going down, not going up…. That might not be something you want to hear because that is a direct reduction in the information technology budget … but it [could lead to] an increase in mission specific areas."

Evans made her comments at the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association 2006 Vision Conference.

Agencies' budgets may or may not allow them to spend the savings on other IT functions. It depends on whether the activities they want to spend the money on align with the priorities and goals they have outlined in program assessments, Evans said.

Also at the conference, Evans said agencies are on track to meet an Oct. 27 deadline to begin issuing new high tech identification cards to at least some employees. Starting Friday, the General Services Administration will launch ID card enrollment stations in four cities: Atlanta, New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Evans also said people should not jump to the conclusion that all OMB lines of business initiatives to consolidate IT systems will be based on the shared service center model.

"Every line of business is different," Evans said. "It has to depend on how agencies do their mission, how they are set up and how to do that for them."

Task forces assigned to review new opportunities to consolidate three additional categories of IT systems have delivered their recommendations to OMB. They focus on the adoption of uniform governmentwide standards rather than shared service centers. A final decision on which approach to take will be announced in the fiscal 2008 budget request.