Given the results of a questionnaire and interviews with
chief information officers at 27 major departments and
agencies the current statutory framework delegating their
information and technology management responsibilities may
not be the most effective, the Government Accountability
Office has said.
Survey respondents said they were responsible for most of
the 13 areas GAO identified as either required by statute
or critical to effective information and technology management.
All said they were responsible for five areas, including
enterprise architecture and IT investment management, and
that more than half of the officers said information
disclosure and statistics were outside of their duties,
according to GAO.
It said although respondents did not think placing
responsibility for some areas in separate units presented
problems, having multiple officials perform responsibilities
could make it difficult to integrate information and
technology management areas as envisioned by law.
The law requires CIOs to report directly to agency heads,
something 19 of the 27 respondents said they did with some
questioning the importance of direct reporting, said GAO.
It also said that since the enactment of the Clinger-Cohen
Act the median tenure for CIOs has been about two years,
though most respondents cited the need for three to five
years of experience to become effective.
High turnover can limit the ability of CIOs to put their
agendas in place and GAO cited human capital flexibilities
as a way for agencies to try to help reduce CIO turnover or
mitigate its effect. GAO-04-823
