“The incoming Biden administration and outgoing Trump administration both made modernizing the federal government’s IT infrastructure a priority. But the nascent Biden presidency has yet to make its mark on a host of Trump-era IT policies and programs.”
“The Biden administration recently appointed its first federal chief information officer, Clare Martorana, who, once up to speed on all active programs and ongoing issues, will set the IT agenda for the rest of government.”
“But improving federal technology tends to be one of the last truly nonpartisan issues in Washington, and Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat believes that extends to the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer.”
“In a recent interview with Nextgov, Roat highlighted some short-term objectives for federal IT modernization and spoke to the fate of several initiatives held over from the last administration.”
“One of the most visible Trump-era programs, the Technology Modernization Fund, just received a major influx of cash—$1 billion—included in the latest COVID-19 relief bill. With that kind of congressional support, the program certainly isn’t going anywhere, though Roat said there are changes afoot…”
“The fund, in its current iteration, awards loans to agency projects with three- to five-year payback schedules meant to keep the fund flush and ready to support more projects. But the Biden team’s request to Congress for more TMF money included a proposal to eliminate that payback model for some of the most critical IT modernization needs.”
“While eliminating the payback model in some instances would be a significant change to the structure of the program, Roat said OMB is positioned to make those changes without additional help from Congress…” Read the full article here.
Source: Deputy Federal CIO on Fate of Trump-era IT Policies — By Aaron Boyd, March 23, 2021. Nextgov.
