Meeting the Government's Agencies should actively seek to identify and understand the taxpayers' needs, both now and in the future, and not rely on the perceived demands of the past. entails organizational change; agencies should have a plan for managing both and should communicate these plans to the Congress. With a clearer understanding of the agency's vision and goals, the Congress will be in a better position to make informed oversight decisions and assist in resolving difficult issues. Both Senator Frank Lautenberg and Representative Edward Markey highlighted the importance of working together to resolve the technology challenges facing the government. Principle 3: Service to the Public Should Be the Vision's Successful use of information technology requires understanding the needs of the customer and letting those needs dictate how technology is used. Government typically focuses its attention on internal operational needs, with little regard to an important aspect of its mission-meeting the needs and desires of the American public. Planning for information technology without considering the needs of the public can backfire, resulting in underutilized systems, increased costs, and dissatisfied customers. During the symposium, industry leaders repeatedly emphasized that their organizations' strategies were driven to a large extent by the needs of their customers. According to Barry Kotar, Covia Corporation's technology plan is based on a comprehensive assessment and understanding of the customer's priorities and needs. In many federal agencies, the services they provide are limited by what their systems can handle, not what the taxpayer wants. Successful leaders must be in a position to anticipate how their technology systems can accommodate changes in taxpayer requirements. Echoing this point, Jim Grant observed that forming a virtual partnership with the customer is essential for developing a service-oriented system. Senior executives should make a concerted effort to understand and incorporate the needs of the American public in developing information technology strategies. They must actively seek to identify and understand the taxpayers' needs, both now and in the future, and not rely on the perceived demands of the past. Specific vehicles for obtaining this information could include customer surveys and pilot testing. Evidence that agencies are listening to taxpayers' views will encourage a sense of confidence that scarce tax dollars are being used appropriately. Meeting the Government's A comprehensive plan or architecture should drive all major technology purchases. Principle 4: A Clear, Flexible Architecture Should Support the Information systems are one of the most important tools for effectively accomplishing the organization's mission. For maximum efficiency and effectiveness, these systems should be developed as part of an overall architecture or plan. An architecture is a blueprint explaining the structure of and communications among an organization's information technology resources-hardware, software, and people. It is the foundation upon which an agency builds, modifies, and expands its organizational operations. The architecture should drive all major technology purchases. Rather than simply buying information technology without a clear plan for how it will fit into the agency's overall strategy, leaders need a comprehensive plan that will dictate the equipment and resources required. This should reduce the likelihood of acquiring inappropriate or duplicate technology and ensure that the technology can be integrated with existing systems. Developing a collection of independent information systems with no underlying foundation or architecture is unacceptable. A clear, well-conceived architecture also offers the possibility of building an integrated information system one piece at a time, thereby minimizing the risks inherent in an all-or-nothing strategy. Constructing a system incrementally provides flexibility to modify or expand the system in response to changes in customer needs, legislative requirements, or technological advances. Barry Kotar, for example, built Covia's system incrementally using proven building blocks, thereby reducing the project's risks. This modular approach also enables the customer to begin reaping the benefits of the system sooner. The symposium participants agreed that it was preferable to avoid very large, monolithic projects in favor of developing smaller, modular components within the architecture. Principle 5: Management Continuity Is Needed to Implement the Continuity at the project management level is essential to realizing the vision. In the past, government has had difficulty maintaining the continuity necessary to provide consistent direction and clear accountabil ity for information systems development efforts. All too often, changes in management occur that significantly affect the direction of an information systems project, thereby increasing costs, delaying the delivery Meeting the Government's of the project's benefits, and clouding accountability for the project's success. Assembling and retaining a team of highly qualified officials to manage critical information systems projects is essential to implementing the vision. Jim Grant stressed that the quality of the people supporting the leaders in the organization will determine whether the vision can be carried out. Operating on this philosophy, The Royal Bank of Canada established an intensive university recruiting program to ensure that highly skilled students are being hired. In this vein, symposium participants agreed that a move toward professionalizing the field of information resources management would enhance the quality of project managers. Suggestions offered included establishing a governmentwide training curriculum and developing a federal project management methodology. Since retaining key, highly qualified officials to maintain continuity within technology projects is a major dilemma, agencies should explore new ways of bringing continuity to the process of managing these projects. For example, developing a detailed long-term strategy that can transcend personnel changes would mitigate some of the risks associated with management turnover. Using advisory committees and individual consultants to provide consistent institutional memory and perspective would also help achieve continuity. As we move toward the next century, information technology promises to provide higher quality government services at reduced cost to the public. The challenge of making this promise a reality rests primarily with our leaders, who must provide the commitment and vision necessary to change the way government operates in this critical arena. Specifically, GAO believes that for this endeavor to be successful, federal leaders will need to charge the senior information resources management official in each agency with defining and implementing a clear yet flexible architecture that embodies the agency's vision of how it will do business in the future; encourage the formation of internal and external partnerships through organizations such as architecture planning committees, review boards, or advisory committees; clearly explain the agency's overall vision and direction in providing information to the Congress; These steps constitute a promising agenda for action, but they are only a beginning. The dialogue begun during the symposium must be continued, new insights must be shared, and new solutions must be found if the government is to meet its technology challenge. The time to act is now. The information technology crisis the government is facing will not resolve itself; it requires immediate action and continuing attention. Committed, visionary leadership is needed to address this crisis. Agency heads should demonstrate this leadership by applying the framework to their strategies for acquiring and managing information technology. Appendix I Biographies of Industry Speakers John F. Fisher Banc One Corporation John Fisher is Senior Vice President for Banc One Corporation. Known Mr. Fisher's first major banking innovation was the bank credit card. In GAO/IMTEC-90-23 Results of A GAO Symposium |