	Background

Despite a substantial investment in IT, the federal government’s  management of information resources has produced mixed results. Although agencies have taken constructive steps to implement modern  strategies, systems, and management policies and practices, our work  continues to find that agencies face significant challenges. Enterprise architecture. We then developed and administered a questionnaire to the CIOs of the 27  major departments and agencies requesting information on whether these  officials were responsible for each of these areas, their reporting  relationships, their professional and educational backgrounds, and their  challenges. CIOs Responsible for Most Areas and Generally Reported to Agency Heads

CIOs generally were responsible for most of the 13 key areas we had  identified as either required by statute or among those critical to effective  information and technology management, and most reported directly to  their agency heads. Of the other eight areas,  two of them—information disclosure and statistics—were the  responsibility of fewer than half of the CIOs. Nevertheless, having these responsibilities  performed by multiple officials could make the integration of various  information and technology management areas, as envisioned by the law,  more difficult to achieve. Given these results, it is clear that questions arise about whether the  current statutory framework of roles and responsibilities reflects the most  effective assignment of information and technology management  responsibilities. CIOs Have Diverse Backgrounds and Generally Remained in Office about 2 Years

At the major departments and agencies included in our review, the current  CIOs had diverse backgrounds, and since the enactment of the Clinger- Cohen Act, the median tenure of permanent CIOs whose time in office had  been completed was about 2 years. Various  mechanisms, such as human capital flexibilities, are available for agencies  to use to help reduce CIO turnover or mitigate its affect. Further, virtually all of them  had work experience and/or educational backgrounds in IT or IT-related  fields. When asked how long a CIO needed to stay in office to be effective, current  CIOs and former agency IT executives most commonly responded 3 to 5  years. A high  turnover rate is a problem, according to some current CIOs, because it can  negatively impact their effectiveness. For example, CIOs may not have time  to put their agenda in place or form close working relationships with  agency leadership. Matter for Congressional Consideration

As it holds hearings on and introduces legislation related to information  and technology management, we suggest that the Congress consider the  results of this review and whether the existing statutory requirements  related to CIO responsibilities and reporting to the agency heads reflect the  most effective assignment of information and technology management  responsibilities and reporting relationships. At a majority of  agencies, the CIO chaired this IT investment board. GAO Comments

1.
Why GAO Did This Study

Although the federal government has invested substantially in information technology (IT), its success in managing information resources has varied. Agencies have taken steps to implement modern strategies, systems, and management policies and practices, but they still face significant information and technology management challenges. Recognizing the key role of the chief information officer (CIO) in helping an agency to achieve better results through IT, congressional requesters asked GAO to study the current status of CIOs at major departments and agencies. Among the topics this report describes are (1) CIOs' responsibilities and reporting relationships, and (2) current CIOs' professional backgrounds and the tenures of all of the CIOs since enactment of the Clinger-Cohen Act.

What GAO Found

GAO administered a questionnaire and interviewed CIOs at 27 major departments and agencies, finding that respondents were responsible for most of the 13 areas we identified as either required by statute or critical to effective information and technology management. All of the CIOs had responsibility for five areas, including enterprise architecture and IT investment management. However, two of these areas--information disclosure and statistics--were outside the purview of more than half of the officers. Although the CIOs generally did not think placing responsibility for some areas in separate units presented a problem, having these responsibilities performed by multiple officials could make the integration of various information and technology management areas, as envisioned by law, more difficult to achieve. Given these results, it may be time to revisit whether the current statutory framework of responsibilities reflects the most effective assignment of information and technology management responsibilities. The law also generally requires that CIOs report directly to their agency heads, and 19 of the 27 said that they did. However, views were mixed among current and former officers on whether such a direct reporting relationship was important. Agency CIOs come from a wide variety of professional and educational backgrounds, but they almost always have IT or IT-related work or educational experience. Since enactment of the Clinger-Cohen Act, the median tenure of a federal CIO has been about 2 years; in contrast, both current CIOs and former agency IT executives most commonly cited 3 to 5 years as the time they needed to become effective. According to some current CIOs, high turnover is a problem because it can limit CIOs' ability to put their agendas in place. Various mechanisms, such as human capital flexibilities, are available for agencies to use to help them try to reduce CIO turnover or mitigate its effect.