TECHNOLOGY AND THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT

Over the weekend, the White House quietly launched a new Web site aimed at tracking agency compliance with an open government directive released in December.

The directive set a series of rapidly approaching due dates for actions that are intended to make the government more transparent, cooperative with industry and engaging for the public.

The site, the Open Government Dashboard, was a directive requirement due Jan. 6. The release of the governmentwide site coincides with the unveiling of individual agency open government homepages. The dashboard links to each agency's site so users can read more about the activities that departments are up to.

As of today, nearly every agency -- save for the Council on Environmental Quality -- is meeting expectations. Likewise, overall ratings are uniformly high.

That means most agencies, to date, have met their milestones by releasing "high-value" downloadable statistics as defined by the directive, assigning a senior-level official to oversee the quality and objectivity of online federal spending information and going live with a site dedicated to the directive.

"The first version of the Dashboard tracks agency progress on the deliverables set out in the directive," the site reads.

Perhaps the White House, in future iterations of the site, may hold agencies accountable by issuing more lengthy department-specific appraisals. The experiment continues. . .

NASA, already in the spotlight for a budget that scraps plans to return to the moon, received more negative publicity from federal auditors on Wednesday about ongoing information security problems.

Cristina Chaplain, Government Accountability Office director for acquisition and sourcing management, testified before a House panel that continuing weaknesses in information technology systems are a "key issue" facing the space agency, as it undergoes a dramatic change of direction. The White House proposed on Monday that NASA cancel the $3.5 billion Constellation program that was intended to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020. Instead, the fiscal 2011 budget calls for investing in the commercial space industry, international partners and new technologies to revitalize human space flight over the long-term.

During fiscal years 2007 and 2008, NASA reported 1,120 security incidents where malicious software was installed on its systems or intruders accessed sensitive information. Despite the establishment of a security operations center to prevent such episodes, "control vulnerabilities and program shortfalls" increase "the risk of unauthorized access to NASA's sensitive information, as well as inadvertent or deliberate disruption of its system operations," Chaplain's written testimony stated.

Such vulnerabilities make it possible for federal employees or contractors to disclose, alter or destroy sensitive data that could disrupt space missions, she added.

In response to the GAO findings, NASA officials said the department is undergoing a strategic effort to improve IT security that incorporates many of the auditors' recommendations, such as conducting physical risk assessments, comprehensive security testing, as well as deploying an adequate incident detection program.

"The [agency's] deputy administrator also stated that NASA will continue to mitigate the information security weaknesses identified" by GAO, Chaplain testified. "The actions identified by the deputy administrator, if effectively implemented, will improve the agency's information security program."

President Obama reinforced his call to modernize government by asking Congress to spend tens of millions of dollars over three years on governmentwide innovations.

The fiscal 2011 budget creates a $50 million account for the "integrated, efficient and effective uses of information technology." Acceptable uses of the money include governmentwide shared IT resources, consolidated and energy-efficient platforms, IT security services and architectural assistance to make agency IT systems talk to each other better. The Office of Management and Budget would control the pool of money from 2011 through Sept. 2013.

The fiscal move reflects a new attitude toward federal IT. Throughout his first year in office, Obama has pulled together a team of high-ranking officials, from senior advisers to deputy secretaries, who are depending on IT to improve how the government delivers services and formulates policies.

"This funding will provide a central federal strategic resource base controlled by the director of the Office of Management and Budget to be used for rapid development and governmentwide deployment of services and solutions to implement a more integrated, efficient and effective use of information technology in the federal government," the budget states.

The pool of money also would promote a shared services model that the Bush administration tried but hadn't deployed governmentwide. The model is intended to save money by outsourcing IT work to an office that services multiple agencies. "Performance metrics will be established to realize the efficiencies of shared services delivery to federal agencies from a central source," the budget notes.

Separately, the president's request would add $3 million to a $17 million pot of money for "governmentwide innovations, initiatives, and activities" on the condition that the increase fund test projects requiring collaboration among multiple agencies that are aimed at "improving specific outcomes."

The Veterans Affairs Department has test-launched a Web site that details the performance of information technology projects summarized on the federal IT Dashboard site, which tracks the progress of IT investments governmentwide.

The "Veterans Affairs IT Product Delivery Dashboard" went live about a month ago but has not been publicized yet, said Roger Baker, the VA chief information officer, at a Monday briefing on the fiscal 2011 budget.

The VA site uses traffic light colors to grade certain aspects of 82 IT projects the department monitors monthly. For example, a red box indicates the project is more than 44 days behind schedule, while a green box means the project is either on track or less than 30 days behind.

The information on the governmentwide IT Dashboard is limited to capital asset plans, known as Exhibit 300s, that agencies submit annually to the Office of Management and Budget. The Veterans Affairs dashboard, which is currently a simple PDF table, adds monthly updates on the variance between the project's planned budget and schedule and actual progress.

Also, the department-specific site shows whether projects have been halted under VA's new project assessment method. Boxes in a column labeled "PMAS," for Project Management Accountability System, are colored red for "paused" - meaning suspended, yellow for "deferred" - or given one more chance to meet milestones or green for "cleared" - meaning approved. All the projects on the current dashboard, dated Dec. 31, are good to go but the department this summer suspended 45 other IT projects not listed on the site.

The new evaluation system temporarily stops projects that miss incremental, 6-month milestones to determine whether to spend more money rejuvenating them or permanently end them. VA has cut funding or ended at least 15 projects, as a result of this policing.

"I am more focused on PMAS than the Web site, I will admit," Baker said in an interview with Nextgov. The department plans to upgrade the site with more user-friendly navigation in the coming months.

The Labor Department has moved its entire financial system to what an agency contractor describes as a cloud-based application, the contractor, Global Computer Enterprises, announced on Thursday.

The White House is encouraging agencies to shift their inhouse hardware and software to a shared online environment, a.k.a. "the cloud," to save money and increase efficiency. President Obama has acknowledged that upfront costs may be high but the returns on investment should be higher by renting rather than owning the technology. GCE's seven-year contract with Labor, worth $50 million, marks the department's first financial management overhaul in more than 20 years, according to the company.

This may be the first cabinet-level department to launch an agencywide financial system without buying hardware or software. Officials at GCE, a small business that offers financial management services, said they deployed the application in 18 months. The pre-built system is based on Oracle Financials Release 12.

"Agencies can focus on their core mission-challenges and do not have to invest in hardware, software, and staff to run massive technology solutions," GCE Chief Strategy Officer David Lucas said in a statement. "GCE and DOL have set a high standard for other Federal entities looking to modernize their financial management system and drive good government."

Labor officials declined to comment on what financial functions are in the cloud -- or compare the cost of accessing the new setup to the cost of running its old financial system. Officials also would not say whether the consolidation would affect any federal jobs.