The White House’s fiscal year 2020 plan for IT modernization and workforce development includes the creation of a U.S. Federal Data Service within the Commerce Department and conducting an overhaul at OPM.
Here are some highlights from President Trump’s budget request to Congress, per the White House:
- $150 million for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) as seed funding to allow the TMF to tackle more complex, government-wide efforts.
- Agency-specific initiatives to transform outdated systems to modern, secure, efficient solutions that leverage commercial technologies and modern business models.
- Technology investments that further enhance protection of data and foundational capabilities for management of data access and use.
- A full reorganization of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to restructure governance of one of the government’s larger and most impactful investments — a federal workforce of 2.1 million civilians.
- The administration has focused on defining a baseline for how agencies address poor performers, distribute financial awards, and hire staff. It has used existing authority to remove barriers and fix processes in order to focus on continuous improvement within agencies.
The federal government spends a half trillion dollars through contracts each year to help deliver the mission in hundreds of agencies. A forthcoming Acquisition Modernization Plan will guide incremental transformation to improve value and efficiency of the acquisition system. The administration will work with Congress on a proposed acquisition test authority pilot.
