The Challenges of Change and the Clinger - Cohen Act
May 26, 2006
In a previous posting we referred to an article about the 1996 Clinger-Cohen Act, and its intent to transform the role of the CIO in Federal Government Information Technology. CIO’s were to go from being "technical troubleshooters" to becoming real government change agents by improving Federal IT efficiency, management, and acquisition. By offering these badly needed changes, the Clinger-Cohen Act brought quite a positive reaction. The thing that interested me most about this act was the Government’s effort to mirror IT in the commercial industry. By running Government IT more like a business would, it was likely that government spending would become more efficient as a result.
However, a recent article discusses how many government CIO roles called for by the act still face a number of Federal IT challenges in terms of perception. In some cases, "Government CIOs are still seen as guys who fix BlackBerrys." I was particularly struck by the article’s take on how four separate problems (poor project management practices, bureaucracy, some CIOs’ lack of authority, and political complications) have contributed to lingering problems with several Federal IT systems, departments and budgets. Some examples of resulting problems include how the FAA's air traffic control system at Boston's Logan Airport malfunctioned last October, and Federal communications systems broke down after Hurricane Katrina, making many rescue attempts difficult.
The article’s final suggestion of strong leadership, (rather than more legislation) to prompt change really points to the true value and potential of government change agents in the CIO role. As the change agents paper suggests, strong change agents will be those who can drive transformational change in the Federal IT arena, engage bureaucracy, and focus on achieving measurable outcomes. The more change agents continue shift into that role, the more perception will change to CIO’s as leaders and management professionals instead of just technical gurus in their own right.
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