GAO: OMB falls short in managing info resources

The Office of Management and Budget has failed to create an effective, comprehensive strategic vision for managing the government's information resources as it embarks in the war on terrorism, according to a new report from the General Accounting Office.

The report, "Information Resources Management: Comprehensive Strategic Plan Needed to Address Mounting Challenges," was prepared for the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

The report criticizes OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and its choice of the Chief Information Officers Council's strategic plan for fiscal 2001-02 as the governmentwide strategic plan for information resource management.

The plan falls short in several ways, GAO said. The plan includes numerous governmentwide goals with objectives and strategies for attaining them, but "the goals ... are not linked to expected improvements in agency and program performance," the report found.

The GAO reported that fighting terrorism would require high-level coordination and leadership, personified in the appointment of Tom Ridge as the new director of homeland security.

But successful coordination will require "development of one overall plan for the collection and analysis of information relating to terrorist activities or threats across the United States, and the securing of IT systems to facilitate the sharing of this information among the many entities involved," the report said.

One shortcoming of the CIO Council's strategic plan is the failure to discuss resources needed by OMB, the council itself and federal agencies, the GAO said.

President Bush's proposed budget for 2003, released after the bulk of the work on the GAO report was completed, was singled out for praise for containing "many of the elements required in a strategic plan that were not present [before] and appears to address, in part, the recommendations" made by the report, GAO said.

Among its recommendations, the GAO suggested OMB build on past efforts and develop and implement a governmentwide plan. The report also said the plan needs to assess the existing environment and emerging threats, and their potential impact on the government's collection, use, maintenance and sharing of information.