OMB puts on hold new IT projects for proposed homeland security agencies

Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels Jr. July 19 told agencies of the proposed Department of Homeland Security to halt information technology infrastructure and modernization plans with life-cycle costs greater than $500,000, pending an expedited review by a new Homeland Security IT Investment Review Group.Agencies must review their IT infrastructures by Aug. 15 and deliver their assessments to the review group, according to Daniels' memo to agencies that will likely be in the new department. OMB's goal is to eliminate redundant homeland security IT investments and consolidate systems where possible in the new department. While Daniels does not single out any planned IT programs for elimination, his memo said that some projects could be cut back or eliminated to avoid redundant IT investments.The seven agencies involved would have collectively spent at least $360 million on IT infrastructure by the end of fiscal 2002 and will grow to at least $780 million in fiscal 2003, OMB said. In 2003, four agencies plan to spend at least $244 million on telecommunications investments, much of it on systems that deliver similar services, it said. "There are high-quality infrastructures available at the Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the board needs to decide which platform to build and obviously not continue building several at the same time," Daniels said earlier this month at a midyear budget review press conference. Consolidation could save $100 million to $200 million over the next two years, according to Daniels' memo.The review group is led by OMB and the Office of Homeland Security, and includes the chief information officers from eight agencies ñ the Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Customs Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the departments of Treasury, State and Justice.One of the agencies that could be most affected by OMB's directive is the new Transportation Security Administration. One of the review group's first tasks is to review all task orders under TSA's Information Technology Managed Services Contract, worth up to $1 billion. Consolidating these investments will better serve citizens and minimize government costs, OMB said.Each new task order will be reviewed by the group to see if IT investments have already been made that TSA could capitalize on, said Mark Forman, OMB's associate director for information technology and e-government, in a conference call with reporters. "I'm not sure I would say [the contract is] being put on hold," Forman said. "I'd say we are going about it smartly. If an order comes out that says we are going to deploy phones, wireless, etc., in the South region, maybe the CIOs get together and say we don't [need] as large a contract. Will the business community be disappointed? It's not clear."Forman said the stoppage on IT infrastructure projects applies to new procurements about to be issued and new task orders for ongoing projects. "Things that are under way are [what] we want to leverage," he said, stressing OMB's memo did not mean all work would cease completely. It is too premature to tell if any projects will be completely eliminated, he said.Emergency procurements that conflict with OMB's directive will be reviewed by OMB within 24 hours, Daniels' memo said.Even though Congress has not approved the new department, taking steps to consolidate redundant IT investments is critical to improving homeland security ? including earlier detection and faster response to terrorist threats ? and would improve performance in any circumstance, OMB said. "My vision is one integrated, high quality environment," Forman said. "Some agencies are looking at modernizing their infrastructure, some already have. The fastest way is to ... take advantage of what is deployed there so far."