Doing Business With the Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20530-0001 (202) 514-2000 1872 John Ashcroft About 130,000 The Justice Department enforces laws, fights terrorism and protects public safety. It provides leadership in crime control and prevention, seeks punishment for lawbreakers and pursues fair, impartial administration of justice. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives $30.1 billion $24.6 billion $23.3 billionThe "Doing business with DOJ" link on the home page is one of the most thorough I've seen. It gives detailed procurement information and procedures for the agency as well as its six components. It also provides links for small business, contracts for multiple users and services and sales. The whole Web site is informative and easy to use. I quickly found the agency's budget numbers, which are often one of the hardest pieces of information to find. The site is well-organized with obvious headings for what people look for, be they citizens or media or business folks.XXXSPLITXXX- Chief information officer Took the job: April 2002Alma mater: Bachelor's of science in physics from Muhlenberg College, master's in systems management from George Washington University. Served in Navy until 1973, retiring as a lieutenant.In July 2002, Hitch introduced his Strategic Plan for the Justice Department. Its main points are: to see IT as an enabler of the agency's enhanced mission in light of homeland security; Hitch's vision of the IT role; common solutions and shared services, such as the Unified Financial Management System and the Joint Automated Booking System; a focus on the mandates of the Clinger Cohen Act so Hitch meets his legislative responsibilities while fulfilling his role at the agency; enhanced e-government, including meeting the goals of the President's Management Agenda; a single data network; and improved IT security. Hitch: Our Single Telecommunications Network Trilogy, nothing is more important than Trilogy for the FBI; our information sharing initiative, PKI and IT security initiatives. Hitch: I look for partners, people who are ready to dive into and really embrace and understand our problems, and not just come back with pat solutions, but really internalize on it and come back with good recommendations. I am looking for corporate commitment, not just individual commitment. In other words, I want more than just a few people working for me. I want the company to stand behind the work they do and the ideas, and I want the ideas to be bigger than just the individuals. Hitch: There is a huge organizational change that has to take place at Justice, and I am actually pleased with what I've been able to accomplish since I've been on board. I see that continuing to evolve, and really "us," meaning the IT community in the Department of Justice, acting like a department, coordinating our efforts closely, acting as a team, coordinating our procurements and IT designs. That means a lot stronger leadership from the top, from me. And that is what I've been doing, putting in place the things that will enable us to do that. A lot will happen this year with Trilogy [a program to provide all FBI offices with better network communications, a common and current set of office automation tools and re-engineered Web-based applications], which is crucial to the future of the FBI and to counterterrorist issues. ... Obviously, the transition out of INS, the transition into ATFE, I expect those to be well under way.