Mark Forman will leave OMB for private sector

Mark Forman, administrator of e-government and IT, will be leaving his Office of Management and Budget post next week for an industry job.

Forman's office would only confirm he is leaving for the private sector but wouldn't say where he would be going. His last day is Aug. 15. (Click here to read a transcript of Forman's July 22 live, online forum with Washington Technology)

"The administration remains fully committed to the e-government component and every initiative of the President's Management Agenda. OMB will continue to press forward on the president's e-government initiatives and improve the government's use of IT. Mark Forman has served the administration and taxpayers well," OMB spokesman Trent Duffy said.

OMB chief technology officer Norm Lorentz will be acting administrator for E-Government and IT, OMB said.

Forman, the e-government czar, was hired in June 2001 to shepherd President Bush's e-gov agenda.

Over the past two years, he has overseen development of the 25 Quicksilver initiatives to push agencies to become more citizen-focused, the development of a federal enterprise architecture, the consolidation of hardware and software purchases, and the use of business cases to justify agency IT budgets.

Reps. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Adam Putnam (R-Fla.), the chairman of the Government Reform Committee and chairman of the Government Reform subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census, respectively, sent a letter to OMB expressing their disappointment that Forman is leaving.

They encouraged director Joshua Bolten to replace him quickly.

The lawmakers said Forman "has been an important motivating factor in the progress that has been achieved in fulfilling the goals and objectives of the President's Management Reform Agenda, while being an agent of change in the technological transformation of the way the federal government conducts it business, both internally and externally."

Forman also has created a strong foundation for agency transformation on which the government can build upon, Davis and Putnam wrote.

The congressmen said Bolten should try to hire someone "who possesses the skill assets and approach that will minimize any transition interruption and will continue to be an effective catalyst in transforming the operations of the federal government."

Before joining OMB, Forman was vice president of electronic business at Unisys Corp. and directed IBM Corp.'s e-government consulting practice. He also previously worked for the General Accounting Office and was a senior professional staff member on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, where he helped draft the Clinger-Cohen Act and several other procurement laws.

Jason Miller writes for Government Computer News

(Posted 3:49 p.m. Aug. 5, updated 4:50 p.m.)