Federal CIO Kundra cites progress on IT reform plan

The Interior Department has elevated the role of its CIO and other agencies are likely to follow in coming months, Federal CIO Vivek Kundra said.

Last December, the Interior Department elevated the role of its CIO and other agencies are likely to follow suit in the coming months, Federal CIO Vivek Kundra said Wednesday.

An Interior secretarial order consolidated all IT resources under CIO Bernard Mazer, and Kundra suggested similar action might occur at the Health and Human Services and the Housing and Urban Development departments.

Speaking to reporters at the Interagency Resources Management Conference, Kundra said he has been meeting with deputy secretaries and CIOs at various agencies to discuss how they intend to implement the Obama administration’s 25-point IT reform plan announced in December 2010.


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Kundra said he's has been talking about Interior’s change as a best practice because the reform plan calls for agencies to strengthen their CIOs.

Since the plan’s release, the Obama administration has put forward its cloud computing strategy and formed a data center consolidation task force. Kundra said he is also in the process of reconstituting the Federal CIO Council and is drafting a plan for a new federal IT program management career track.

The public can expect a status update on implementing the IT reform plan next month, according to Kundra.

During a CIO round table session, Kundra said the administration plans to provide detailed updates every six months on where the reform effort stands.

Acquisition Editor Matthew Weigelt contributed to this story.