{"id":12425,"date":"2018-12-11T17:16:41","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T17:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/11\/agencies-demonstrate-progress-in-latest-tech-modernization-scorecard\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:33:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:33:01","slug":"agencies-demonstrate-progress-in-latest-tech-modernization-scorecard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/it-networks\/2018\/12\/11\/agencies-demonstrate-progress-in-latest-tech-modernization-scorecard\/","title":{"rendered":"Agencies demonstrate progress in latest tech modernization scorecard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Federal agencies closed out 2018 by making mostly forward progress on IT modernization initiatives, according to a Government Accountability Office evaluation released Dec. 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the 24 agencies evaluated by the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act managed to pull above a failing grade in their December 2018 evaluations, with the largest number of “B” grades the scorecard has ever awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a detailed report on the scorecard, issued by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, much of the improvement is due to drastically higher grades in the software licensing category of the scorecard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That category was first introduced in the November 2017 evaluations<\/a>, and proved to be the largest pain point for agencies<\/a> for over a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Agencies improved scores and staved off declines in the 2018 end-of-year IT modernization evaluation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince the prior scorecard in May 2018, 11 agencies increased their letter grade and 13 remained the same. Much of this growth is due to agencies\u2019 improvements in the software licensing area,” the report noted. \u201cIn particular, since the committee included software licensing area on the scorecard in June 2017, 16 agencies have implemented a comprehensive, regularly-updated inventory of software licenses; and also used their inventory to make cost-effective decisions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Software licensing proved to be one of the most successful evaluation categories of the scorecard in December 2018, with 18 A\u2019s awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Small Business Administration managed the greatest improvement in its grades, moving from a D+ earlier this year to a B+ by December. That improvement was the result of significantly higher grades in both CIO authority enhancements and software licensing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scorecard also found slightly improved authorities for agency chief information officers, with the Department of Health and Human Service\u2019s reporting structure changed to allow its CIO to report to the deputy secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmong other things, FITARA set out to ensure that federal chief information officers had a significant role in agencies\u2019 IT decisions. However, the committee has heard that, in many cases, these CIOs do not report to the head of their agency. Given the history of federal IT failures, the committee is concerned that CIOs are not adequately empowered,\u201d the detailed report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ensuring CIO authority has also been an important initiative for the Trump administration, as the president signed an executive order in May 2018<\/a> that mandated higher-level involvement for federal agencies\u2019 top technology officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\t