In its two years of existence, the federal government\u2019s Technology Modernization Fund has backed nine projects across the executive branch. Though the TMF has been a success for several agencies, there are still around 50 project proposals the TMF board rejected, said federal CIO Suzette Kent at the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center\u2019s TMF event Nov. 20. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the same event, federal deputy CIO Margie Graves offered insight into reasons projects are selected to receive federal funds. At the top of list? Support from top-level leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t see clear support from the highest levels of the agency,” then the money may not be awarded, Graves said. \u201cThat\u2019s really the key.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graves pointed to the Department of Agriculture as a prime example. At USDA, Secretary Sonny Perdue has pushed the department of prioritize IT modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you have somebody who\u2019s driving toward that goal in everything that they do within an agency\u201d is vital, Graves said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The TMF board also evaluates whether the technical approach to the project is \u201cup to snuff,” Graves said. And it considers the talent of the team designated to work on the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also considered is the potential return on investment and how the project can benefit several federal agencies that have similar issues, instead of just the single agency awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We\u2019re asking those who [finish projects] to actually come back to the table with their learnings,\u201d Graves said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While TMF projects progress, the teams provide the board with status updates and lessons they\u2019ve learned along the way. Graves said that allows the board to pass those best practices out to the federal government at large through the CIO council or forums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We want \u201cto make sure that all boats are rising … [and] everybody is learning,\u201d said Graves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the TMF has helped several agencies make significant gain, it is under significant budget pressure from Congress. Its budget was reduced from $100 million to $35 million in fiscal 2019, but a recent Senate proposal appropriated $0 for the fund. The final number is still under negotiation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A top Office of Budget and Management official discussed why projects do \u2014 and don’t \u2014 win funding for their modernization projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":47690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":14,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,110,14,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3242],"class_list":["post-19813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-it-cloud-report","category-it-networks","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FGNVYFXGLRFWLOQSCJXIX3MBI4","arc_canonical_url":"\/it-networks\/2019\/11\/22\/how-projects-win-part-of-the-federal-modernization-purse\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n