Information Technology Management: Status of Selected DoD Policies on Information Technology Governance

Who Should Read This Report and Why? The DoD Chief Information Officer, Chief Information Officers of DoD Components, DoD information technology mission area personnel, and other personnel responsible for overseeing DoD information technology requirements should read this report to help the DoD information technology community establish a DoD enterprise-wide information technology governance structure. Background. Information resource management is the process of managing information resources to accomplish the agency mission. The term encompasses information technology, which is any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment used in automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information. For purposes of this report, we use the terms information resource management and information technology governance interchangeably. Congress, through various legislation, requires that information resource management be the primary duty of the DoD Chief Information Officer and that agency heads must delegate specific authorities to the agency Chief Information Officer, including authority to designate a senior agency information security officer. In addition, agencies must use a capital planning and investment control process for selection, management, and evaluation of information technology investments and DoD must establish a specified process to manage its business systems. Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130, Management of Federal Information Resources, November 28, 2000, requires that agencies use a capital planning and investment control process that links mission needs to information technology and uses portfolios to monitor investments.