Before the House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Census, Joel Willemssen, managing director of IT issues at the General Accounting Office, testified Thursday that fewer than half the initiatives addressed collaboration and customer focus despite the importance of these topics to E-government strategy and goals.
In prepared testimony, Willemssen said 10 initiatives failed to identify a final completion date, resulting in inadequate information to determine if they're moving forward in a timely manner. In addition, he said, six programs weren't planned to be completed within the two-year period OMB established as a criterion for inclusion in its E-government effort.
Willemssen also told the panel that accurate cost information was generally lacking. From May to September 2002, changes in project budgets exceeded 30% in about half the initiatives. "These changes occurring within such a short period of time rendered the funding plans outdated soon after they were developed," Willemssen said. "This uncertainty about how much the initiatives would cost, combined with the fact that only nine of the 24 plans identified a strategy for obtaining these needed funds, led us to conclude that OMB wasn't receiving adequate information to properly oversee the E-government projects and ensure that they would have the resources their objectives efficiently and economically."
Important aspects such as collaboration and customer focus had not been thought out for all the projects, and major uncertainties in funding and milestones weren't uncommon, Willemssen said. "Priority should now be given to ensuring that the agencies manage these initiatives, tackle these issues, and gain cost and schedule stability so that they can ultimately succeed in achieving their potential."
Quelle: Information Week
