ID=31460837Agencies have until the end of the week to provide the Office of Management and Budget with action plans on implementing the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), the biggest overhaul of federal IT in almost two decades.

With such sweeping legislation now in effect, OMB issued guidance on how agencies should respond, including the action-plan deadline for Aug. 15. Speaking at a FITARA forum hosted by MeriTalk on Aug. 11, Federal CIO Tony Scott gave a general overview of what he hopes FITARA will accomplish.

More: FITARA guidance outlines CIO authorities, delegating responsibility

Scott also offered four "expectations" of what OMB would like to see in agency action plans:

  • Has the agency identified real "breakthrough" opportunities to change, to transform, to embrace the digitization process?
  • Has the agency described a compelling and believable plan of actions to make that change?
  • How does this address the CIO's relationship with their peers in CFO, CHCO, CAO and programs?
  • How does this address the CIO's relationship with their deeper organization (bureau/component CIOs)?

"The future CIO has to be more balanced in terms of his or her focus, more strategic and more involved in the agency discussion about how that agency fulfills its role," Scott said. "I'm really excited about where we're at in the FITARA journey."

More: CIOs stress reform aspect of FITARA

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.

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