New Federal CIO and Congress Eying Overhaul of IT Procurement President Obama’s new chief information officer plans to change the way the government buys IT systems. Vivek Kundra told Federal Computer Week that a major part of the problem is “frankly, poor requirements from the federal government.” He added, “We’re not saying, ‘Hey, you awarded the contract — what happened? Why is it poorly written?’ And…to be fair, we’re not holding the private sector accountable when things do go wrong.” Kundra is the first person to hold the new position of federal CIO. He formerly served as CIO for the Washington, DC, government. Speaking to a meeting of AFCEA International in Bethesda, MD, on April 23, he said, “The federal government historically hasn’t done a good job of defining what those requirements are. Then it engages in contracts, and because the needs haven’t been defined very well, you end up with 400-plus change orders.” Kundra said new procurement processes will emphasize best value and accountability. Companies that engage in “charging the federal government without providing real value are going to become extinct,” he warned. “Those organizations that are going to provide the federal government with real value and move us forward and advance the taxpayers’ agenda are going to prosper.” A key Senate subcommittee chairman has introduced legislation designed to bring closer scrutiny to IT projects. Sen. Tom Carper, D-DE, said his bill would give agencies and Congress the information they need to monitor IT investments. “All too often agency technology investments, from something as simple a a new accounting system to something as complicated as the so-called virtual fence at the Mexican border, are finished millions of dollars over budget, years behind schedule and not performing as planned,” he said at an April 28 hearing of his Homeland Security Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security. Carper’s bill would require agencies to develop a “remedial action plan” when a project exceeds its projected budget by more than 40%. It would permit an agency’s CIO to halt funding of a project that is at risk of failing.