OMBlog

Working Together to Achieve More Mission for the Money

“People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses,
or the problems of modern society.”

-Vince Lombardi

Today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on the Administration’s first-ever set of Cross Agency Priority (CAP) Goals. This study is the first of many GAO is conducting on the Administration’s implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010 and we greatly appreciate GAO’s strong interest in this area, its recognition of our progress, and its recommendations. Cross Agency Priority Goals reflect the Administration’s commitment to reduce duplication, fragmentation, and waste across agencies. They also reflect the Administration’s decision to tap the power of goals, measurement, and frequent data-driven reviews as critical change-driving tools to deliver more value to the American people. These goals aim to tackle one of the most difficult challenges the Federal government faces: solving national problems for which multiple Federal departments and agencies share implementation responsibilities. 

In some instances, reorganizing the structure of government offers the greatest promise for fixing duplication and fragmentation problems. That’s why on February 16, 2012, the President sent to Congress the Consolidating and Reforming Government Act of 2012 to allow the President to put forward for fast Congressional action proposals to consolidate government and eliminate wasteful duplication. In other instances, and until Congress acts on the Administration’s proposed legislation, smarter management approaches that bring together expertise, resources, and skills from across the Federal Government can advance opportunities and fix problems.

Roadmap for a Digital Government

When the Internet revolution arrived in the 1990s, the U.S. Government embraced this new medium to interact with the American people.  Today, what started as basic information pages has evolved into sophisticated transactional systems that allow us to pay taxes online, download medical records, and so much more.

Like the 1990s, we are now in the midst of another important shift in how people consume and deliver information and services. In 2011, global smartphone shipments exceeded personal computer shipments for the first time in history, and more Americans will soon access the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs. The rise of mobile further compounds the challenge of providing high-quality digital services in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

That’s why President Obama issued a directive today to make important services accessible from your phone and charged me with developing a comprehensive strategy to build a 21st Century Digital Government that delivers better digital services to the American people.

Today marks the launch of that Digital Government Strategy (PDF / HTML5).

At its core, the strategy takes a coordinated, information- and customer-centric approach to changing how the government works and delivers services to the American people. Designing for openness from the start – making open data the default for government IT systems and embracing the use of web APIs – enables us to more easily deliver information and services through multiple channels, including mobile, and engage the public and America’s entrepreneurs as partners in building a better government.

Introducing the IT Shared Services Strategy

From the outset of this Administration, President Obama has recognized the unique power of technology to streamline government services, cut waste and duplication, save taxpayer dollars, and drive efficiency across the Federal government. Through the Campaign to Cut Waste and other efforts, we’ve shed light on Federal spending both in IT and across the government; unlocked valuable government data for use by researchers, companies, and the public; and turned back the dial on overspending in Federal IT, saving billions through optimizing infrastructure and tackling poorly performing projects. Now, we are going to promote responsible and business driven sharing across Federal IT to reduce spending further so that we can invest in needed innovative mission systems.

In support of these efforts, last October I launched the Shared-First initiative to root out waste and duplication across the Federal IT portfolio.  Today, we’re building on that important step by taking another.  Today, I am releasing the Federal IT Shared Services Strategy, which will arm agencies with new tools to eliminate waste and duplication and update their services for the 21^st century. 

The new strategy was first outlined in the December 2010 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management. It covers the entire spectrum of IT shared service opportunities throughout the Federal Government and promotes the use of existing and new strategic sourcing methods where agencies can combine their buying power for similar IT needs and get lower prices and improved service leverage in the process. 

World Intellectual Property Day

Today is World Intellectual Property Day. Around the world, people will be celebrating the benefits and contributions of intellectual property to our societies. Intellectual property gives us art and entertainment. It drives the Internet and enables stunning advances in the fight against genetic and infectious disease. It stimulates our economy and creates well-paying jobs. It facilitates social networks and feeds the world. 

President Obama believes that the American people deserve a smart approach to regulation that enhances economic competitiveness and public health. He knows that protecting intellectual property is critical to the United States. Our companies and workers create some of the most innovative products on the world market. Unfortunately, our consumers are also confronted with a myriad of dangerous and illegal counterfeit goods.

Our closest friends around the world share this belief in intellectual property protection, which is why I asked David Jacobson, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, for the opportunity to reach out to the Canadian people on Embassy Ottawa’s blog this morning. That post can be found here.

This World Intellectual Property Day, the American people and economy will enjoy the benefits of intellectual property across many industries and disciplines. These intellectual property-intensive industries and the innovators within them demand praise and deserve protection. By offering both, we can harness their economic clout and competitive advantages, validating President Obama’s message that “if the playing field is level, I promise you – America will always win.”

I wish you a very happy World Intellectual Property Day.

Victoria Espinel is the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator

Protecting the Top, Hurting the Hungry

On Monday, Senate Republicans voted to block the Buffett Rule.  As the President said, “The Buffett Rule is common sense. At a time when we have significant deficits to close and serious investments to make to strengthen our economy, we simply cannot afford to keep spending money on tax cuts that the wealthiest Americans don’t need and didn’t ask for. But it’s also about basic fairness – it’s just plain wrong that millions of middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires.  America prospers when we’re all in it together and everyone has the opportunity to succeed.”

Unfortunately, this week we’ll see a similar turn from common sense and fairness in another area: agriculture.

The House Agriculture Committee is marking up its fast-track budget reconciliation proposal to achieve $33 billion in savings. 

According to this story, the committee’s majority proposal will not reduce farm subsidies. While everybody recognizes the critical importance of a strong farm safety net, we can protect farmers while contributing to deficit reduction. That’s why folks on both sides of the aisle have proposed that we end taxpayer subsidies to individuals who don’t need them. The committee’s fast-track bill doesn’t touch these subsidies – even for individuals who make more than $1 million a year.

Instead, the committee is looking to find more than $33 billion in cuts from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—formerly known as Food Stamps—which provides support for millions of families struggling to get by. 

Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy

America has always been a nation of innovators. Throughout our history, we’ve produced countless groundbreaking innovations, from Henry Ford’s assembly line to Amazon.com’s internet sales model, from Edison’s light bulb to Bell Labs’ transistor, from General Electric’s jet engines to Google’s internet tools. And to create an economy that’s built to last, the President has made clear that we must continue to lead the world when it comes to innovation.

The President has also said that protecting the intellectual property underpinning that innovation is an economic imperative that his Administration takes very seriously. As he made clear in his State of the Union Address, our workers are the most productive on Earth, and if the playing field is level, America will always win.

We are a data-driven government and it’s important that we understand the impact that intellectual property has on our economy. Today, I am proud to report that the U.S. Department of Commerce, working with the President’s Council of Economic Advisors and the chief economists of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of Labor, and other Federal agencies, is releasing an economic report identifying the full range of sectors that generate intellectual property, as well as the jobs, exports, and wage premiums those sectors support. This study is the first of its kind.  Never before has the U.S. Government produced a report at this scale that details the nature and impact of intellectual property across the entire American economy. The report, Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus, is available here.

Applying Private Sector Best Practices in Information Technology

One year ago, a group of private sector leaders sat down with Administration and agency officials to offer to help the government adopt management best practices. The group, the President’s Management Advisory Board (PMAB), decided to spend the next year focusing on a variety of topics, including how the government buys information technology (IT).

And the effort has paid off. Over the past three years, the Federal Government has done much in adopting private sector practices to triage broken IT investments, reduce the IT infrastructure footprint, and innovate with less. For example, at today’s PMAB meeting, the Department of the Interior showed that by modernizing IT infrastructure and aligning resources to improve customer service, they will realize $100 million in savings from 2016 to 2020, for a cumulative total of $500 million. To date, there have been $11 million in cost avoidance by updating the scope of projects and $2.2 million in redirection of funds due to IT Spending Reviews.

These agency successes are a good start, but we need to do more. We still face an unacceptable amount of duplicative and low-value IT.  That is why Acting Director Jeff Zients today is signing a memorandum launching a new tool for agencies to use to assess the current maturity of their IT portfolio management process and make decisions on eliminating duplication across their organizations. This tool – which we’re calling “PortfolioStat” - gives agencies tools to look into the darkest corners of the organization to find wasteful and duplicative IT investments.

Informing Consumers through Smart Disclosure

Today, the White House and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), with support from ideas42, will host a summit on Smart Disclosure – a new tool that helps provide consumers with greater access to the information they need to make informed choices.

In many contexts, the Federal government uses disclosure as a way to ensure that consumers know what they are purchasing and are able to compare alternatives.  Consider nutrition facts labels, the newly designed automobile fuel economy labels, and choosemyplate.gov.  Modern technologies are giving rise to a series of new possibilities for promoting informed decisions.

In September 2011, the Office of Management and Budget issued guidance to Federal agencies on Smart Disclosure.  Smart disclosure refers to the timely release of complex information and data in standardized, machine readable formats in ways that enable consumers to make informed decisions. 

Reorganizing Government for the 21st Century

With all the disagreement and discord that tends to dominate Washington, it’s easy to lose sight of areas where Democrats and Republicans can make common cause. One important example: the need to update and reorganize the Federal government for the 21st century.

Today, I co-authored an op-ed on this topic with former Republican Governor of Michigan and current president of the Business Roundtable, John Engler. Governor Engler and I don’t agree on everything, but we both recognize that we’re competing in a 21st century economy with a 20th century government – a government that often suffers from overlapping and duplicative responsibilities that waste taxpayer dollars and needlessly complicate government.

In our op-ed, we echo President Obama’s call for Congress to reinstate the authority that would allow him to submit to Congress proposals to streamline and reorganize the Federal government. Importantly, any such proposal would have to either reduce the size of government or cut costs and help reach our deficit reduction goals.

Every CEO has the flexibility to restructure his or her company to keep pace with the competition and meet changing customer demands. Likewise, many Governors have reorganization authority, which has allowed them to achieve remarkable efficiencies and cost savings at the state level.

As we argue in today’s piece, granting this same authority to the President at the Federal level is not a partisan cause – it’s just common sense and good management.

Check out the full piece here.

Jeff Zients is Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget