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Agencies
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Defense
- Department of Education
- Department of Energy
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of the Interior
- Department of Justice
- Department of Labor
- Department of State
- Department of Transportation
- Department of the Treasury
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Army Corps of Engineers
- General Services Administration
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Personnel Management
- Small Business Administration
- Social Security Administration
- U.S. Agency for International Development
Agency Snapshot: Department of Agriculture
The Department of Agriculture is the eighth largest Federal civilian agency in terms of IT spending with an IT budget in FY 2010 of about $2.6 billion. USDA's IT investments are focused on supporting the agency's mission to provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management. Major IT investments in FY 2010 include the Farm Service Agency's Farm Program Modernization; Rural Development's Comprehensive Loan Program; and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Animal Disease Traceability Information System. In addition to working on improving investment management, USDA is working to streamline its IT operations and secure its communication and information assets.
Key Initiatives
Effectively managing the many ongoing IT investments is one of the biggest challenges for agencies. These IT investments can range from new citizen-facing services to systems that help government employees perform their jobs more effectively. Effective management of these projects is necessary to ensure that investments do not exceed estimated costs, are completed on time, and provide promised capabilities. The metrics shown here, as well as on the more detailed IT Dashboard, provide a measure of how well agencies are doing in managing their largest investments so that citizens and managers know which investments are performing well and which need attention.
While technology is critical for agencies to work effectively, we must ensure that we efficiently manage our technology operations, from our infrastructure to our software to our user service, in order to prevent waste of taxpayer dollars. The government’s current priorities include centralizing key Federal IT services to decrease duplicative and wasteful spending, reducing facility space usage and energy consumption, and improving service delivery. More information on achieving operational efficiency can be found in the 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management.
Our Nation's security and economic prosperity depend on the stability and integrity of our Federal communications and information infrastructure. Threats to cyberspace pose some of the most serious challenges of the 21st century for the United States. OMB is working with agencies, the Government Accountability Office and Congress to strengthen the Federal government's IT security and privacy programs.
