I am pleased to announce that the CIO Council has released an updated version of its Clinger-Cohen Core Competencies and Learning Objectives document, which is used as the foundation for IT course and curriculum development, as well as the development and consistent implementation of IT workforce policy initiatives across the Federal Government.

The learning objectives form the foundation for curriculum development by the educational institutions offering approved programs under the CIO University Consortium umbrella. The objectives identify key concepts and capabilities to be taught and can also be used as a professional development guideline for both individuals and organizations.
Periodically, the Federal Government reviews this core body of competencies in order to ensure critical knowledge areas impacting information resources management are captured. Changes in this updated version reflect new statutory and regulatory requirements, as well as areas requiring greater emphasis due to new policies and strategies (e.g., the recently released presidential strategy on Digital Government), continuous changes in technology, and other evolving agency IT/cybersecurity mission requirements.

In the latest version new competencies were added for IT Governance, IT Program Management Leadership, Vendor Management, Cybersecurity/Information Assurance Strategies and Plans, Social Media, Cloud Computing, Open Government, Information Collection, and Information Accessibility. Administratively, references were updated and summarized in a separate appendix and language was streamlined in accordance with the Plain Writing Act of 2010.

The review process that led to this document was a collaborative effort among 12 federal agencies, academic representatives from the CIO University Consortium, and members from the Industry Advisory Council and federally funded research community. The overall effort was led and managed by the IT Workforce Committee of the CIO Council.