The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) said today it has awarded $18.3 million to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to help fund the agency’s ongoing push to modernize the technology underlying the Federal retirement systems that OPM administers.
The TMF – which is run by the General Services Administration (GSA) – was created in 2017 under the Modernizing Government Technology Act to provide money to Federal civilian agencies to undertake tech modernization projects.
Improving retirement services experiences by modernizing IT platforms is one of several major items on OPM’s IT strategic plan covering fiscal years 2023-2026.
“The agency’s current retirement systems rely on outdated software that is expensive to maintain and presents security risks,” TMF said in its funding announcement today.
“The $18.3 million TMF investment will support OPM’s transition away from legacy systems, enabling a comprehensive modernization of the agency’s core infrastructure,” TMF said. “This transformation is expected to significantly reduce annual maintenance costs while providing an enhanced customer experience for 2.8 million federal annuitants and survivors.”
“The federal government employs the largest workforce in the country, yet the technology supporting that workforce is aging and slowing us down,” said OPM Chief Information Officer (CIO) Guy Cavallo in a statement today. “Modernizing the OPM mainframe is central to supporting both today and tomorrow’s job seekers, employees, and retirees.”
“This TMF funding is an investment in all federal employees’ and annuitants’ futures,” he continued, adding, “It will accelerate the modernization of legacy systems, strengthen our cybersecurity posture, enable better outcomes for the retirement process, and help cut costs.”
“These improvements will help attract and develop top IT talent and provide an enhanced customer experience for federal employees and annuitants,” Cavallo said. “Importantly, it will provide a blueprint for future modernization across government.”
Separately, TMF said it is awarding $1.3 million to the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which will use the money to modernize portions of its legacy case management system and backend databases.
“The agency plans to automate document intake and explore the creation of an integrated address change system that shares information across key Department of Homeland Security agencies,” TMF said. “These improvements are expected to improve efficiency while delivering cost savings to both DOJ and DHS.
“By embracing document ingestion automation, we empower our team to reclaim precious time, allowing them to focus on high-impact tasks that drive our mission forward,” commented EOIR CIO Joshua Lashbrook, who added, “efficiency fuels innovation.”
“Every investment we make at TMF is about improving the experience of real people who interact with government services,” said TMF Acting Executive Director Jessie Posilkin in a statement about the two agency fundings. “Together, these projects show how targeted technology investments can help the government work better for everyone,” she said.
Clare Martorana, who is Federal CIO and TMF Board chair, said, “when just 13% of IT projects funded in a traditional manner are successful, the Technology Modernization Fund’s 80% success rate demonstrates its value as a funding model of choice.”
“The TMF was established to help agencies secure systems and modernize legacy IT,” she said. “Today’s investments in the Office of Personnel Management and Department of Justice recognize that accelerating this transformation is key to delivering a government that meets the needs of the American people. These investments will be transformative for the public, as well as the federal workforce, enabling them to work smarter and deliver greater impact with taxpayer dollars.”
