Federal CIO Suzette Kent today hailed the results of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s FITARA (Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) Scorecard 9.0 which shows a rising trend in agency grades and solid progress on a number of important Federal IT fronts.
Kent discussed the scorecard results at an ATARC event today, and declared the report “the best scorecard ever,” with three “A” grades for individual agencies.
“When we started in November of 2015, there were F’s and D’s, and only two B’s,” Kent said. “And so today, we have a couple of the [agency] CIOs on the Hill talking about what they’ve done … Agencies are delivering results, and improving in the modernization arena every single day,” she said.
“We are very pleased that the FITARA scorecard reflects the great work and progress across Agencies,” Kent said in a prepared statement. “It is thrilling to see more Agencies improve their scores and receive A’s overall,” she said.
The Federal CIO said the scorecard provides Federal agencies with an opportunity to start thinking about the next steps they should be taking to achieve further progress in moving toward digital government and further improving citizen services.
And she spoke to the enduring importance of the scorecard, and why it’s necessary to track progress that way.
“I also think that the concept of a scorecard helps us track progress publicly, and that’s one of the things that in the conversations with Congress, I’ve been on the same page,” Kent said.
“I’m very happy that there’s a place where we can have conversations with Congress about the importance of technology,” Kent said. “If that’s one thing where they love the scorecard, hate the scorecard, have all kinds of thoughts about it – the fact that it is a consistent dialogue, and we can consistently show progress … [this] is one tool for making sure that happens.”
While the Federal CIO – effectively the administration’s quarterback on IT policy – does not get assigned an individual grade on the scorecard, Scorecard 9.0 may have Kent and several members of the agency CIO team striking a Heisman pose.
