The Department of Interior (DoI) released its Information Management and Technology (IMT) Strategic Plan for 2024-2029 back in January, but Chief Information Officer (CIO) Darren Ash said on March 28 that the plan is not meant to be “shelfware” and will be adjusted annually as needed.
Ash, who has served as the agency’s CIO since September 2022, said “it was a long road” to develop the IMT Strategic Plan with everyone’s goals in mind.
“The first thing I think about was this is not my plan, per se. This is our plan, and really going in with the mindset that I didn’t want this plan to be just simply written and published by me, by OCIO,” Ash said. “It was really intended from almost the beginning to be a plan that was developed and led collectively among the IT leadership community.”
The CIO said it was a collaborative process to develop the plan, inclusive of his direct reports, leaders within the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), and associate CIOs.
“We developed the vision statement together,” he explained. “That was incredibly important because it became ours to own … ownership means this is not just shelfware. It can’t be shelfware.”
“We knew going in that we wanted it to be a living document,” Ash added. “We agreed that annually, we would go back and revisit the plan. Are there other things based on changed circumstances? Do we need to adjust? Do we need to tweak? And so that that was something we agreed that we would do.”
The plan includes five strategic goals including optimizing IMT operations to be resilient, sustainable, innovative, and adaptable; attracting, hiring, retaining, and providing career opportunities to an IMT workforce; improving customer experience; ensuring DoI’s IT environment is secure; and ensuring DoI’s data answers tomorrow’s questions today.
When adjusting the plan annually, Ash said he doesn’t want to lose sight of those strategic goals, which he called the “North Star.”
Additionally, he said his team will need to be mindful of the department’s ever-changing budget and continue to adjust the plan as necessary.
Nevertheless, the CIO said he’s “excited” about the proposed DoI fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget, which places an “emphasis on customer experience and digital experience – and what that can mean comes with that proposed type of investment.”
