The Environmental Protection Agency is drafting a comprehensive IT strategy that will focus on streamlining business processes and establishing a framework and transparency for the agency’s use of cloud services, CIO Malcolm Jackson said.
Speaking at Wednesday’s AFCEA Bethesda’s Energy & The Environment IT Day at the Bethesda Marriott, Jackson expanded on his announcement to annually review all agency IT investments, saying that the agency will be taking an increased look at the risk associated with all IT spends with added emphasis on the more costly projects as it looks to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
“We need to more clearly define our framework to make easier choices and stick to a strategic direction when it comes to IT,” Jackson said, “that will help the agency make tough choices in an open and transparent fashion.
To do so, one of his goals has been helping non-IT folks understand key questions regarding technology in an effort to align individual projects to the agency’s architecture. That will help in have new and developing programs to look for services already in place when planning to save costs.
“The simple reality is that we need to do three things with each dollar opposed to just two,” said Jackson, noting the agency has begun developing a cloud infrastructure strategy led by CTO Vaughn Noga to increase the return on investment of IT purchases and reduce greenhouse emissions.
“The agency has been around 40 years, so our challenge won’t be finding the technology, but changing the culture of how business is done in regards to IT,” Jackson said.
