Sean Duffy previews major changes to Transportation IT in new memo

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy plans to sunset several outdated agency IT systems and consolidate technology management under a new program called 1DoT, according to a memo sent earlier this week. 

1DoT, Duffy wrote, is meant to “unify” the department, whose components include the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The 1DoT initiative is supposed to eliminate redundancies and focus on “efficiency, accountability, and operational excellence,” Duffy explained in the email, which was viewed by FedScoop. 

The memo lays into myriad problems with the Transportation Department’s $3.5 billion annual IT portfolio.

“Our IT and HR systems are outdated, expensive, and unsecure,” Duffy said. “This complicated web of technology is more than just a nuisance. Less efficiency means longer wait times for project completion, grants signed, or safety reviews conducted.”

“DoT currently runs more than 425 information systems, many with overlapping roles. There are 45 systems at the end of their life space across seven data centers running on more than 4,200 servers. DoTG operates 10-25 grants systems, 4-5 registration systems, and 3-14 inspection systems,” he continued. “Despite this, there are still gaps in functions related to product management and artificial intelligence.”

The secretary said there’s currently no way to report to Congress how many grants are open on any given day.

In response, the Office of the Chief Information Officer will move to sunset old systems and consolidate the agency’s approach with more updated technology. That work will take place over the next few weeks. 

Notably, the effort comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the FAA and its management of the national airspace. The agency is currently developing plans to build a new air traffic control platform and replace current systems, which are now decades old and, in some cases, have experienced outages that impact flight schedules. 

The 1DoT effort also includes a new plan to relocate FAA staff to its parent agency headquarters. The overall initiative represents “continual effort to unify” the agency by “consolidating functions across all modes,” the secretary said. 

The memo was first reported by Reuters.