TMF adds new board members from DOJ, EPA, GSA, OMB
The Technology Modernization Fund has four new board members, according to a recent website update.
Carter Farmer, the Environmental Protection Agency’s chief information officer, has joined the Technology Modernization Fund Board as a full voting member, the website said.
The board decides which government modernization projects will receive funding, monitors progress of the investments and offers its expertise to agencies, it said.
Nikki Collier, the Department of Justice’s CIO and deputy assistant attorney general, as well as Thomas Flagg, the Office of Management and Budget’s deputy federal CIO, and Jeffrey Post, a senior advisor at the General Services Administration, also joined the board as alternate members, the website said. They vote when necessary to reach quorum, it said.
The remaining members are carryovers from the last board, including permanent member and GSA CIO David Shive. Former federal CIO Greg Barbaccia’s departure at the end of last month left a permanent member vacancy on the board, and it is unclear whether Flagg will fill the seat until a replacement federal CIO has been appointed.
Members serve for one-year terms, which the law stipulates can be renewed up to four times, though the website did not say when their terms officially began.
GSA, DOJ, and OMB did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication, and EPA referred to TMF and OMB for comment.
TMF acting Director Jessie Posilkin recently previewed this announcement, as well as the upcoming savings and value return numbers for fiscal 2025, and TMF’s new investments set to be unveiled at the end of this month.
“It’s been pretty remarkable,” Posilkin said of the new projects. “I can’t share who they’re going to be yet, but we have been really excited both by the investments that the board is making decisions on right now, and what’s in our pipeline. And to me, that’s actually the piece that feels even more exciting.”
While she did not share many details, she said the new projects are “pretty consistent” with previous work, which “reflects the fact that there is a huge unaddressed market for making improvements to federal technology” and shows a “tremendous amount of need.”
She signaled that TMF may be bringing in AI coding, and is “excited” that at least one agency is “very seriously” looking at how to use agentic AI and how to safely expand it across government.
Posilkin has previously said the TMF has $200 million to spend until its new project funding capability expires, which was just extended by a continuing resolution until Dec. 11.
Posilkin also said the fund will have $200 million next year without further appropriations, largely due to agency repayments, and there are discussions of other legislation to extend the fund to 2032.
