President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order that aims to provide federal agency chief information officers additional authorities in order to advance information technology modernization and enable IT systems to support missions, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.
The executive order would direct agency CIOs to directly report to the agency head and make them lead advisers on multiyear and annual planning; budgeting; execution decisions; programming; and IT-related management, governance and oversight.
The new policy would authorize government CIOs to serve on IT government boards and provide them hiring authorities to address IT talent shortage, according to the document.
A senior administration official said the EO exempts the Defense Department, citing the agency’s distinct governance structure and situation.
The order would require agency leaders to restructure agency IT functions to facilitate IT infrastructure consolidation; promote shared use of IT platforms and other industry best practices; and put an end to unneeded IT management functions.
