DOD SPENDING WILL BE BIG. THE QUESTION IS, ON WHAT?
The Celebrity Deathmatch that is the Democratic presidential primary may be dominating the news, with its emphasis on Iraq policy. -> Read More

VET OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS, COSGRAVE LEADS NEW YORK INFO TECH EFFORTS
When you go from CIO in the insular setting of a large federal agency to the nation's most populous metropolis, you might expect it to feel like being on different planets. -> Read More

• IRMCO ‘08 Sets New Standard For Attendance, Programming

  IRMCO 2008 is now history—and it is one for the history books. As a veteran of at least a dozen IRMCOs, I found this one to be particularly energetic.

  One reason is that federal managers from a wide range of functions attended and contributed. For example, federal finance expert Danny Werfel from the Office of Management and Budget; administrative executive Sallyanne Harper of the Government Accountability Office; and CIOs Dan Mintz and Molly O'Neill of the Transportation Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.

  Another dynamic I noticed at IRMCO, in contrast to other conferences, was the level of attendance in the sessions versus the number of people there strictly to network in the hallways. I think it's because of the high ratio of government to industry people. The 29 sponsors each sent a couple of people to interact with some 200 feds attending, so the typical ratio of 4:1 in favor of industry was reversed at IRMCO. For sure, there is a place for conferences that are mostly contractor marketing and business development people. But IRMCO is primarily government-to-government. That makes for better programming for the government, and better networking for both sides that attend.

  Here is a list of links to coverage of IRMCO:

  From Federal News Radio (where you can also hear audio of live interviews I broadcast from Cambridge):

  http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=169&sid=1386623: Who said it is too early to plan for transition to the next president?

  http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=169&sid=1388599: What makes Web 2.0 so darn cool

  http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=169&sid=1387939: Homeland Security's Scott Charbo on the department's hiring spree

  http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=169&sid=1387367: The latest news on federal IT security efforts

  http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=169&sid=1387002: Are your computers costing more in power to operate them than in cash to buy them?

  http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=169&sid=1386497: How GSA got its financial house in order

  From Federal Computer Week

  http://www.fcw.com/online/news/152243-1.html: FCW's take on a discussion of the Lines of Business Initiative

  http://www.fcw.com/online/news/152247-1.html: Recap of the IRMCO awards for public service

  http://www.fcw.com/online/news/152249-1.html: New York CIO and former IRS CIO Paul Cosgrave spoke at IRMCO

  http://www.fcw.com/online/news/152229-1.html: Transition advice from DHS and OPM experts

  http://www.fcw.com/online/news/152238-1.html: How to deal with the up-and-coming generation of works, from speaker Mary Crane

  http://www.fcw.com/online/news/152227-1.html: Sage advice from former Transportation Secretary and 10-term congressman Norman Mineta

  http://www.fcw.com/online/news/152241-1.html: How other national governments are benefiting from collaboration on the web
  
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• DOD Spending Will Be Big. The Question Is, On What?

  The Celebrity Deathmatch that is the Democratic presidential primary may be dominating the news, with its emphasis on Iraq policy. Uncertain as that policy future might be, it is becoming clear that the military services face a massive recapitalization in the next couple of years. The reason is not hard to fathom. Six years of active warfare have worn down billions worth of U.S. hardware platforms that move on the ground or in the air.

  Several published accounts have detailed the extent to which DOD's arsenal has slipped. One series was published last month by National Journal. It detailed how fighters, bombers and refueling tankers are aging, and some need to be replaced. The Aerospace Industries Association also weighed in with a report in April. It called for up to $150 billion per year for weapons buying, versus the Pentagon's request of $104 billion for 2009.

  I'm betting the next Congress will be slightly more Democratic than the current one. But I also expect it will be willing to listen to the Pentagon's case for procurement budgets. One problem for contractors trying to figure out where the money will be is the increasing reliance both the Bush Administration and Capitol Hill have had on the supplemental budget process. In the sixth year of ongoing operations in Iraq, these costs should not be in supplementals—which are in danger of being larded with education and economic stimulus.

  For the IT community, the future procurement picture is cloudy. In the same report, the AIA noted that technological modernization is being squeezed by the very costs related to replacement of weapons platforms and the personnel costs of the Iraq-Afghanistan conflicts.

  The military services might have to rob Peter to pay Paul. CongressDaily reported, for instance, that the Army has asked Congress to let it ransack its budget to toss some $252 million into Future Combat Systems, a program Congress regularly shaves. FCS is a multi platform, multiyear, multi-hundred-billion-dollar project to link 14 platforms via data and communications.

  On the other hand, as the military replaces or overhauls its platforms, that's when it updates electronic fire control, communications and navigation systems. And in some cases, it ties them to logistics and business systems. So there are opportunities that may be less obvious than new, purely IT procurements.

  The policy debate won't end soon. Despite the protestations of the Democratic presidential candidates and the more liberal members of Congress, the U.S. won't make a sudden withdrawal from Iraq. And even if it could, the process itself will be expensive and take 18 months by some estimates. Whether for ongoing war work or new weapons programs, the winners won't be hard to predict. So as always, a good strategy for IT contractors is to stay close to the Lockheeds, Boeings, General Dynamics and Northrop Grummans of the world.
  
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• Vet Of Private And Public Sectors, Cosgrave Leads New York IT Efforts

  Paul Cosgrave

  When you go from CIO in the insular setting of a large federal agency to the nation's most populous metropolis, you might expect it to feel like being on different planets.

  But that's not what Paul Cosgrave has found.

  “Initially, making the private-to-public transition was big. The differences in federal to municipal, pretty minor,” he said.

  Cosgrave, whose career has interwoven public and private posts, was CIO of the IRS during some of the turbulent years in its modernization efforts. For the past two years he has been the CIO of New York City; his official title is commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications.

  “We're a mini version of the federal government,” he said, referring to New York's vast and Byzantine bureaucracy. “There are 300,000 employees and retirees we are worrying about.” The city web site lists 101 departments. (In fact, I recommend spending half an hour rooting around the site, just to get an idea of the fascinating and somehow awe-inspiring scope of the city's government tentacles.)

  The city has about $1 billion in IT capital expenditures going, and about $350 million in operating expenses. Much of the money is under the control of individual departments.

  “I provide OMB functions” of guidance and oversight, but not direct authority over all of New York's IT dollars, Cosgrave said.

  New York City's total budget is $60 billion. The ratio of IT to total is about the same as that of the federal government, he said.

  Cosgrave, who spoke at the recently-concluded IRMCO conference in Cambridge, Md., has been pursuing two major initiatives. One is development of the 311 call center. It receives 40,000 calls a day. Citizens call it for any non-emergency question about any city service, from repairing a pot hole outside their alley to seeking hunger relief.

  “No longer do people have to go to 15 blue pages in the phone book” hunting for the right department. And anyhow, even Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't realize, Cosgrove said, that for a leaking fire hydrant you call the Department of Environmental Protection. Not the Fire Department or...well, there is no “Water Department.” But the 311 operators know where to direct requests.

  In five years, according to city figures, 311 has fielded 62 million calls, with the bonus of relieving the 911 system of most of its inappropriate calls.

  Now the city is integrating its 311 call center to the services offered by 1,300 not-for-profit social service providers. Other cities have linked such agencies via a 211 dialing code. Only New York is adding them into its 311 system.

  Cosgrave's other big project is construction of a city-wide WiFi network for city agencies. It started out as a public safety network, but will be available to 100 services, Cosgrave said. Functions like automatic meter reading, vehicle locating, traffic control and video will travel over the network, which will be comprised of 400 cell sites within New York's five boroughs.

  Another program, the Emergency Communications Transformation Plan, shows, “The city is still reacting to 9/11,” Cosgrave said. The goal is interoperability via construction of two 911 call centers that bring together the differing fire and police frequencies and enable dispatching both from the same center. First responders do have interoperable radios, Cosgrave said, but command level communications are still stovepiped.

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