Investments in Information Technology (IT) can dramatically enhance organizational performance. When carefully managed, IT becomes a critical enabler to improve business processes, make information widely available, and reduce the cost of providing essential Government services. Congress and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have clearly stated that each executive agency must actively manage its IT program to ensure that technology expenditures are necessary and will result in demonstrated improvements in mission effectiveness and customer service.
The HHS Policy for Information Technology Portfolio Management (PFM) policy provides an integrated, structured methodology for managing HHS IT investments, to ensure that IT investments align with HHS’ mission, support business needs, minimize risks, and maximize returns throughout the investment’s lifecycle. The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Circular A-11 requires all agencies to report on their capital IT Investments through the Agency IT Portfolio Summary (formerly called the Exhibit 53), and to report additional information for major IT investments through the Major IT Investment Business Case (formerly the Exhibit 300).
The NIH Office of the CIO (OCIO) serves as the central coordinator for the collection of NIH IT Budget information for the OMB Agency IT Portfolio Summary and the Major IT Investment Business Case as required by HHS Policy.
OCIO’s supportive role in the NIH IT Budget process includes the following services:
- Represents NIH interests and needs to the HHS CPIC program
- Prepares and distributes guidance on budget reporting requirements for the NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs)
- Provides assistance to NIH ICs as they develop their IT budgets
- Conducts quality assurance reviews of submitted materials
- Coordinates related IT data calls from HHS, OMB, and other Federal entities
- Ensures timely reporting of NIH data per HHS requirements
References
For more information on IT Budget please contact OCIO at nihitdatacall@mail.nih.gov.