Issa's blueprint focuses on tech

By Sara Jerome - 12/13/10 01:48 PM ET

Wondering what incoming Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) will focus on during the next Congress? Don't be surprised if the former electronics industry executive puts a strong emphasis on technology issues. 

In a report released in September, Issa laid out how federal agencies have failed to use technology to make themselves more transparent. 

He also said the committee needs to examine whether the White House is archiving e-mails in compliance with the Presidential Records Acts. Sometimes Gmail and other accounts allow staffers to skirt the record system. 

As time draws near for Issa to head the Oversight Committee, here's a reminder of the tech issues he might bring before the committee.

From Issa's report:

Federal IT Systems – Technology can make government more efficient, transparent, and interactive with citizens. While the private sector has seen blinding technological advancement in a relatively short time, federal agencies have struggled to keep up, even with a government-wide IT budget of $80 billion for fiscal 2011. Far too often, federal investments for IT improvements have run way over budget, or in the worst of scenarios, fail to meet any projected goals. For instance, according to OMB, the Department of Veterans Affairs has wasted more than $300 million over the past 10 years on two financial systems IT projects – the first project ended in complete failure and the second one has not been able to meet any of its required operational capabilities. In the private sector, 24% of IT projects fail before coming online. GAO and OMB were unable to provide comparable figures for federal IT projects, but evidence suggests that the failure rate is likely much higher. In the 111th Congress, the Committee has not devoted sufficient time to oversight and reform efforts in this costly and critical area.

Presidential Records Act – To ensure compliance with both the Presidential Records Act and the Hatch Act, the Committee needs to conduct oversight to monitor the technology associated with the White House E-mail archiving system and the maintenance of private e-mail accounts by White House staff. This effort actually began under Democrats. Former Chairman Henry Waxman’s oversight of the White House’s use of e-mail became an issue of bipartisan concern – not the political aspect of it, but the fact that there was a clear failure of government and waste of taxpayer dollars. In the 111th Congress, the Majority has not continued critical oversight initiatives in this area despite the repeated urgings of the Minority.