In an interview with “Government Matters,” Melinda Rogers, chief information security office at the Justice Department, discussed the American Technology Council’s IT modernization draft report, which, among many other things, outlines the strategies DOJ is adopting.
The draft report can be broken into three primary segments: network modernization and consolidation; shared services; and realigning IT spend to facilitate modernization.
“IT and cyber are no longer back-office functions; they’re very much an enabler of our mission and business function to get their jobs done,” Rogers said. “So, it’s incumbent upon us to make sure we have the best capabilities in place, that we ensure that there is resiliency in place, too.”
When it comes to shared services, Rogers sees opportunities to standardize both internally and governmentwide. There are many instances in which various departments have the same need, and must meet the same requirements (as laid out in the Federal Information System Modernization Act).
“Let’s do it once, use it multiple times” to solve these issues across the board, Rogers said.
The final part of the draft report examines the redirecting of spending on projects, seeking to eliminate wasteful spending and invest in projects with higher ROI. This redirection involves focusing on newer, more modern approaches and leaving behind the legacy models.
To watch the interview, click here.