House passes CIO bill
Legislation would strengthen reporting structure for CIO, CISO, require IT reports and plans.
A bill to codify and elevate top technology posts in government passed the House of Representatives without opposition on Jan. 15.
The Federal CIO Authorization Act of 2018, sponsored by Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Robin Kelly ( D- Ill.), makes the federal CIO post a direct report of the director of the Office of Management and Budget. The bill also codifies the federal chief information security officer post and makes it a direct report to the federal CIO.
Kelly and Hurd first introduced the bill back in September. It passed the House then as well, but never got a vote in the Senate. The bill was reintroduced early in the new session of Congress.
The measure also renames the Office of E-Government to the Office of the Federal CIO and codifies reporting on IT projects to the Federal IT Dashboard.
"I'm glad that the House has moved quickly to again pass this important bill," Kelly said in a statement. "Using business and states as a model, we've seen how a strong CIO office can help streaming IT processes and accelerate modernization. I'm glad to see that IT modernization remains a bipartisan priority in this Congress."
NEXT STORY: Open Federal Data is Now the Law of the Land