New IT czar bill introduced

Chief Information Officer of the United States Act (H.R. 4670)

Adding to a flurry of legislation proposing a federal chief information

officer, Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) on Thursday introduced a bill to create

an office that would coordinate IT resources and information security decisions

governmentwide.

The Federal Information Policy Act (FIPA) of 2000 would establish an

Office of Information Policy headed by a national CIO to who would report

directly to the president. The office would have a deputy, staff and appropriated

funds through fiscal 2005 and could rely on federal agencies for services,

staff and space to perform its duties.

In addition, the bill creates an Office of Information Security and

Technical Protection within the OIP to coordinate the development and implementation

of a single federal security framework.

"Both our economy and our society have become information-driven, such

that IT plays the critical role in facilitating the federal government's

ability to be effective and efficient in managing federal programs and spending,

communicating with and providing services to citizens, and protecting America's

critical infrastructure," Davis said in his introduction of the bill.

In addressing both general IT management and information security issues,

the bill combines the ideas in the Chief Information Officer of the United

States Act introduced by Rep. Jim Turner (D-Texas) in June and the Government

Information Security Act introduced last year by Sens. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.)

and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.)

"It's purpose is really to build upon Turner's bill and Lieberman's

bill," said Davis' spokesman.