What Government CIOs need to know about the Clinger-Cohen Act

From Govit

'The Clinger-Cohen Act (CCA) of 1996 emphasizes an integrated framework of technology aimed at efficiently performing the business of the Department. Essentially, acquisition, planning and management of technology for a government agency or department must be treated as a capital investment.

After reviewing the list of core competencies outlined in the section below, you may want to view a set of learning objectives associated with this list. According to the U.S. Federal CIO Council, "The Clinger-Cohen Core Competencies have been endorsed to serve as a baseline to assist organizations in complying with Section 11315 (c) (3) of Title 40 and Section 209 of the E-Government Act. These Competencies and their associated learning objectives are designed to promote continuous learning, and are updated every two years by the Federal CIO Council. References listed next to selected learning objectives are designed to guide the learning process but should not be considered all-inclusive."

Download a copy of the learning objectives from our file library: Learning_Objectives_-_Clinger-Cohen_Core_Competencies.

Federal CIO Council's CCA Efforts

The U.S. Federal CIO Council "promotes continuous learning and professional development for the IT workforce by ensuring the Clinger-Cohen Core Competencies and their associated learning objectives are updated every two years," according to a December 29, 2006 CIO Council Memo entitled 2006 Clinger-Cohen Core Competencies.

Essentially the document states that government CIOs should develop competencies in the following areas:

1.0 Policy and Organization
1.1 Department/Agency missions, organization, functions, policies, procedures
1.2 Governing laws and authorities
1.3 Federal government decision-making, policy-making process and budget formulation and execution process
1.4 Linkages and interrelationships among Agency heads and COO, CIO, CTO and CFO functions
1.5 Intergovernmental programs, policies, and processes 1.6 Records management
1.7 Knowledge management

2.0 Leadership/Management
2.1 Defining roles, skill sets, and responsibilities of Senior Officials, CIO staff, and stakeholders
2.2 Methods for building federal IT management and technical staff expertise
2.3 Competency testing - standards, certification, and performance assessment
2.4 Partnership/team-building techniques
2.5 Personnel performance management techniques 2.6 Practices that attract and retain qualified IT personnel

3.0 Process/Change Management
3.1 Techniques/models of organizational development and change
3.2 Techniques and models of process management and control
3.3 Modeling and simulation tools and methods
3.4 Quality improvement models and methods
3.5 Business process redesign/reengineering models and methods
3.6 Cross-boundary process collaboration

4.0 Information Resources Strategy and Planning
4.1 IRM baseline assessment analysis
4.2 Interdepartmental, inter-agency IT functional analysis 4.3 IT planning methodologies
4.4 Contingency and continuity of operations planning (COOP)
4.5 Monitoring and evaluation methods and techniques

5.0 IT Performance Assessment: Models and Methods
5.1 GPRA (Government Performance and Results Act) and IT: Measuring the business value of IT-and customer satisfaction
5.2 Monitoring and measuring new system development
5.3 Measuring IT success
5.4 Processes and tools for creating, administering and analyzing survey questionnaires
5.5 Techniques for defining and selecting effective performance measures
5.6 Examples of and criteria for systems performance evaluation
5.7 Managing IT reviews and oversight processes

6.0 IT Project/Program Management
6.1 Project scope/requirements management
6.2 Project integration management
6.3 Project time/cost/ performance management
6.4 Project quality management
6.5 Project risk management
6.6 Project procurement management
6.7 System life cycle management
6.8 Software development, testing and implementation

7.0 Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC)
7.1 Best practices
7.2 Cost benefit, economic, and risk analysis
7.3 Risk management- models and methods
7.4 Weighing benefits of alternative IT investments
7.5 Intergovernmental projects--federal, state, and local
7.6 Capital investment analysis-models and methods
7.7 Business case analysis
7.8 Investment review process
7.9 IT portfolio management

8.0 Acquisition
8.1 Acquisition strategy
8.2 Acquisition models and methodologies, from traditional to streamlined
8.3 Post-award IT contract management
8.4 IT acquisition best practices
8.5 Software acquisition management

9.0 E-Government
9.1 Strategic business issues and changes associated with E-Government
9.2 Web development and maintenance strategies
9.3 Industry standards and practices for communications
9.4 Channel issues (supply chains)
9.5 Dynamic pricing
9.6 Consumer/citizen information services
9.7 Information Accessibility (including Section 508 compliance)

10.0 Information Security/Information Assurance (IA)
10.1 CIO information security roles and responsibilities
10.2 Information security/related legislation, policies and procedures
10.3 Privacy and personally identifiable information
10.4 Information and information systems threats and vulnerabilities
10.5 Information security controls planning and management
10.6 IA risk management
10.7 Enterprise-wide information security program management
10.8 Information security reporting compliance
10.9 Critical infrastructure protection and disaster recovery planning

11.0 Enterprise Architecture
11.1 Enterprise architecture functions and governance
11.2 Key enterprise architecture concepts
11.3 Enterprise architecture interpretation, development and maintenance
11.4 Use of enterprise architecture in IT investment decision making
11.5 Data management
11.6 Performance measurement for enterprise architecture

12.0 Technology Management and Assessment
12.1 Network and telecommunications technology
12.2 Spectrum management
12.3 Computer systems
12.4 Web technology
12.5 Data management technology
12.6 Software development technology
12.7 Special use technology
12.8 Emerging technology