US gov't: Homeland Security CIO needs more power

05.01.2006
Scott Charbo, the CIO of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, does not have the authority and influence needed to accomplish the department's goal of creating a single IT infrastructure for effective communications and information exchange, according to a portion of a recently released report by Robert Skinner, the DHS's inspector general.

Even though Charbo has outlined an initiative called the Information Technology Infrastructure Transformation Program to create a secure and sensitive but unclassified network as well as a common e-mail system for sharing information throughout the department, he isn't a member of the senior management team with authority to manage departmentwide technology assets and programs, Skinner said.

'Though DHS has started to formalize reporting relationships between the CIOs [of various DHS divisions] and the department, the [DHS] CIO still does not have sufficient staff resources to assist in carrying out the planning, policy formulation and other IT management activities needed to support departmental units,' Skinner said in the report.

He said the DHS would benefit from following the examples of other federal agencies that have given their CIOs the authority and influence needed to guide executive decisions on departmentwide IT investments and strategies.

The DHS didn't agree with Skinner's recommendations, but said in a written response to his report said Charbo 'believes he is properly positioned and has the authority to accomplish its mission.'

The DHS said Charbo is the principal IT authority for the department's secretary and deputy secretary and will continue to hold that leadership role within the DHS. He also continues to work on the integration of the DHS's information systems. In addition, officials said the Infrastructure Transformation Office is managing the reorganization of more than 20 individual IT infrastructures.