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Message from the Chief Information OfficerSeptember 2006
We live in a transformation era, one in which the dynamic nature of information is becoming farmore strategic than ever before. Information can be collected from the swipe of a card. It can bedelivered or accessed with the touch of a button. And it can be processed in seconds, not days.Recent events have highlighted as never before the strategic importance of information inprotecting American lives and carrying out the fundamental purpose of government. The UnitedStates Department of Agriculture (USDA) is committed to ensuring that information relevant toour national security is gathered, properly protected, and shared appropriately.We are in a challenging environment, dealing with all the changes in technology and theworkplace. The expectations of what information technology (IT) can do to benefit the USDAand its customers continue to grow. We have been working hard to provide day-to-day ITservices, while keeping our eye on where the Department is headed strategically, and alsotransforming the IT organization to meet future requirements.This plan serves as a valuable planning tool and an effective communication vehicle. Itintegrates the business and IT visions and has been an important instrument in facilitating thedialogue between the IT community and the business leaders of the Department.We at the USDA believe that information should be used to enable more effective decision-making, to determine, for example, which programs are best meeting the needs of our customers,which customers may need a greater breadth of our services, which channels are most effectivelydistributing our services, and how well we are truly performing in our quest to positively impactthe Nation’s economy. When information can be used for this fundamental level of decision-making, we can truly transform our Department into what we envision ourselves becoming: ahigh-performance organization.There are many initiatives underway to implement our strategic plan. Last fall, threeDepartment-wide optimization initiatives were approved by the Department’s ExecutiveInformation Technology Investment Review Board; they include email consolidation, network consolidation, and lastly, data center consolidation. These initiatives, together with an overallassessment of the Department’s IT Program and implementation of a multi-year action plan toimplement recommendations from various reviews, are positive steps we’re taking towardensuring achievement of the USDA’s mission.Much work has been done, but much still remains. We must commit ourselves to integrate moreacross the agencies with USDA, as well as with other federal and state agencies to ensure theachievement of the Presidential Management Agenda goals. We are confident that the spirit of collaboration and participation embodied in the IT Leadership Council and amongst AgencyLeadership will assure sustained success in pursuit of our vision. We are pleased to present theUSDA IT Strategic Plan, 2007-2011. We look forward to your support in carrying out this plan,which will help assure the Department’s continued success.
David M. Combs Jerry E. Williams
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