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Today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held its second hearing to examine progress being made by federal agencies to implement the Federal IT Acquisition and Reform Act (known as FITARA) and released a new scorecard giving agencies a letter grade on their initial efforts to achieve implementation benchmarks.

This bipartisan legislation was co-authored by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Government Operations Subcommittee, and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), who is the former Chairman of the Oversight Committee.

“Previous efforts to reform federal IT management and acquisition fell short of achieving their goals due to poor implementation and lack of Congressional oversight,” said Connolly, who initiated the Scorecard. “That will not be the case this time around. I intend for us to hold a recurring series of hearings to work with agencies on getting this right.”

Connolly added, “The grades reflected on this initial scorecard should not be considered a ‘scarlet letter’ on the backs of federal agencies. This initial assessment is a snapshot, and much like grade school report cards, and we expect agency scores to improve over time as they fully implement these reforms.”

FITARA represents the first major reform of the laws governing Federal IT management since the seminal Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996. It will streamline and strengthen the federal IT acquisition process and promote the adoption of best practices from the technology community. In addition to improving how the government spends more than $80 billion annually on IT products and services, these important reforms will improve the management and deployment of technology across the federal government to achieve new efficiencies and savings.

“I am encouraged by how quickly the Administration and federal agencies have embraced this effort,” Connolly said. “We are picking up the baton where Clinger-Cohen left off and will be providing the robust Congressional oversight necessary to gauge agency progress in realizing the transformative nature of these reforms.”

In announcing it FITARA implementation guidance to agencies earlier this year, Federal CIO Tony Scott said, “One of my top priorities going forward will be to build this new foundation for effective management of technology through full implementation of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act.” The Government Accountability Office also has highlighted the potential of FITARA by designating “Improving the Management of IT Acquisitions and Operations” as a government-wide High-Risk area. “One of the reasons that we put IT acquisitions and operations on the list is in order to elevate attention to make sure that FITARA, the Issa-Connolly bill, is implemented effectively,” Comptroller General Gene Dodaro said during a congressional hearing earlier this year.

Further, a recent survey of federal IT professionals conducted by MeriTalk, a public-private partnership focused on improving government use of IT, that shows nearly 80% believe FITARA will have a positive effect on the value of their agency’s IT. In that survey, respondents cite FITARA’s potential to reduce duplicative IT systems, improve investment decisions, and increase communication and transparency, and produce real savings.

A comprehensive list of the letter grades can be viewed here.

For more information on the scorecard process, click here.