[Agriculture Fact Book 98]

Office of the Chief Information Officer

The USDA Secretary’s Memorandum 1030-30 established the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). The CIO is independent of any other office or agency of the Department and reports directly to the Secretary. Its mission is to strategically acquire and use information and technology resources to improve the quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness of USDA service delivery to customers.

The OCIO has primary responsibility, under the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, to supervise and coordinate the design, acquisition, maintenance, use, and disposal of information technology by USDA agencies; to monitor the performance of USDA information technology programs and activities; and to ensure that USDA information management is consistent with the principles of the Paperwork Reduction Act and information security and privacy requirements. The CIO consults with the Department’s Chief Financial Officer to ensure that USDA’s information technology programs and activities are carried out in a cost-effective manner, and that financial and related program information is reliable, consistent, and timely. The CIO also deals with top- level officials in the Office of Management and Budget and other Federal agencies, and testifies before Congressional committees.

The OCIO is composed of an information resources management policy staff and an operations staff, known as the National Information Technology Center (NITC). NITC provides information management services and technology to support the missions of USDA and its agencies, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other Government clients. The NITC centralized computing facility of mainframe and client/server platforms, software, and support represents “leading edge” capability, consistency, and reliability. The applications that run in the NITC environment are national in scope and importance, directly serving approximately 70,000 end users.

Return to:
1998 Factbook Table of Contents
Publications Page
USDA's News and Current Information
USDA ...Homepage