More

    Social Media, Cloud Computing Among New Core Competencies for Federal CIOs

    The federal CIO Council has added new competencies including social media and cloud computing to its core list for the training of federal CIOs, reports Federal News Radio.

    The council periodically updates its curriculum based on the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, which was aimed at standardizing IT across federal agencies.

    Also added to the list are IT governance, IT program management leadership, vendor management, cybersecurity/information assurance strategies and plans, open government, information collection and information accessibility.

    These are subsets to the 12 competency areas identified as fundamental to the effective management of federal technology resources: policy and organization; leadership and human capital management; process and change management; information resources strategy and planning; IT performance assessment: models and methods; IT project and program management; capital planning and investment control; acquisition; information and knowledge management; cybersecurity/information assurance; enterprise architecture; and technology management and assessment.

    Though the article characterizes all this as knowledge that all CIOs are expected to have, the document states:

    It is not expected than any one individual would master all management activities contained within these competencies. Areas of concentration would reflect individual job requirements, as well as personal development interests. Additionally, specific technical expertise outside the scope of these competencies may be required based on actual job roles. federal chief information officers should ensure that the knowledge, skills and abilities represented in each competency in this document are resident within their organization for overall staff productivity.

    And for the first time, according to the article, the competencies are mapped, where applicable, to the new executive core competencies put out by the Office of Personnel Management.

    Nextgov characterizes the Clinger-Cohen Act as creating the current system of federal CIOs. The Office of Management and Budget, however, is trying to boost the role of federal CIOs to give them more authority and oversight of IT spending. In that vein, OMB Acting Director Jeff Zients has urged federal agencies to name only one CIO who has budget oversight.

    Get the Free Newsletter!

    Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends, and analysis.

    Latest Articles