PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Each executive agency head must set up and run a process, under 44 U.S.C. 3506(h), to get the best value and manage risks when buying information technology (IT). The process must cover choosing, running, and checking IT investments, including security. It must work with budget, finance, and program decisions. It must include minimum tests, such as a number showing the expected net return after adjusting for risk and clear numeric and descriptive rules to compare and rank projects. It must spot investments that share costs or benefits with other governments, define measurable ways to judge benefits and risks, and give senior managers timely milestone reports that others can check on cost, capability, timing, and quality.

Title 40, §11312

Public Buildings, Property, and Works, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Design of Process.—

In fulfilling the responsibilities assigned under section 3506(h) of title 44, the head of each executive agency shall design and implement in the executive agency a process for maximizing the value, and assessing and managing the risks, of the information technology acquisitions of the executive agency.

(b)Content of Process.—

The process of an executive agency shall—

(1)provide for the selection of investments in information technology (including information security needs) to be made by the executive agency, the management of those investments, and the evaluation of the results of those investments;

(2)be integrated with the processes for making budget, financial, and program management decisions in the executive agency;

(3)include minimum criteria to be applied in considering whether to undertake a particular investment in information systems, including criteria related to the quantitatively expressed projected net, risk-adjusted return on investment and specific quantitative and qualitative criteria for comparing and prioritizing alternative information systems investment projects;

(4)identify information systems investments that would result in shared benefits or costs for other federal agencies or state or local governments;

(5)identify quantifiable measurements for determining the net benefits and risks of a proposed investment; and

(6)provide the means for senior management personnel of the executive agency to obtain timely information regarding the progress of an investment in an information system, including a system of milestones for measuring progress, on an independently verifiable basis, in terms of cost, capability of the system to meet specified requirements, timeliness, and quality.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 1131240:1422.Pub. L. 104–106, div. E, title LI, § 5122, Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 683.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2004—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 108–458 substituted “investments in information technology (including information security needs)” for “information technology investments”.

§11312 Capital Planning and Investment Control