**Statement for the Record**

**Barry C. West**

**Chief Information Officer**

**U.S. Department of Commerce**

**Before the**

**United States Senate**

**Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs**

**Subcommittee on**

**Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal
Services, and International Security**

**September 20, 2007**

Chairman Carper**,** Ranking Member Coburn, and distinguished Members of
the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to address you on the
Department of Commerce's (Commerce) inclusion on the Office of
Management and Budget's (OMB) High Risk and Management Watch Lists.

Commerce has 12 information technology (IT) investments on the Office of
Management and Budget's (OMB) High Risk List. Of these, eight represent
Commerce's participation in OMB's E-Government Initiatives or Lines of
Business with a migration component or where Commerce is a shared
service provider. These investments were designated by OMB as high risk
and include E-Travel, E-Rulemaking, E-Authentication, and the Financial
Management Line of Business. The other four were nominated by Commerce
because they meet two of OMB's four high risk criteria: the
exceptionally high development, operating, or maintenance costs, either
in absolute terms or as a percentage of the agency\'s total IT
portfolio, and delay or failure would introduce for the first time
inadequate performance or failure of an essential mission program or
function of the agency, a component of the agency, or another
organization.

The four investments nominated by Commerce include three components of
the 2010 Decennial Census: Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA),
Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS), and Master Address File
and Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing
(MAF/TIGER). The fourth is the Ground System of the National
Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
These are discussed in more detail later. Another, Advanced Weather
Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) Linux Migration, was formerly on
the list. This project has been completed and removed from the list. All
meet OMB's evaluation criteria, i.e., have a baseline with clear goals,
are within 10 percent of cost and schedule targets, have a qualified
project manager, and avoid duplication with OMB's E-Government efforts.

Of Commerce's 65 major IT investments submitted to OMB in the FY 2008
budget, OMB placed 49 on its Management Watch List. All have been
remediated and are no longer on the watch list. Of the 49, 29 were taken
off the list by December 2006, leaving 20 on the list; all but one were
removed by March 2007; the last was removed in June 2007. To ensure that
Commerce's senior management understood the importance of the Management
Watch List and actively supported corrective actions, in March 2007, the
Chief Information Officer (CIO) briefed the Executive Management Team,
Commerce's most senior executives, providing a status update. Also,
during the CIO's weekly update to the Deputy Secretary, the most
critical IT issues, including Management Watch List updates and status
were briefed and discussed, and progress tracked.

Corrective actions included completing additional documentation
necessary to demonstrate adequate planning and investment control,
largely in the areas of security and privacy. Office of the CIO staff
worked diligently with the operating unit capital planning points of
contact to research and develop additional explanatory material and to
ensure that responses were consistent across the business cases. One key
area was to provide specifics on how we manage contractor systems in
terms of security. What was critical here was to ensure that the
response was tailored to each individual investment and not a standard
response applied globally to a group of investments. Another was to come
to agreement with OMB on the best way to respond to the privacy
questions where there was ambiguity. For 13 investments, Commerce
completed re-Certification and Accreditation (C&A) of the investments
where the C&A had expired. OMB also requested and received confirmation
that, where the investment showed funding for development,
modernization, or enhancement, the investment would not be put into
operation until a new C&A had been completed. For many investments, OMB
requested background documentation, such as a risk management plan or
assessment, operational analysis, or earned value management report. In
all, Commerce provided over 60 separate supporting files.

Office of the CIO staff also held several conference calls with OMB and
Commerce's investment sponsors to further elaborate on the management of
the investments where the written material did not fully allay OMB's
concerns. One of these addressed security for the hand held computers
that will be used for the 2010 Decennial Census.

Commerce attributes its success to the strength of its information
technology (IT) capital planning and investment control (CPIC) process,
which is discussed below, and to its commitment to improve IT security.
The CIO frequently briefed the Deputy Secretary as well as the Executive
Management Team on the status of the completion of C&A packages. IT
security has been a topic at every CIO Council meeting for the past
year, with an emphasis again on completing high quality C&A packages and
ensuring that our C&A process was repeatable and reliable. Operating
unit CIOs, supported by their senior management, were fully apprised of
the importance of the C&A packages and ensured that the work was
completed as needed in their respective operating units.

We also appreciate the cooperation of OMB when reviewing Commerce's IT
business cases. Though exacting, OMB was open to hearing and
understanding our explanations.

**Capital Planning and Investment Control**

Commerce's CPIC process is built on a foundation of strategic and
operational IT planning that is integrated with processes for the
selection, control, and evaluation of IT investments. The OMB's Circular
A-11, Exhibits 300 (Capital Asset Plan and Business Case Summary) and 53
(Agency IT Investment Portfolio) form the building blocks for IT
planning, budgeting, and acquisition documentation.

The process begins with a request from the Department's Chief
Information Officer (CIO) for operating units to develop strategic IT
plans within the context of maturing their capital planning and
investment control process. Operating units are asked to develop
strategies to address performance gaps. Capital planning and investment
control processes based on strategic IT plans are linked with and
support operating unit program plans developed under requirements of the
Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).

Strategic IT plans provide a framework for discussion and an opportunity
for operating units to focus on the strategic use of IT resources to
improve program delivery. Strategic IT plans also lay the groundwork for
development of operational IT plans and documentation to support budget
year IT initiatives. Strategic IT plans establish over-arching,
operating unit-wide IT goals, such as the development of architectures,
strategic use of electronic commerce, and development of IT security and
privacy strategies.

Operational IT plans are due in the fall and describe specific operating
unit plans for IT activities for the coming fiscal year. The operational
IT plans are based on OMB Circular A-11, Exhibit 300. This provides
continuity with the budgeting process and a consistent set of
documentation, ensuring that issues such as developing systems within
the context of an architecture and IT security and privacy are
considered on an ongoing basis. At the point of the operational IT
plans, the Exhibit 300 documentation should be well defined, identifying
specific schedules, acquisition plans, and performance measures. The
timing of the operational IT plan is intended to put the focus on the
coming fiscal year and to promote better coordination and integration
with development of performance measures required by GPRA.

# Investment Review Process 

***Budget Year Initiatives* **

The CIO issues a call for IT budget initiatives as well as for
documentation on major systems in the spring. This IT planning call is
directly linked to the Secretary's budget guidance for the upcoming
budget year; submissions are due at the same time budget proposals are
due, usually mid-May. The budget proposals, as well as documentation of
major systems, are provided in OMB Circular A-11, Exhibit 300 format.
The proposals are a product of operating unit IT selection processes,
reflecting operating unit portfolio analysis and operating unit IT
review board decisions.

The Commerce IT Review Board (CITRB) advises the Secretary and Deputy
Secretary on critical IT matters, ensuring that proposed investments
contribute to the Secretary's strategic vision and mission requirements,
employ sound IT investment methodologies that comply with Departmental
systems architectures, and provide the highest return on the investment
or acceptable project risk. This technical review is then a factor in
decisions for approval or disapproval of funding for new or base
investments as part of the Department's budget review process. Systems
selected for review meet one or more of the following criteria: systems
meriting special attention due to their sensitivity, mission
criticality, or risk potential; Department-wide systems; systems where
resources are shared between operating units and/or the Department; and
systems with life cycle costs over \$25 million.

The CITRB is chaired by the CIO, co-chaired by the Chief Financial
Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration (CFO/ASA), and
composed of the Director of the Office of Budget, the Senior Procurement
Executive, the Director for Human Resources, the Deputy Chief Financial
Officer, the Deputy CIO, and CIOs from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Census Bureau, National Institute of
Standards and Technology, and International Trade Administration, and,
on a rotating basis, up to two other operating unit CIOs. Currently
these include the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Industry
and Security.

Ratings of the CITRB are based on consensus evaluations on a
green-yellow-red scale, using decision criteria to determine such
factors as alignment to Commerce and operating unit high-level
performance goals, net risk-adjusted return on investment, project
management strategies, risk mitigation, security implementation,
architectural compliance, and overall value of proposed IT projects.
Only CITRB members or designated alternates from the Department of
Commerce may vote, but staff with relevant expertise participate in the
discussions and question the proposal sponsors. Initiatives that do not
meet the criteria to be reviewed by the Board are reviewed following the
same process by Office of the CIO staff supplemented by staff from the
Office of Acquisition Management as well as the Office of Budget. CIO
staff also review all Exhibit 300s for existing and proposed
investments, and provide comments to investment sponsors to help improve
the quality of these business cases.

To help focus the CITRB sessions, project managers and sponsors for
investments selected for CITRB review are required to provide supporting
project planning documentation, including the Exhibit 300, two weeks
prior to the CITRB meeting. Staff subject matter experts in IT security,
enterprise architecture, project management, earned value management,
benefit-cost analysis, budgeting, and acquisition review the project
management material and provide comments to the project manager and
sponsor providing them an opportunity to explain or resolve gaps in the
information provided. Remaining technical issues are highlighted for the
CIO's attention prior to the CITRB meeting.

Following the meeting, the CIO provides the operating units the
investments' ratings along with comments and suggestions for
improvements, and an opportunity to improve their proposal
justifications, where needed. The CIO, in consultation with the CITRB
members and Office of the CIO staff, reviews the revised proposals and
assigns a final rating on a green-yellow-red scale, which is then
provided to the Office of Budget. Also, the CIO or Deputy CIO provides
input and commentary as necessary on initiatives with an IT component
during the Department's budgetary deliberations.

***Control and Evaluation Reviews***

As part of its charter, the CITRB makes recommendations for continuation
or termination of projects under development at key milestones or when
they fail to meet performance, cost, or schedule criteria. The Office of
the CIO staff review all major systems and make recommendations to the
CIO regarding those IT investments that should be reviewed by the Board.
The staff also conduct pre-Board reviews themselves or recommend
pre-Board reviews from external experts, when they perceive a benefit
from an independent, in-depth evaluation.

The CITRB meets monthly to assess IT investments and to review the
performance of on-going investments in control and post-implementation
reviews. The CITRB review process follows on the operating unit
processes for the control and evaluation of major IT investments, which
generate documentation for CITRB consideration. For acquisition projects
of \$10 million or greater, once the CITRB approves investment
decisions, the Acquisition Plan outlining the business approach is
reviewed by the Senior Procurement Executive.

The CIO provides formal evaluation memoranda to the project sponsors and
requires follow-up information and actions with due dates, as needed.
The Office of the CIO staff track responses to the actions. Further, the
operating units provide quarterly earned value management and
operational analysis reports, which are reviewed by Office of the CIO
staff. These processes taken together highlight any investments that may
need special management attention. The CIO briefs the Deputy Secretary
on investments that deviate from cost, schedule, or performance goals by
more than 10 percent or that are in other ways troublesome.

In FY 2007, the CITRB reviewed 12 IT investments, and three operating IT
investment portfolios requesting 46 follow-up actions. The NPOESS Ground
System, one of the investments on OMB's High Risk List, is scheduled for
review in October 2007. Due primarily to technical difficulties in
developing one of the satellite's major sensors, the overall NPOESS
project cost, schedule, and requirements were reviewed and revised in
June 2006.  While the NPOESS Ground System had been meeting cost and
schedule goals, the delay in the satellite launch dates caused the
Ground System schedule to be revised and rebaselined.   

Additionally, the Commerce IT Review Board identified the Decennial
Census IT project as needing special oversight due to its size,
importance, and high risk. The Census Bureau is re-engineering the 2010
Decennial Census to be more efficient and cost effective, provide richer
data, improve coverage, and reduce risk in meeting constitutional and
legislative mandates. The Census Bureau will continue to exploit the use
of advanced technology to support process improvements in the 2010
Census. Specific attention is being focused on the use of hand held
computers through FDCA, one of the investments on OMB's High Risk List,
offering a major opportunity to develop more efficient data
collection/capture processes for the 2010 Census. The first major tests
of the hand held computers (HHCs) were conducted in 2004 and 2006 using
a prototype version of the device to assess whether or not the HHCs
could be successfully used in the field for 2010 Census operations. The
overall benefits to Census operations were verified and provided a proof
of concept of the hand held computers, while pointing to technical
adjustments needed.

The modernization of the Census Bureau's geographic data base and
address file (MAF/TIGER, also on the High Risk List) is on schedule to
be completed prior to the start of 2010 Decennial Census operations.
This effort realigns boundary and feature data in the Census data base
with geographic coordinates that can in turn be utilized by geographic
information systems. Further, the CITRB reviewed the Decennial Response
Integration System, the third Decennial system on the High Risk List.
Based on this review, DRIS received CITRB approval to proceed with Phase
II of its three-phase development. The scope includes all design,
development, testing, security, deployment and operations support
activities to complete the 2010 Census data capture and assistance
activities.

While IT for the Decennial Census is the primary focus of the Office of
the Chief Information Officer in this special oversight of the Decennial
Census, associated general management issues are of interest to the
CFO/ASA. Therefore, the CFO/ASA and the CIO have been conducting
quarterly oversight reviews of this project jointly, addressing both
general management and IT issues. As a result of these reviews, the
overall management of the 2010 Census is being monitored along with the
management of the IT support required. Where needed, the Census Bureau
is asked to provide clarifying information, often for the next quarterly
review.

***Capital Planning Training***

Over the past several years we have sponsored training, supplemented by
one-on-one consultations, to address the areas of the Exhibit 300 that
cause preparers the most difficulty, including performance measurements,
alternatives analysis to include return on investment, and earned value
management. Additionally, we regularly update a set of customized,
Commerce-specific instructions on how to prepare a high quality business
case and post them to our Web site. The Department's Office of the CIO
also offers training sessions for beginning and advanced students on use
of the eCPIC (electronic Capital Planning and Investment Control)
software to enter, track, and analyze their operating unit's portfolio
of IT and non-IT investments.

**Linkages to Other Processes**

Commerce's capital planning and investment control process is linked to
other processes within Commerce. The linkage to the budget process has
been described above. Linkages to other IT processes and to the
acquisition process, which directly support the quality of the IT
investments and their management, are described below.

***Acquisition***

In a cooperative effort with the Office of the CIO and the Office of
Budget, Commerce's Office of Acquisition (OAM) uses OMB Circular A-11,
Exhibit 300 as the foundation for documentation required in the
acquisition process. An Acquisition Plan supplements the Exhibit 300
with additional acquisition information and must be made available to
the CITRB. The Senior Procurement Executive is a member of the CITRB.
These procedures fully integrate the acquisition process with the
information technology and budgeting processes.

***Enterprise Architecture***

The Commerce Enterprise Architecture (EA) has a broad scope. The EA is
the union of the operating unit architectures and the overarching
Department architecture. The Department architecture addresses lines of
business and services common to all operating units. It establishes
basic goals and directions, characterizes common systems and services,
and defines fundamental standards universal to all operating units. This
approach provides the operating units flexibility in executing their
mission specific lines of business, while providing greater efficiency
and reduced cost for the common lines of business. The diverse nature
and mission of each operating unit mandates a flexible structure,
allowing each operating unit to define its mission specific architecture
that best fits its business requirements. In this way, each operating
unit can fulfill its mission tasks, and provide the best service to all
stakeholders and customers while supporting the overall goals of
Commerce.

The Commerce Enterprise Architecture documents results realized from the
combined capital planning and architecture efforts in reducing redundant
systems, reusing existing components, and taking advantage of newer
technologies to achieve efficiencies. The high-level overview describes
Commerce's goals and business needs, and "as is" and "to be"
architectures along with migration plans, from business, information,
application, and infrastructure views. This is supplemented by detailed
technical and architecture information from the operating units in
support of the strategic architectural vision.

Another part of the overall architecture effort is the identification
and development of segment architectures. Segment architectures are
discrete slices of the enterprise that provide a product or service. The
segment architecture provides detailed results-oriented architecture and
a transition strategy for a section of the enterprise.

The Department's Enterprise Architecture Advisory Group, composed of
representatives from across the Department, developed guidance for the
Enterprise Architecture Program. This guidance is consistent with the
OMB Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework and is designed to enhance
the integration of the operating unit portions of the Enterprise
Architecture and provide a consistent picture across all of Commerce.
With the development of the OMB Federal Enterprise Architecture
Assessment Framework, as well as the General Accountability Office
Architecture Maturity Assessment, the Commerce Enterprise Architecture
Capability Maturity Model has been retired.

The Enterprise Architecture Review Board is a focused group derived from
the Enterprise Architecture Advisory Group, which reviews architecture
updates and change requests, and examines investments that are being
reviewed by the CITRB for compliance with the Enterprise Architecture.
Recommendations are forwarded to the CITRB for consideration.

***IT Security and Privacy***

The Department of Commerce places a very high priority on IT security,
recognizing that an effective IT Security Program is necessary to
protect its IT investments and its data. The Department has strengthened
its focus in two management areas: IT security program management and
administration, and critical infrastructure protection.

The IT Security Program Team, supplemented by IT Security Officers in
each of the operating units, focuses on improving Department-wide IT
security program management and overseeing Department-wide compliance
with IT security requirements. Recent efforts to improve the program
include focusing on standardizing the processes that lead to sound IT
system's certification and accreditation; updating the comprehensive IT
security program policy and minimum implementation standards to reflect
current IT investment trends and regulatory requirements, particularly
in the area of personally identifiable information; ensuring linkage
between the IT system inventory and IT investments; as well as improving
general security awareness training and providing role-based training
for those with significant IT security roles and responsibilities. In
addition, the Department continues an IT compliance review program that
includes testing the management, operational, and technical controls of
the Department\'s IT systems.

The IT Security program is the information assurance foundation ensuring
the consideration of IT security over the system\'s life cycle, from
inclusion in IT capital asset budgeting to system disposal. Details of
these efforts are provided in the Department\'s annual report to OMB as
required by the Federal Information Security Management Act.

The Critical Infrastructure Protection program concentrates on securing
the Department\'s infrastructure resources that support national
essential functions. In addition, the team reviews and coordinates the
IT aspects of Department-wide continuity of operations planning to
ensure availability of IT investments that support nationally critical
as well as Commerce's mission functions. Partnerships established with
the Department of Homeland Security and integration with Commerce
physical security programs have enhanced the quality of the critical
infrastructure program. Furthermore, current and planned investments in
new technology for incident detection and infrastructure monitoring will
strengthen the Department\'s IT security posture and enforce the
information assurance efforts under way by the IT Security Program Team,
as described above, to protect the Department\'s IT investment.

The Department has established a Chief Privacy Officer, who assists in
the review of Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) as part of the IT capital
planning process and helped establish Commerce's IT Privacy Policy. The
Chief Privacy Officer works closely with Commerce's Privacy Act Officer,
established under the Privacy Act. Both ensure that Commerce's CIO, who
serves as Commerce's Senior Official for Privacy, is actively involved
in and informed of privacy issues affecting Commerce. In a testament to
Commerce's commitment to privacy, Commerce's IT Privacy Policy extends
privacy protections beyond personally identifiable information to
business identifiable information.

Recent events have made the protection of personally identifiable
information a priority. Commerce has moved quickly to establish policies
and make available practical protections for employees to use in
safeguarding personally identifiable information as well as other
sensitive information. All Commerce Privacy Impact Assessments and
Privacy Policy Statements are available on Commerce's Web site.

***Electronic Government***

The Commerce Department continues to expand its already extensive use of
electronic government to perform its mission better, to enhance support
to citizens, businesses, and other customers, and to reduce costs.
Commerce has long recognized the advantages afforded by electronic
government to support its responsibilities in delivering scientific,
technical, and statistical information to the public. Commerce uses the
Internet as a primary means of disseminating large amounts of data and
information as well as supporting online transactions. The Department
has over 100 different transactions available on the Internet. Members
of the public can apply for fishing permits, file patent and trademark
applications, order nautical charts and environmental data, file
economic census data, register a search and rescue radio beacon, analyze
economic and demographic data, and read publicly available patent and
trademark files \-\-- all electronically.

The Office of the CIO ensures that E-Government considerations are given
high visibility in Commerce's information technology capital investment
and control process. Through selection and control reviews by the CITRB,
senior Commerce management examines initiatives for E-Government
possibilities and suggests E-Government alternatives, where sensible.

***Project Management***

Commerce recognizes the importance of effective project management to
the success of IT investments. To ensure that Commerce has skilled,
qualified project managers to direct its major IT investments, we have
launched several initiatives. The first is that IT investment sponsors
must submit resumes, in a prescribed format, for project managers and
contracting officers for any new or existing investment that is reviewed
by the CITRB. This allows Board members and Office of the CIO staff to
review the qualifications and experience of the project managers and
contracting officers and weigh these factors in their evaluations of the
IT investments. For large investments, the project manager must be
assigned full time to the investment in question. In concert with CIO
Council guidance and tailored to Commerce's IT investments, Commerce
formulated project manager qualification and certification guidelines
and validated all project managers of major investments as meeting the
CIO Council's September 2004 *Federal IT Project Manager Guidance
Matrix* certification and experience requirements. In FY 2007, Office of
CIO staff, in concert with staff of the Office of Acquisition Management
and the Office of Human Resources Management, are developing an
implementation plan to address the requirements of OMB's new [Federal
Acquisition Certification for Program and Project
Managers](http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/procurement/workforce/fed_acq_cert_042507.pdf).

Second, Commerce and its constituent operating units offer project
management training for all project managers who need it. In FY 2004,
the Office of the CIO held two nine-day sessions, each for 25-30
students and in FY 2005, we trained an additional 44 students. Beginning
in FY 2006, the Commerce Office of Human Resources Management developed
a project management education and training curriculum and trained an
initial group of 30 employees. This training program continues, and in
FY 2007, another 40 students graduated. This training develops knowledge
in all nine Project Management Body of Knowledge areas and prepares
students for Project Management Institute certification as a Project
Management Professional (PMP^®^).

Third, we have embarked on regular, systematic Earned Value Management
(EVM) analysis of IT investments under development. The intent is to
monitor the performance of Commerce projects regularly to provide early
warning of projects that may not be meeting cost, schedule, or
performance goals, allowing course correction to bring the development
effort back on track. The EVM analysis has been supported by focused
training sessions on EVM techniques and one-on-one consultations.
Further, operating unit CIOs are required to conduct operational
analyses to certify that steady-state investments meet cost, schedule,
and performance goals and to identify strategic opportunities for
improvements. These requirements are founded on a formal policy on EVM
and operational analysis. Commerce tracks EVM for 12 investments. On
average, the investments are within 3 percent of cost and schedule
goals, well under the 10 percent tolerance established by OMB.

In support of all of the above, we have established a central source for
project management expertise, advice, and guidance, which focuses on
four strategic initiatives:

-   Establishment of standards and guidelines for the use of project
    management best practices throughout the Department;

-   Providing project management services and support for select IT
    projects;

-   Providing DOC program and project managers with technical assistance
    to ensure successful performance in presentations before the
    Commerce IT Review Board; and

-   Mentoring, training, and guiding project teams as they learn and use
    new project management best practices.

    ***IT Workforce Development***

The IT Workforce Committee of the Federal CIO Council, in partnership
with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), conducts a biennial
Web-based survey of IT employees in the Federal workforce. The survey
collects information regarding IT employee skills, certifications, and
competencies. The data from the survey provides a foundation for IT
workforce development efforts at Commerce. We are now engaged in target
setting and gap analysis, making the assessment process more valuable.
The Office of the CIO has partnered with the Office of Human Resources
Management to define a cohesive IT workforce development program, using
this information as a reference point, and submitted an IT Workforce
Development Plan to OMB. In addition to the training and development
activities already underway for project management and IT security, the
Plan outlines activities to improve skills in enterprise and solutions
architecture development. We are tracking our progress quarterly against
the plan.

Commerce launched its new Commerce Learning Center (CLC) on June 1,
2007. The CLC replaces the GeoLearning Management System and will
provide access to online training. Throughout the remainder of calendar
year 2007, Commerce will phase in the system\'s full functionality
including: online training history from the GeoLearning Management
System; scheduling and tracking of all types of training to meet Office
of Personnel Management requirements; management of individual
professional development rosters and reports; distance learning through
chat rooms and bulletin boards; and more. This project supports the
achievement of the President's Strategic Management of Human Capital
initiative as well as Expanded Electronic Government. The CLC will be
particularly useful for role-based IT security training.

Commerce is actively engaged in outreach programs to attract, recruit,
develop, and maintain a viable and diverse workforce, responsive to the
mission needs of the Department and the strategic objectives of our
various operating units. The Office of the Secretary operates an
Executive Leadership Development Program and an Aspiring Leaders
Development Program for high potential employees. Commerce offers a
number of intern programs to high school students as well as
postsecondary students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, since information technology (IT) expenditures constitute
such a large portion of the Commerce annual budget (about 20 percent, or
\$1.7 billion), it is imperative that special management attention be
given to the Department's proposed and continuing IT investments. This
is done through the Capital Planning and Investment Control process,
which continues to be strengthened to provide broader and deeper
analysis of proposed new IT investments, projects under development, and
projects that have completed deployment as well as of the overall
performance of the portfolio. Where the cost, schedule, or performance
goals of IT investments are not yet being fully achieved, the processes
in place have detected the problems and directed corrective action. And,
for the most significant IT development project that the Department is
undertaking at this time, the Decennial Census, special reviews and
oversight have been implemented, identifying opportunities for
improvements as needed. The Department of Commerce's inclusion on OMB's
High Risk and Management Watch Lists has helped focus some of the
discussion, identify specific areas for improvement, and capture senior
management attention.