PRESIDENT 'S 

MANAGEMENT

 AGENDA
TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE OPPORTUNITY................................................... 2

Where We Are: Federal Context................................................................................... 3

How We Got Here: Root Cause Challenges and Effects .......................................... 4

HOW WE WILL GET THERE........................................ 6

KEY DRIVERS OF TRANSFORMATION ........................ 10

IT Modernization .................................................................................................................11

Data, Accountability and Transparency ...................................................................15

People - Workforce for the 21st Century .................................................................. 18

WORKING ACROSS SILOS .......................................... 22

PRIORITY AREAS FOR TRANSFORMATION ................. 26

Improving Customer Experience with Federal Services ....................................... 28

Sharing Quality Services .............................................................................................30

Shifting From Low-Value to High-Value Work .......................................................... 32

Category Management- Leveraging Common Contracts and Best Practices

to Drive Savings and Efficiencies ...............................................................................34

Results-Oriented Accountability For Grants............................................................36

Getting Payments Right...............................................................................................38

Improving Outcomes Through Federal IT Spending Transparency....................40

Improve Management of Major Acquisitions ........................................................... 42

Modernize Infrastructure Permitting.........................................................................44

Security Clearance, Suitability, and Credentialing Reform...................................46

Improve Transfer of Federally-Funded Technologies from Lab-to-Market....... 47
President’s Management Agenda

1

Most Americans may not think about the Federal Government every day—but when they 

need Government services, they expect them to work. As the President has stated, “at 

all levels of Government, our public servants put our country and our people first. The hard 

work of our mail carriers, teachers, firefighters, transit workers, and many more, creates an 

environment that allows individuals and companies to thrive.”

The President’s Management Agenda lays out a long-term vision for modernizing the 

Federal Government in key areas that will improve the ability of agencies to deliver mission 

outcomes, provide excellent service, and effectively steward taxpayer dollars 

on behalf of the American people. 

THE PRESIDENT’S MANAGEMENT AGENDA:

Modernizing Government for the 21st Century
THE OPPORTUNITY
President’s Management Agenda

3

WHERE WE ARE: FEDERAL CONTEXT

1 Pew Research Center, December 2017, “Government Gets Lower Ratings for Handling Health Care, Environment, Disaster Response.”

2 Pew Research Center, May, 2017, “Public Trust in Government Remains Near Historic Lows as Partisan Attitudes Shift.”

When America’s Founders wrote the Constitution, 

they laid out a clear vision for the United States 

Government: to establish justice, ensure domestic 

tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings 

of liberty. To this day, the business of Government 

remains to serve the American people in these foundational areas. 

Two decades into the 21st Century, the public still 

believes that the Federal Government serves critical 

roles and, in some areas, performs them well.1 Yet 

public trust in the Federal Government continues to 

decline, sitting at near-historic lows.2 The Nation also 

faces significant national debt and annual deficits 

that require Government to change how it operates. 

Trust in the federal government 

remains near historic low 

% who say they trust the federal government to do what is 

right just about always/most of the time...

Notes: From 1976-2017 the trend line represents a three-survey moving 

average.

Source: Pew Research Center, National Election Studies, Gallup, ABC/Washington Post, CBS/New York Times, and CNN pols.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

1958 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 2012 ‘17
President’s Management Agenda

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HOW WE GOT HERE: ROOT CAUSE CHALLENGES AND EFFECTS

Despite good intentions, the Federal Government has 

become overly bureaucratic and complex in ways that 

have prevented agencies from seamlessly transitioning 

services to meet the needs of the 21st Century. Many of 

these challenges and shortcomings arise from statutory, 

administrative, management and regulatory practices 

designed in the past that no longer align to the realities 

of today. Major root cause challenges facing the Federal 

Government include:

Accumulated regulatory burden. Over many decades, 

Federal agencies have imposed countless regulatory 

requirements on individuals, businesses, landowners, 

and state and local governments. Some of these regulations serve important public purposes. Many regulations, however, are outdated, duplicative, or unnecessary, yet they continue to impose costly burdens. Careful 

reconsideration of the regulatory burden is necessary to 

promote economic growth and individual freedom.

Structural issues. Silos across Federal agencies and

offices can hurt cross-agency collaboration, resulting in

fragmented citizen services or excessive cost to deliver

the mission. For example, there are still more than 80

single-purpose welfare programs that comprise a Federal

safety net intended to help those living in poverty. Greater

coordination is also needed within and among agencies

and with Congress to improve how we manage the Federal Government and to remove outdated regulations and

other obstacles to change. 

Decision-making and processes. Efficient and effective

decision-making is fact-based and transparent. However,

Government agencies do not consistently apply data-driven

decision-making practices. Smarter use of data and evidence is needed to orient decisions and accountability

around service and results. Moreover, despite advances in

interactive, user-centered design, the American public often

lacks the same opportunity to provide feedback on Federal

programs and services that it has for concerning services it

receives from the private sector, making it harder to continuously improve Federal services.

Leadership and culture. Achieving beneficial outcomes

that serve the public should be the Government’s primary

focus. Managers need sufficient discretion to execute programs effectively,fosterthe highest-performing workforce,

and solve real-time problems. Yet service delivery sometimes suffers due to unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles. The

Administrationwill establish a transparent and data-driven

accountability structure through quarterly reviews and public

updates on www.performance.gov that identifies successes and areas that need management attention.

Capabilities and competencies. Antiquated, unsecure 

technology risks can leave the public frustrated and vulnerable. Too many Federal employees perform outdated 

duties that rely on outdated skillsets, and Government 

too often struggles to award effective, timely contracts. 

For example, one study found that the Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) spent more than 150 million hours 

on documenting and recording information, and the 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could save 

800,000 hours annually by increasing automation of 

compliance with standards. The Government needs 

more nimble and effective approaches to keep technologies and workforce skills current and to ensure that the 

Federal workforce can meet future needs. 

The vision for reform must be multi-generational, 

enabling the Federal Government to adapt to changing 

needs over time. Rather than pursue short-term fixes 

that quickly become outdated once again, this Administration will pursue deep-seated transformation. But it 

will not happen in one or two years.

Keeping country 

safe from terrorism

Responding to

natural disasters

Ensuring safe

food and medicine

Managing 

U.S. immigration system

Protecting the environment

Maintaining infrastructure

Strengthening the economy

Ensuring basic 

income for 65+

Ensuring access to health care

Ensuring access to equality education

Helping people

get out of poverty

Setting standards

for workplaces

% who say the federal government is...

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Nov.29-Dec. 4, 2017

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Doing a 

good job

Should play 

a major role

Low ratings for government on several issues; 

majorities say it should have a ‘major role’ 

66 94

64 89

61 87

32 80

44 76

51 75

53 75

41 71

36 69

44 68

26 67

65
President’s Management Agenda

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HOW WE WILL GET THERE
President’s Management Agenda

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HOW WILL WE GET THERE

The vision for reform must be multi-generational, 

enabling the Federal Government to adapt to changing 

needs over time. We cannot pursue short-term fixes only 

to see Government quickly become outdated once again. 

Deep-seated transformation takes time and will not happen in one or two years.

This Administration believes that modernizing Federal Government represents a profound bipartisan opportunity to 

work across branches of Government and political differences to align the mechanics of government to better meet 

America’s needs. To this end, the Administration looks 

forward to working with Congress and non-Federal entities 

to promote dialogue that quickly leads to action. 

The President’s Management Agenda sets out a longterm vision for effective and modern government capabilities that work on behalf of the American people and 

focus on the following:

• Mission: The American people count on the Federal Government every day, from national security to

infrastructure to food and water safety. Public servants must be accountable for mission-driven results 

but must also have the necessary tools and resources 

to deliver.

• Service: Federal customers range from small businesses seeking loans, to families receiving disaster

support, to veterans owed proper benefits and

medical care. They deserve a customer experience

that compares to—or exceeds—that of leading

private sector organizations, yet most Federal services lag behind the private sector.

• Stewardship: Effective stewardship of taxpayer

funds is a crucial responsibility of Government, from

preventing fraud to maximizing impact. Taxpayer

dollars must go to effective programs that produce

results efficiently. For example, the 2019 Budget

conservatively projects that $187 billion in savings

can be achieved over the next decade through the

prevention of improper payments alone.

Progress on these complex and interconnected challenges has been attempted in the past but often failed

due to siloed efforts. Getting traction calls for broader,

system-level thinking to tackle interconnected barriers to

change, most notably related to aging technology infrastructure, disconnected data and an outmoded civil service

framework. As a result, modernizing Government for the 

21st Century requires work in three key areas: 

Modern information technology must function as 

the backbone of how Government serves the public in 

the digital age. Meeting customer expectations, keeping sensitive data and systems secure, and ensuring 

responsive, multi-channel access to services are all 

critical parts of the vision for modern Government. 

Data, accountability, and transparency initiatives 

must provide the tools to deliver visibly better results 

to the public, while improving accountability to taxpayers for sound fiscal stewardship and mission results. 

Investments in policy, people, processes and platforms 

are key elements of this transformation and require 

cross-agency cooperation to ensure an integrated Data 

Strategy that encompasses all relevant governance, 

standards, infrastructure and commercialization challenges of operating in a data-driven world.
President’s Management Agenda

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The workforce for the 21st Century must enable 

senior leaders and front-line managers to align staff

skills with evolving mission needs. This will require

more nimble and agile management of the workforce,

including reskilling and redeploying existing workers to

keep pace with the current pace of change.

This Administration will make investments in this vision 

for transformational change, paving the way for sustained improvement over time that is efficient, effective 

and accountable. The Administration will carry out this 

important work using multiple tools that, together, will 

yield tangible improvements for the Nation, its people, 

and the economy. The President’s Management Agenda 

lays the foundation for this work that will address critical 

challenges where Government as a whole still operates 

in the past.

Tools for Transformation

Over time, these changes will target broad structural 

issues that are barriers to a more effective and efficient 

Government. Most importantly, the Administration 

cannot fully equip the Government to meet modern 

management challenges without support from Congress. In some cases, real change will demand different agency structures. In other cases, we may need 

to update rigid requirements from the past that hold 

back Government. The Administration looks forward to 

working with Congress on key legislative changes that 

will enable agencies to operate effectively and drive 

improvement in the present day. Examples of potential 

areas for legislative change include:

• Consideration of the reorganization and reform

plan proposals included in the President’s FY19

Budget and that will be released later this year.

• Consideration of proposals for appropriate access

to existing Government data that can inform and

improve Federal programs.

MODERNIZING IT: 

CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

Agencies have unique missions but the systems 

they build to deliver those missions rely on foundational capabilities that are not unique. To help 

agencies accelerate the modernization of IT infrastructure across the Government while leveraging private-sector expertise, the General Services 

Administration (GSA) is standing up Centers of 

Excellence to centralize best practices and offer 

“hands-on” implementation assistance. Starting with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Centers of Excellence will improve 

service design and customer interactions with key 

agencies and programs.

People — Workforce 

of the Future

Data, 

Accountability and 

Transparency

IT Modernization

MISSION

SERVICE

STEWARDSHIP
President’s Management Agenda

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Identifying Cross-Agency Priority Goals to Move from 

Vision to Action: Government must recognize that 

it can no longer meet modern needs with the same 

approaches, technology, and skillsets from centuries 

past. By acknowledging shortcomings, setting a modern 

vision, and delivering on concrete goals, we can adapt 

Federal programs, capabilities, and the Federal workforce to efficiently, effectively and accountably meet mission demands and public expectations.

The President’s Management Agenda identifies CrossAgency Priority (CAP) Goals to target those areas where 

multiple agencies must collaborate to effect change 

and report progress in a manner the public can easily track. CAP Goals are being established for each of 

the three primary drivers of transformation, as well as 

three cross-cutting priority areas and five functional 

priority areas. Additional CAP Goals may be established throughout the Administration as policy priorities 

are identified. To avoid creating new silos, these CAP 

Goals will be managed to reinforce the interrelationships between areas. Summaries of actions being taken 

appear on the following pages.
KEY DRIVERS OF 

TRANSFORMATION 
President’s Management Agenda

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IT MODERNIZATION:

CREATING THE PLATFORM FOR CHANGE

In the 21st Century, most Government agencies rely on 

technology to deliver services to the American people 

and support the work of the Federal workforce in delivering those services. The Information Technology Modernization framework provides an integrated view of 

addressing IT challenges that leverages common capabilities to ensure that, going forward, strategic IT projects 

are better positioned for success.

The Report to the President on Federal IT Modernization is focused on modernization efforts to improve the 

security posture of Federal IT and is a key component 

of this Administration’s efforts to modernize Federal IT. 

Setting forth the current challenges facing the Government and its aging IT infrastructure, the report articulates actions to drive improvements in how Government 

engages with the public. In addition to setting forth a 

broad government-wide plan, the report complements 

agency efforts to modernize citizen facing services – by 

moving to a more secure, agile, and cost effective infrastructure, much of which will be provided by shared 

services. The government-wide plan articulated in the 

report identifies a series of near-term actions which will 

help agencies accelerate IT Modernization activities and 

enhance their ability to successfully transform their IT 

service delivery and security over the long term. 

Agency IT Transformation Priorities. In determining the 

top opportunities for modernization, both the Administration and individual agencies will be able to more 

strategically address existing needs and decide how best 

to address them. Some of these projects are to be 

funded through new tools and resources, such as the 

Technology Modernization Fund, while others will rely 

on traditional, agency-specific appropriations or other 

existing funding mechanisms. Regardless of funding 

method, the Administration will promote opportunities 

to leverage Federal buying power, utilize government-wide vehicles such as the Enterprise Infrastructure 

Solutions contract to pivot to modern architectures, and 

clear obstacles agencies encounter, such as overly 

burdensome reporting and compliance checks, as they 

seek to enhance their ability to better deliver services to 

their customers while ensuring that these changes 

appropriately improve Federal cybersecurity. 

Enhancing Federal information systems to better serve 

the public is at the heart of the Administration IT Priorities. Guiding the Administration’s efforts to modernize 

Federal IT will be three priorities: 

Enhancing Mission Effectiveness by improving the quality and efficiency of critical citizen-facing services, including through the increased utilization of cloud-based solutions such as email and collaboration tools.

• Reducing Cybersecurity Risks to the Federal

Mission by leveraging current commercial capabilities and implementing cutting edge cybersecurity capabilities.

• Building a Modern IT Workforce by recruiting,

reskilling, retaining professionals able to help drive

modernization with up-to-date technology.

Agency IT modernization plans must be focused on delivering better service to the public, and in doing so should be 

developed in furtherance of these priorities. This will result 

in building and maintaining a modern, secure, and resilient 

IT, which improves the lives of the American public.

Enabling Capability: Executive Orders and 

Policy This ambitious effort will require extensive 

collaboration and coordination across the entire 

Federal Enterprise. In addition to the modernization 

efforts that each agency will undertake, governmentwide leadership will be essential to drive the necessary 

sustained momentum. The Federal Chief Information 

Officer, in coordination with agency partners such 

GSA, DHS, and Department of Commerce (DOC) will 

provide guidance to Federal agencies on numerous 
President’s Management Agenda

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critical IT-related issues over the next year, including 

policy that supports implementing a unified approach 

to utilizing Federal commercial cloud and data centers. 

To help agencies modernize their systems, including 

the use of cloud email and collaboration tools, the 

Administration will update or revise foundational policy 

documents that strengthen the Federal approach 

to key areas such as moving to the cloud, ensuring 

trustworthy internet connections, managing identity, 

and optimizing data centers. This ongoing and agile 

effort will ensure that policy stays current and relevant 

given changes in technology and the threat landscape.

Enabling Capability: Legislation

Authorized as a part of the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 115-91), the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) provisions provide agencies with the authorities and technical expertise necessary to move the Government closer to leading industry practices in modernization, 

pivot traditional bureaucratic problems towards embracing 

technology opportunities, and ultimately allow the Federal 

Government to provide better, more secure, user-centered 

services to the American people. Moreover, MGT provides 

critical capabilities for funding agency progress.

DIGITAL SERVICES AT VETERANS AFFAIRS

Across the public and private sectors, digital technologies have become the standard for service delivery and engagement. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) faces an ambitious but critical 

task: use industry best practices to make it easier for veterans to get the benefits they deserve 

and provide digital tools that empower them 

to discover, apply for, track, and manage their 

benefits online. The U.S. Digital Service team at 

the Department of Veterans Affairs, Digital Service 

at VA (DSVA), is honored to serve those who have 

sacrificed so much to protect our country and work 

to advance this work every day. Already, the DSVA 

team has:

• Created and launched online terms and conditions to grant access to health tools allowing over

28,000 veterans quicker access and eliminating

the need for veterans to travel over 7 hours to

local VA medical centers to turn in paperwork.

• Working directly with veterans, built a wizard 

to help them identify which education benefits 

form they need to complete by answering up to 

four basic questions. The GI Bill Comparison

Tool helps veterans learn about education programs and compare benefits by school. Veterans can also check the status of their Post 9/11 

GI Bill benefits and access a statement of benefits to verify eligibility with their school.

• Leased a tool to enable veterans to apply for 

healthcare eligibility on Vets.gov, enabling 

292,634 veterans to submit applications for

health care online.
President’s Management Agenda

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE: 

FARMERS.GOV

Randy Smith is a forward thinking cattleman with 

a small herd in Georgia. He works closely with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to put 

conservation practices on his land and experiment 

with new and innovative conservation approaches. 

While he does some of his business in person, 

Randy needs easy access to information and 

documents online, including contact information for his local field office. 

Although the NRCS website has information on Farm 

Bill Programs, Randy cannot always easily find 

the information he needs. More critically, because 

the NRCS website is not optimized for mobile 

access, it is more difficult for him to get the number 

and address of his local service center when not at 

his computer. It is also missing some of the forms 

he needs to complete an application. Thus, Randy 

may need to visit an office to get information or 

complete some paperwork, taking up time he could 

spend improving his soil health and making his pasture more productive. 

Randy isn’t a real person. Randy is one of many persona developed by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to drive the development of Farmers.

gov. To better serve America's farmers, ranchers, 

and foresters, the USDA's Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) mission area is building a dynamic, 

online customer-driven website – Farmers.gov - that 

delivers the information, tools, and first-hand advice 

built around the needs of the people who grow our 

food, fiber, flora, and fuel. Farmers.gov is designed 

for customers like Randy. The first release of farmers.gov features a new, mobile-friendly service 

center locator. In subsequent releases, he will have 

access to mobile-friendly forms that he can submit 

online and print easily. Farmers.gov will also have 

clear Farm Bill Program descriptions with step-bystep instructions to walk him through the application 

process and provide upfront requirement and eligibility information. 

Farmers.gov won’t deliver every agricultural 

resource, tool, or story for farmers, ranchers, and 

foresters – and it doesn’t pretend to. Instead, FPAC 

is talking to our customers and field employees 

who serve those customers, often farmers and 

ranchers themselves. We’re building Farmers.

gov around their needs and ideas through a streamlined, user-centric approach – bringing the most 

usable information together in a new way.

Enabling Capability: Implementation Support 

Agencies have unique missions, but the systems they build to 

deliver those missions rely on foundational capabilities that 

are not unique. The United States Digital Service (USDS) and 

the GSA will support modernization efforts by leveraging top 

technical talent to help agencies solve the technical challenges posed by upgrading legacy systems and technologies.

USDS continues to produce significant value across the Government, using design and technology to deliver quality services to the American public. From recovering failed systems 

to consolidating websites and designing intuitive interfaces, 

USDS partners with Federal agencies to build more secure, 

efficient, and modern services with and for the American 

people. For instance, USDS worked with the Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare and 

Medicaid Services to change the way Medicare pays doctors and clinicians, rewarding them for the value – and not 

the quantity – of care they provide. With the Small Business 

Administration (SBA), USDS eliminated paper applications for 

small businesses to participate in Federal contracting programs, improving their user experience and reducing their 

burden. Over a five-year period, USDS projects that its current 

projects will save $617 million and redirect 1,475 labor years 

toward higher value work. 

To help agencies accelerate the modernization of IT 

infrastructure across the Government while leveraging private-sector expertise, GSA is standing up Centers 
President’s Management Agenda

14

of Excellence to centralize best practices and offer 

“hands-on” implementation assistance to customer 

agencies for cloud migration, infrastructure modernization 

and other foundational technology and security improvements. Initially, the Centers of Excellence will partner with 

the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to accelerate USDA’s 

IT Modernization Plan. Based on their collaboration with 

USDA, the Centers of Excellence will rapidly improve their 

capability in order to support and work with other Federal 

agencies to improve service design and customer interactions as part of their IT Modernization Plans.

Enabling Capability: Flexible Funding Vehicles 

and Innovative Acquisition Capabilities

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is a centralized revolving fund authorized by the MGT for up to $500 

million that will be overseen by the Technology Modernization Board, chaired by the Federal Chief Information 

Officer and administered by GSA, to provide funds and 

technical expertise to agency modernization projects and 

common solutions. The process for utilizing the TMF is:

1. Agencies submit modernization proposals to be

reviewed by the Technology Modernization Board.

2. The Technology Modernization Board evaluates

and selects proposals with the greatest impact,

strongest business case, and highest probability

of success to receive funding from the TMF.

3. GSA issues funding in an incremental manner and

tied to performance against established targets

and milestones.

4. Technical experts provide hands-on support to

agencies, leveraging resources from USDS and

GSA to improve team capabilities and troubleshoot

impediments to success.

5. Agencies agree in advance on repayment terms

to the TMF, which drives accountability across

“C-suite” agency leadership—such as Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Human Capital Officers,

and Chief Acquisition Officers—and enables the

fund to be self-sustaining, continually reinvesting

resources in future projects.

For more information on the TMF, please see policy.cio.gov. 

Agency IT Working Capital Funds are another vehicle 

established under MGT for agencies seeking to invest in 

IT modernization activities. These funds enable individual agencies to establish revolving funds to direct existing agency funds, subject to individual agency transfer 

authorities, to technology modernization efforts such as 

improving, retiring, or replacing legacy systems, enhancing cybersecurity, and transitioning agencies data and 

applications to modern commercial platforms.

CAP Goal 1: Modernize IT to Increase Productivity and 

Security. The Administration has established a CAP Goal 

to drive sustainable progress in this area. The Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and USDA will lead this 

goal, with DHS, National Security Council (NSC), GSA, 

and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) working as 

close partners. While these entities will lead the effort, 

all agencies will participate in the implementation of the 

strategies and objectives associated with the IT Modernization CAP Goal.

How the Technology 

Modernization Fund (TMF) Works

Step 1:

Agencies submit 

modernization 

proposals, which 

are reviewed 

and graded by a 

board of experts.

Step 3:

Funding is incremental 

and tied to achievement.

Step 4:

Technical experts 

provide hands-on 

support to agencies

Step 5:

Agencies repay the 

TMF, which funds 

new projects.

Step 2:

Proposals with 

the greatest 

impact and 

probability 

of success 

are selected. 

Proposals of 

similar types 

are grouped 

into common 

platforms.
President’s Management Agenda

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DIGITAL SERVICES AT THE SMALL 

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

For many years, Small Business Administration (SBA)

employees have been hamstrung by not having the

digital tools they need to quickly process and

expedite requests from small business owners. In

turn, small business owners have been extremely

frustrated by a slow, bureaucratic, paper-based process that is not responsive to their needs. Thanks to

the United States Digial Services (USDS) team at SBA,

small businesses can now apply for Government

Contracting Programs online in about 1 hour instead

of days. They can get up-to-date information from a

modern map that updates in days instead of months,

providing owners with key information on locating 

their businesses.  

Since its launch, the system has more than 26,000

participating small businesses—and more than

278,000 documents have avoided old-fashioned

snail-mail. Moreover, the SBA has seen a three-fold

increase in participation in the Women-Owned Small

Business program since launch.

These digital enhancements help support over

537,000 small business jobs per year while allowing SBA staff to focus on higher value work.

DATA, ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY:

CREATING A DATA STRATEGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE

The use of data is transforming society, business, and 

the economy. If the Federal Government does not maintain its role as a preeminent supplier and sophisticated 

user of data it will no longer be able to fulfill the trust 

placed in it by the American people. The Federal Government lacks a robust, integrated approach to using 

data to deliver on mission, serve customers, and steward resources.

The Administration is developing a Federal Data Strategy 

to leverage data as a strategic asset to grow the economy, increase the effectiveness of the Federal Government, facilitate oversight, and promote transparency. 

The Federal Data Strategy will include four key components:

• Strategy 1: Enterprise Data Governance. Set

priorities for managing Government data as a

strategic asset, including establishing data policies, specifying roles and responsibilities for data

privacy, security, and confidentiality protection,

and monitoring compliance with standards and

policies throughout the information lifecycle.

The enterprise data governance strategy will build

on examples like:

▪ The National Center for Health Statistics’(NCHS) policy on the release of and access

to vital statistics to make data available as

widely as possible while being responsive to

concerns about confidentiality.
President’s Management Agenda

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USDA: CONSERVATION DELIVERY 

STREAMLINING INITIATIVE (CDSI)

CONSERVATION CLIENT GATEWAY

The USDA-NRCS Conservation Client Gateway (CCG) 

provides a secure, streamlined means for customers in every state and territory to access 

their conservation plans and Farm Bill Conservation Program financial assistance applications, 

contracts, and payments at any time. Currently, 

CCG is used by more than 6,400 individuals and 400 

agriculture businesses.

After the CCG was released in December 2014, farmers have been able to report completed contract 

items directly from the cab of their tractor as they 

complete each item in their field. The local District Conservationist can then process the request 

immediately and accelerate the time of payment

to the producer. These same customers are also 

able to sign critical documents from the comfort 

of their home, saving themselves the time and fuel 

to drive to the local field office, sign the form, and 

drive back home.

Customers can apply for a number of Farm Bill Programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), electronically sign their 

applications and contracts, and report completed 

contract items and track their Farm Bill Program

payments for certified contract items. More than 350 

applications have been made for Farm Bill programs 

by customers through CCG since it was deployed.

A key component of CCG is the document management system (DMS), where both the customers and 

the agency can store and access important files 24/7. 

NRCS currently has several million documents stored 

in the DMS within CCG, allowing producers to access 

their information day or night without having to 

contact their local service center.

Under the new Farm Production and Conservation 

Mission Area, NRCS, the Farm Service Agency, and 

Risk Management Agency are developing a single 

transactional portal to meet the combined needs 

of the customers. The work that has gone into CCG 

will serve as a key component in the design of this 

new portal, which will allow all three agencies to 

better serve the people who grow our food, 

fuel, flora and fiber.

▪ The Federal Statistical Research Data Centers’ 

(FSRDC) success in using common policies, 

technologies, and staff providing researchers 

across the country with secure access to multiple agencies’ restricted-use datasets for statistical purposes.

▪ The Federal Geospatial Data Committee’s notable 

successes implementing portfolio management 

processes for Federal geospatial data assets and 

investments helped agencies to more efficiently 

support their mission and priorities. 

• Strategy 2: Access, Use, and Augmentation. 

Develop policies and procedures and incent investments that enable stakeholders to effectively and 

efficiently access and use data assets by: (1) improving dissemination, making data available more 

quickly and in more useful formats; (2) maximizing 

the amount of non-sensitive data shared with the 

public; and (3) leveraging new technologies and best 

practices to increase access to sensitive or restricted 

data while protecting the privacy, security, and confidentiality, and interests of data providers.

The access, use, and augmentation strategy will 

build on work like the DATA Act Information Model 

Schema (DAIMS) open data standard that powers 

websites like USAspending.gov and private sector sites like InsideGov.com and OpenTheBooks.com 

that show how the Government spends taxpayers’ 

money. It will leverage investments in tools like 

Technology Business Management (TBM), which 

creates standard categories of data on IT spending that provide more granularity and consistency 

and help to improve accountability and transparency across agencies. For example, from FY2015 to 

FY2017, early use of TBM quadrupled the percentage of IT spending that could be clearly tracked to 

a specific cost category, such as data centers or IT 

security and compliance.

• Strategy 3: Decision-Making and Accountability. 

Improve the use of data assets for decision-making and accountability for the Federal Government, 

including both internal and external uses. This 

includes: (1) providing high quality and timely information to inform evidence-based decision-making 

and learning; (2) facilitating external research on the 

effectiveness of Government programs and policies which will inform future policymaking; and (3)

fostering public accountability and transparency by 

providing accurate and timely spending information, 

performance metrics, and other administrative data.
President’s Management Agenda

17

The decision-making and accountability strategy 

will build on work like the College Scorecard, which 

links Department of Education (ED) administrative 

student aid data to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 

administrative tax data to help students and their 

families select the school that is best for them. 

• Strategy 4: Commercialization, Innovation, and

Public Use. Facilitate the use of Federal Government

data assets by external stakeholders at the forefront

of making Government data accessible and useful

through commercial ventures, innovation, or for

other public uses. This includes use by the private

sector and scientific and research communities; by

states, localities, and tribes for public policy purposes; for education; and in enabling civic engagement. Enabling external users to access and use

Government data for commercial and other public

purposes spurs innovative technological solutions

and fills gaps in Government capacity and knowledge. Supporting the production and dissemination

of comprehensive, accurate, and objective statistics

on the state of the nation helps businesses and markets operate more efficiently.

The commercialization, innovation, and public use

strategy will build on work like the Census Bureau’s

The Opportunity Project, which has helped facilitate

the development of digital tools with Government

open data that help unemployed Americans build

skills and find jobs, increase transit accessibility in

low-income communities, help families navigate

information on the quality of schools, and tackle

other pressing challenges.

Developing a long-term Federal Data Strategy will require 

full utilization of four cross-cutting drivers of change: 

Policy, People, Process, and Platform:

• Policy: Clarify, harmonize, and update existing

laws, policies, and procedures.

• People: Harmonize roles and responsibilities for

data management on a government-wide basis and

within agencies, invest in staff expertise and capacity, and promote a data management culture at

agencies that prioritizes data use and stewardship.

• Process: Establish routine processes that identify priorities, improve coordination, and promote

maturity over time.

• Platform: Develop effective governance organizations and a suite of tools and applications available

across agencies that serve the needs of diverse users

and facilitate data integration, exchange, and use.

CAP Goal 2: Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset. 

The Administration has established a CAP Goal to drive 

sustainable progress in this area. Developing and implementing the Federal Data Strategy will take time, and 

will involve experts and thought leaders from across 

the Federal Government, private industry, and research 

institutions. This work has already begun in meaningful 

ways, and the Federal Data Strategy will accelerate and 

scale these practices into a logical, integrated and coordinated path forward to achieve meaningful results. DOC, 

SBA, OMB Information Policy and Performance Offices 

(Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, and the Office of Performance and Personnel Management), and the Office of 

Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will lead this goal. 

Other participating OMB offices will include Economic 

Policy, Office of Federal Financial Management, Office of 

Federal Procurement Policy, and Resource Management 

Offices. Other potential participating partners are the 

Office of American Innovation, GSA, and other Federal 

agency data leaders. 
President’s Management Agenda

18

ACQUISITION: USCIS

A key priority of the United States Citizenship and 

Immigration Services (USCIS) is to modernize 

E-Verify, which is part of the Verification Information System used by more than 600,000 companies nationwide to validate employment eligibility to work in the U.S. Using innovative acquisition

practices, USCIS was able to award a contract for

a new myUSCIS customer service portal in just

half the time projected. The site is helping users

decrease case status processing time by 30% and 

employer enrollment time by more than 45%. In

2017, myUSCIS was nominated by satisfied CIS customers and won the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council Igniting Innovation Overall Award, which recognizes transformative Government and industry solutions to critical

taxpayer problems.

PEOPLE - WORKFORCE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY:

REALIGNING HUMAN CAPITAL TO SERVE AMERICA’S PRIORITIES

Federal employees underpin nearly all the operations of 

the Government, ensuring the smooth functioning of our 

democracy. While most Americans will never meet the 

President or even their Members of Congress, they will 

interact with the Federal employees who work in their 

community, keep them safe at airports, or welcome them 

to a National Park. Among other duties, regional offices 

of USDA and the Department of the Interior (DOI) provide 

services to farmers and ranchers where they live. When 

emergencies occur, entities like the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard, and 

the SBA help to save and rebuild communities.

However, the personnel system supporting Federal 

employees is a relic of an earlier era that has failed to 

keep pace with changing workforce needs. Both employees and managers agree that the performance management system fails to reward the best and address the 

worst employees.3

 With annual civilian personnel costs 

of almost $300 billion, the Government should always be 

seeking to ensure its workforce has the right skills, is the 

right size, and operates with the responsiveness and flexibility needed to best accomplish its various missions. 

3 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, 2017.

The Administration intends to partner with Congress on 

overhauling the statutory and regulatory rules that have, 

over time, created an incomprehensible and unmanageable civil service system:

• Realigning the workforce to mission: The Administration is committed to redefining the role of

the Federal Government by reprioritizing Federal

spending toward those activities that advance the

safety, security, and prosperity of the American

people. Agencies must critically examine their

workforces to determine what jobs they need to

accomplish their core missions.

• Aligning total compensation with competitive

labor market practice: It is important to appropriately compensate personnel based on mission

needs and labor market dynamics. The existing

compensation system fails in this regard. The

President’s Budget for FY 2019 foregoes an acrossthe-board pay increase for 2019, while proposing to

realign incentives by enhancing performance-based

pay and slowing the frequency of tenure-based step
President’s Management Agenda

19

increases. The Administration also proposes a $1 

billion interagency workforce fund as part of the 

FY 2018 appropriations, and supplemented by an 

additional $50 million in the FY 2019 Budget. This 

fund will replace the across-the-board raise that 

increases Federal employee pay irrespective of 

performance with targeted pay incentives to reward 

and retain high performers and those with the most 

essential skills. The Budget also proposes pension 

reforms that better align Federal retirement benefits with those offered by private sector employers, 

with whom the Government competes for talent. 

• Human capital management reforms: An Analytical Perspectives chapter on the Federal workforce in

the FY 2019 President’s Budget outlines a vision for

change that would streamline the hiring and

dismissal processes, modernize human resources

technology, better utilize data to inform workforce

management, rebalance labor-management relations, align Federal workforce management authorities with private sector best practices, and reduce

unnecessary red tape to bring the Federal workforce

into the 21st Century. For further detail, see the

Appendix for the FY 2019 President’s Budget chapter

Strengthening the Federal Workforce.

Strategic Workforce Management. To achieve a 21st 

Century Workforce, the Government needs to do a better 

job of end-to-end strategic workforce management. It 

needs to look at work in a different way – assessing what 

our key missions and outcomes are and understanding how we can best align the workforce to meet those 

needs, particularly through the Administration’s lens 

of using IT modernization to drive increasing efficiency, 

effectiveness, and transparency. It needs to engage in 

constant research and knowledge building, and integrate 

that work into our workforce planning and strategic planning in order to build a leading edge, first-in-class workforce to meet mission needs efficiently. 

In order to best leverage the workforce to achieve our 

mission efficiently and effectively, Government needs to:

• Build agile organizations and processes to quickly

respond and align to changing mission needs, innovations, and technological advancements;

• Reward top performers and those with critical

skill sets;

• Acquire and retain top talent to achieve results; and

• Remove employees with the worst performance

and conduct violations.

The Administration has developed a road map for three 

key areas of strategic workforce management. By implementing this roadmap, and by taking into consideration 

enabling tools and knowledge to help inform actions, we 

will empower organizations and managers to develop and 

implement a 21st Century workforce.

Actively Manage the Workforce. The Government 

needs to do a better job in actively managing the workforce. The Government employs some of the world’s 

most talented professionals, from Nobel Prize winners 

to top investigators and scientists who are top recruits in 

their private sector fields. Leading human capital practices begin with rewards and recognition capabilities that 

reinforce results, accountability, and performance. Yet 

Government’s current performance management system provides only a nominal difference in rewards for top 

employees versus mid-level performers, making it difficult to retain top talent.
President’s Management Agenda

20

In addition, Federal managers are reluctant to remove 

a (poor performing) employee and may receive inadequate support from their agency in attempting to 

do so. Notably, only 31% of Federal employees believe 

that steps are taken to deal with poor performers among 

their peers.4 Such management failures inevitably reduce 

morale and engagement in the workplace, even for high 

performing employees. Through the Workforce CAP Goal, 

the Administration will improve employee performance 

management to better reward high performing employees, while supporting managers in removing poor performers. For example, OMB directed agencies to develop 

a single overarching policy for removing poor performers 

and forming manager support boards to help address performance or conduct issues that require immediate action.

Agile Operations. Perhaps most importantly, the Government needs to become more agile in its organization 

and operations. Currently, the Government is inflexible 

and made up of many component entities that generally function predictably and stably. An operational 

inertia often takes hold, with too little attention paid to 

incorporating operational efficiencies or responding to 

technological advances and innovations. In some cases, 

statutory barriers prevent such adaptation. But, there 

are countless opportunities to evolve. For example, it 

is extremely difficult to shift employees across jobs and 

agencies to match skillsets with need in a responsive 

manner. Actions set forth in the Workforce CAP Goal will 

require agencies to look at operations through a different 

lens – one that stresses the importance of recognizing 

key mission requirements, and aligning the workforce to 

meet those needs. This requires identifying opportunities to more efficiently use the people we have, through 

reskilling and redeployment efforts, and matching 

employees to important and meaningful work.

Acquire Top Talent. Only 42% of Federal employees 

believe that Government recruits people with the right 

skills.5

 While the Government will work to better align 

existing employees to mission needs, it also needs to 

build a capacity to bring in top talent quickly when 

demand for specific skills exceeds existing capacity. 

The current overly complex and lengthy hiring process, 

frequently results in the Government losing potential 

employees to private sector organizations with more 

streamlined hiring processes. While ensuring fair and 

equitable hiring practices, Government can improve its 

hiring, including by training the human resources workforce to better support hiring managers.

4 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, 2017.

5 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, 2017.

Continuous Learning. To inform implementation of 

strategic workforce management and better alignment 

of the workforce to mission, Government needs to be 

constantly learning, developing knowledge, and incorporating this knowledge into our management practices. 

By engaging agency thought leaders with experts from 

industry and academe, Government can use feedback 

from ongoing research, pilot projects, and other knowledge creation activities to help inform agency actions 

and priorities in each of the three pillars of this Goal.

Aligning and managing the Federal workforce of the 

21st Century means:

• Instating performance management processes that

help agencies retain top employees and efficiently

remove those who fail to perform or to uphold the

public’s trust;

• Reducing skills-gaps and eliminating redundant

positions;

• Simplifying the hiring process for managers;

• Enhancing personnel management IT, including

creation of a paperless employee personnel file and

digitalizing health benefits and retirement

systems administration;

• Spreading effective practices among human

resources specialists;

• Improving manager satisfaction with the quality of

the human resources service provided; and

• Rebalancing relationships with Federal employee

unions to ensure citizens’ interests are kept front

and center.

CAP Goal 3: Developing a Workforce for the 21st 

Century. The Administration has established a CAP 

Goal to drive sustainable progress in this area. The goal 

is to align and strategically manage the workforce to efficiently and effectively achieve the Federal government’s 

mission. This will be accomplished by: actively managing the workforce (employee performance management 

and employee engagement); developing agile operations 

(reskilling and redeploying human capital resources); and, 

acquiring top talent (simple and strategic hiring).

The OPM, the Department of Defense (DOD), and OMB 

will lead this goal. The President’s Management Council 

and Chief Human Capital Officers Council are responsible for coordinating their members for specific tasks. 

All agencies regardless of size will need to meet goals 

related to their workforce.
President’s Management Agenda

21

Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FY16-FY17)

Overall Employee Engagement Index

The Employee Engagement Index (EEI) is a measure of 

an agency’s work environment — the conditions that 

lead to engagement. The index is made up of three 

subfactors: Leaders Lead, Supervisors, and Intrinsic 

Work Experience.

Satisfaction with Dealing with

Poor Performance

"In my work unit, steps are taken to deal with a poor 

performer who cannot or will not improve."

Satisfaction with Hiring People

with the Right Skills

"My work unit is able to recruit people with the

right skills."

NOTE: Satisfaction was measured on a 5-point satisfaction scale. The percentages shown on the bar charts above correspond to the number of respondents indicating they were 

"satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the associated statements divided by the total number of responses. The change in these graphs is calculated by taking the current year's percentage 

value minus the previous year's percentage value.

Government-Wide Average Government-Wide Average Government-Wide Average

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Fiscal Year

FY 17

FY 16 65

67

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Fiscal Year

FY 17

FY 16 29

31

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Fiscal Year

FY 17

FY 16 43

42

Increase from Previous Year Decrease from Previous Year No Change from Previous Year FY17 FY16

SBA 5%

DHS 4%

DOI 3%

GSA 3%

USAID 3%

EPA 3%

HUD 3%

DOC 2%

DOE 2%

DOT 2%

HHS 2%

NRC 2%

NSF 2%

DOD 2%

NASA 2%

TREASURY 2%

DOL 1%

OPM 1%

SSA 1%

USDA 1%

DOJ 0%

ED 0%

VA -1%

STATE -2%

Agency Change Indicator

68%

63%

67%

72%

70%

69%

73%

62%

73%

71%

76%

75%

70%

82%

69%

70%

72%

70%

68%

70%

68%

69%

62%

76%

0 20% 40% 60% 80%

EPA 5%

HUD 5%

DOE 3%

DOI 3%

GSA 3%

NSF 3%

USAID 3%

DHS 3%

SBA 3%

DOD 2%

DOL 2%

HHS 2%

NRC 2%

SSA 2%

STATE 2%

DOC 2%

NASA 2%

DOT 1%

ED 1%

OPM 1%

TREASURY 1%

DOJ 0%

USDA 0%

VA 0%

Agency Change Indicator

32%

33%

38%

44%

38%

34%

29%

36%

38%

34%

38%

37%

33%

39%

42%

47%

33%

34%

45%

37%

32%

30%

30%

34%

0 20% 40% 60% 80%

DHS 4%

TREASURY 2%

NASA 2%

DOD 1%

SBA 1%

DOC 0%

HUD 0%

NSF 0%

DOI -1%

DOT -2%

EPA -2%

OPM -2%

VA -2%

DOL -3%

DOJ -3%

GSA -3%

HHS -3%

DOE -4%

NRC -4%

USDA -4%

USAID -5%

SSA -6%

STATE -6%

ED -9%

Agency Change Indicator 0 20% 40% 60% 80%

40%

37%

57%

41%

53%

38%

61%

41%

43%

46%

51%

43%

46%

47%

51%

51%

47%

50%

36%

52%

38%

44%

49%

45%
WORKING ACROSS SILOS 
President’s Management Agenda

23

The Federal Government’s challenges have not arisen 

in isolation, and it cannot solve them through isolated 

efforts. This Administration will drive Government modernization by working across functional disciplines and 

across agencies, rather than working in silos. To really 

get traction on these complex and interconnected challenges, broader, system-level thinking is needed to tackle 

interconnected barriers to change. 

While the strategies and goals presented as part of this 

agenda are discussed as distinct areas, actions are prioritized which are mutually reinforcing across multiple 

domains. Most notably, there are numerous actions 

being taken with overlap across the three key drivers 

of change, a few of which are highlighted below.

Taken together, many actions across the President’s Management Agenda priorities represent significant commitments 

toward a transformational long-term vision. For example, combined actions across multiple CAP Goals represent and 

historic commitment to moving toward a paperless Federal Government.
President’s Management Agenda

24
President’s Management Agenda

25

The President’s Management Agenda is also interconnected 

with other ongoing activities that will help focus our efforts 

on mission, service, and stewardship. These include:

• Government Reorganization: Last March, the

President issued a call for change in Executive

Order 13781, “Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch,” where he tasked OMB

with providing a plan to reorganize the Executive

Branch. The FY 2019 President’s Budget provided a

preview of this plan to the American people. Initial

reform proposals include, for example:

▪ Eliminating unnecessary political positions;

▪ Using shared services to improve IT services and

reduce procurement costs by leveraging the

Government’s economies of scale; and

▪ Consolidating or realigning regional offices and

personnel (for example, improving customer

service at the DOI by shifting employees away

from Washington, D.C., and closer to the citizens

they serve).

Going forward, the Administration is undertaking 

specific reviews of important agency structures 

and activities to align with the goals of the President’s Management Agenda. For example:

▪ Streamlining Federal statistical functions across

multiple Federal agencies; and

▪ Minimizing duplication in and maximizing outcomes from Federal development finance activities across multiple Federal offices and agencies.

Moreover, the specific President’s Management 

Agenda focus areas undoubtedly will highlight 

additional reorganization opportunities related to 

the drivers of IT modernization; data, accountability and transparency; and the workforce. In the 

months ahead, the Administration plans to share 

additional reorganization proposals designed to 

refocus programs around current and future needs.

• Mission CAP Goals: The Administration is pursuing

three CAP Goals focused on specific mission areas

where agencies work closely together.

▪ Modernize Infrastructure Permitting;

▪ Security Clearance, Suitability, and Credentialing Reform; and

▪ Improve Transfers of Federally-Funded Technologies from Lab-to-Market.

Brief summaries of these CAP Goals are included in 

the next section of this document, and detailed 

Action Plans are posted at www.performance.gov.

• Regulatory Reform in 2018 and Beyond: The

Administration’s Unified Agenda of Regulatory and

Deregulatory Actions and the Regulatory Plan, which

set forth the Administration’s roadmap for a more

limited, effective, and accountable regulatory policy, currently projects the elimination of approximately 448 regulations and the addition of only

131 new regulations. In 2018, Federal agencies are

committed to cutting more than $9.8 billion in lifetime regulatory costs. Across the Government, this

Unified Agenda will drive substantial reductions

in regulatory costs beyond what has already been

accomplished. For additional information, please

visit www.reginfo.gov.

• Agency Strategic and Annual Performance

Plans: Each major Federal agency published an

updated strategic plan with the Budget, establishing strategic objectives for the Administration’s

first term and committing to agency priority goals

for the next two years. These plans outline agency

mission and management priorities and actions.

A full list of agency performance plans is available

at www.performance.gov.
PRIORITY AREAS FOR TRANSFORMATION 
President’s Management Agenda

27

The three drivers of transformation—IT modernization; 

data, accountability, and transparency; and the workforce of the future—will push change that resonates 

across the Federal enterprise. As discussed above, the 

Administration has established a CAP Goal for each of 

these drivers to ensure public tracking and accountability. In addition, the Administration will simultaneously pursue change in other priority areas. These areas 

include both cross-cutting priorities that span agency 

management and operational domains and also functional priorities that target more specific areas such as 

financial management, acquisition, and others. In addition to the CAP Goals established for each of the three 

key drivers of transformation discussed previously, this 

section provides a brief summary of the additional CAP 

Goals being established to support these cross-cutting 

and functional priorities. 

CAP Goals related to cross-cutting priorities are led by 

the President’s Management Council. CAP Goals related 

to functional priorities are led by other government-wide 

councils, such as the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, 

the Chief Financial Officers Council, and the Chief Information Officers Council. CAP Goals related to Mission 

Priorities are led by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting CAP Goal) and Security Clearance, Suitability, Credentialing Performance 

Accountability Council (Security Clearance CAP Goal).

Detailed action plans for each CAP Goal are also available 

on www.performance.gov, where updates on progress 

will be posted each quarter. Each action plan explains 

the goal, the challenge that it addresses, the public officials responsible for progress, and specific milestones 

and/or metrics to measure success.
President’s Management Agenda

28

Federal agencies will provide a modern, streamlined, and responsive customer experience across 

Government, comparable to leading private-sector organizations.

THE CHALLENGE 

Whether seeking a loan, Social Security benefits, 

veterans benefits, or other services provided by 

the Federal Government, individuals and businesses expect Government customer services to 

be efficient and intuitive, just like services from 

leading private-sector organizations. Yet the 2016 

American Consumer Satisfaction Index and the 

2017 Forrester Federal Customer Experience Index 

show that, on average, Government services lag 

nine percentage points behind the private sector. 

THE GOAL

This goal will:

• Transform the customer experience by improving the usability and reliability of our Federal 

Government’s most critical digital services;

• Create measurable improvements in customer satisfaction by using the principles

and practices proven by leading private sector organizations;

• Increase trust in the Federal Government by

improving the experience citizens and businesses have with Federal services whether

online, in-person, or via phone; and

• Leverage technology to break down barriers

and increase communication between Federal agencies and the citizens they serve.

THE STRATEGIES

Agencies will focus on four strategies:

• Improving digital services;

• Modernizing customer experiences for

high-impact Federal programs;

• Rewarding programs and people that

demonstrate outstanding service; and

• Creating a support and accountability network to ensure sustainable customer experience improvement across Government.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

A modern, streamlined and responsive customer experience means:

• Raising government-wide customer experience to the average of the private sector

service industry, as measured by external

organizations;

• Developing indicators for high-impact Federal programs to monitor progress towards

excellent customer experience and mature

digital services;

• Providing the structure and resources to

ensure customer experience is a focal point

for agency leadership; and

• Examples of programs where improved customer service will impact millions of Americans include Federal Student Aid, Airport

Security Screening, National Parks, Veterans Health Care, Passport Services, Emergency and Disaster Relief, and Medicare.

THE TEAM

The Department of Veterans Affairs and 

Office of Management and Budget will lead 

this goal. Other participating agencies 

include the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, and Treasury as well as the 

General Services, Small Business, and Social 

Security Administrations and the Office of 

Personnel Management. 

CAP GOAL 4

IMPROVING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WITH FEDERAL SERVICES
President’s Management Agenda

29

2016 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Scores

E-Commerce

Manufacturing/Nondurable Goods

Manufacturing/Durable Goods

Retail Trade

Accommodation & Food Services

National ACSI Average

Transportation

Finance & Insurance

Health Care & Social Assistance

Energy Utilities

E-Business

Local Government

Telecommunications & Information

Federal Government

0 20 40 60 80 90

82.4

82.1

80.9

78.3

78

77

76.8

76.5

76.1

74.9

74.3

72.5

71.7

68
President’s Management Agenda

30

The Federal Government will establish a strategic government-wide framework for improving the 

effectiveness and efficiency of administrative services by 2020, leading to continual improvements in 

performance and operational cost savings of 20% annually at scale - or an estimated $2 billion over

 the next 10 years.

THE CHALLENGE 

Families economize by buying in volume or 

taking advantage of the sharing economy 

such as car or vacation rental sharing. Businesses, non-profits, and state governments 

have reduced costs and workload by streamlining administrative activities such as human 

resource transactions, financial management, 

grants management, contracts, and information technology support to reduce costs and 

increase efficiency. The Federal Government 

needs to do the same. For example, the Federal Government outspends the private sector when creating tax-filing paperwork (W-2s). 

Industry has used technology and innovation 

to reduce the cost to around $80 while Government still spends an average of $120. We need 

to close this gap. 

THE GOAL

This goal will:

• Deliver technology and process improvements

that will improve citizen services, such as:

• Faster hiring so more border security officers can 

be hired and in place faster; and

• Expedited payments to small businesses so the 

economy can continue to grow and thrive; and 

simpler grants application processes so more 

grant resources are directed to results rather 

than duplicative compliance actions.

• Reduce taxpayer costs by closing the gap

between the Federal Government’s performance in administrative services and industry

best in class; and

• Shift time, effort, and funding currently

spent on administrative services to core missions in support of American citizens. 

THE STRATEGIES

Agencies will advance this goal by:

• Sharing purchases to reduce costs;

• Sharing modern technology and experts; and

• Creating a single location in Federal Government for certain core services.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Agencies will:

• Use benchmarks from high-performing private

sector models to assess overall performance;

• Increase use of targeted solutions; and

• Measure satisfaction with those solutions to

make sure they meet needs.

THE TEAM

General Services Administration and Office of 

Management and Budget will lead this goal. 

Agencies implementing key solutions for this 

goal include the General Services Administration, Departments of Defense and the Treasury, and Office of Personnel Management. 

CAP GOAL 5

SHARING QUALITY SERVICES 
President’s Management Agenda

31

Core Mission Support Services

Estimated Annual Costs = $28.6 Billion

30%

53%

CONTRACTS

FOR MISSION 

SUPPORT

$8.5B

INFORMATION 

TECHNOLOGY 

SPENDING

$5B

MISSION SUPPORT 

FEDERAL EMPLOYEE 

COSTS

$15.17B

17%

Customer Satisfaction Scores 

HUMAN CAPITAL

I am satisfied with the quality of 

support and solutions I received 

from the Human Capital function 

during the last 12 months.

CONTRACTING

I am satisfied with the quality of 

support I received from the 

Contracting function during the 

last 12 months.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

I am satisfied with the quality of 

support and solutions I received 

from the Financial Management 

function during the last 12 months.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

I am satisfied with the quality of 

support and solutions I received 

from the Human Capital function 

during the last 12 months.

Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS): In early 2017, GSA surveyed all senior supervisory employees (GS-13 to GS-15 supervisors, SES and equivalents) at 23 of the 24 CFO Act agencies, asking about 

their satisfaction with mission-support services across the previous 12 months. Collectively, the 43,000+ responses provide a detailed picture of satisfaction with 18 service areas within Contracting, 

Financial Management, Human Capital, and IT services. An additional 250,000+ responses were gathered from non-supervisory employees on their satisfaction with IT services. Please note that at 

DOD, the survey was deployed only to senior supervisory employees. Also note: USAID conducted their survey separately and results were incorporated into CSS results where applicable.

Function Area Scores among 24 CFO Act Agencies

Commerce 

DHS

DOD

DOT 

ED 

Energy 

EPA 

GSA 

HHS 

HUD 

Interior 

Justice 

Labor 

NASA 

NCR

NSA 

OPM 

SBA 

SSA 

State 

Treasury

USAID

USDA

VA 

3.84

4.26

4.38

4.52

4.15

4.01

4.16

4.83

3.97

4.31

4.54

4.66

4.69

5.34

5.13

5.61

5.09

4.39

4.68

4.95

5.08

3.87

4.16

4.16

4.62

4.83

5.22

5.09

5.35

5.25

4.82

5.14

4.95

4.82

5.06

5.22

5.06

5.66

5.17

5.48

4.70

4.68

5.26

5.19

5.40

4.82

5.78

4.89

4.41

4.61

4.63

4.75

5.21

5.11

4.12

4.90

4.63

4.32

4.63

4.98

4.72

5.67

5.29

5.57

4.35

4.76

4.76

4.86

5.13

3.96

5.50

4.70

5.28

4.98

4.61

5.26

4.47

5.21

5.26

5.41

5.35

5.40

5.23

5.27

5.15

5.30

5.43

5.81

3.99

4.64

5.17

5.08

5.39

5.17

5.89

5.25

SATISFACTION RESPONSE KEY

1 STRONGLY DISAGREE 2 DISAGREE 3 SOMEWHAT DISAGREE 4 NEUTRAL 5 SOMEWHAT AGREE 6 AGREE 7 STRONGLY AGREE

MEDIAN: 4.46 MEDIAN: 5.11 MEDIAN: 4.75 MEDIAN: 5.26
President’s Management Agenda

32

CAP GOAL 6

SHIFTING FROM LOW-VALUE TO HIGH-VALUE WORK 

Federal agencies will shift time, effort, and funding currently spent performing repetitive administrative 

tasks and complying with unnecessary and obsolete policies, guidance, and reporting requirements, 

toward accomplishing mission outcomes, with the objective of achieving no new net burden annually.

THE CHALLENGE 

Too often, requirements persist over time 

despite changes to the circumstances they 

were intended to address. Hundreds of burdensome rules and requirements have built 

up over decades, forcing Federal agencies to 

devote valuable resources to compliance that is 

no longer meaningful. Time, energy, and dollars 

spent complying with outdated, redundant, and 

unnecessary requirements can be better spent 

on accomplishing mission outcomes. 

THE GOAL

This goal will:

• Eliminate low-value, unnecessary, and outdated policies and requirements issued by

central management agencies like the Office

of Management and Budget, the Office of

Personnel Management, and the General

Services Administration;

• Develop a process to assess and minimize the

burden of such guidance on Federal agencies;

• Create incentives for Federal agencies to

regularly review and streamline their own

administrative requirements that impose

burdens on their bureaus and programs; and

• Reduce burden through tools like integrated

IT and automation software.

THE STRATEGIES

• Central-management offices will evaluate

existing management guidance to rescind or

modify unnecessary, outdated, or duplicative requirements;

• Office of Management and Budget will

develop a methodology to evaluate the

burden of new guidance and requirements

before central-management offices impose

them on Federal agencies; and

• Agencies will set targets to evaluate and

reduce the burden of their own administrative requirements, regulations, and internal

reporting obligations.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

A Federal Government that shifts time, 

effort, and funding from burdensome 

requirements to high value work will:

• Improve the return on investment of central-management guidance to Federal

agencies;

• Reduce compliance requirements for Federal agencies;

• Work with Congress to eliminate outdated

legislative reporting requirements for Federal

agencies; and

• Reduce unnecessary costs and compliance

requirements within individual agencies.

THE TEAM

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and Office of Management and Budget 

will lead this goal. The Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration will also participate as central management 

agencies. Other Federal partners include the 

Councils of Chief Financial Officers, Chief Information Officers, and Chief Acquisition Officers.
President’s Management Agenda

 

 

33

Together, the Ofice of Management and Budget and 

Federal agencies recently proposed that Congress 

free up tens of thousands of hours that Federal personnel spend annually on meaningless 

compliance—time better spent pursuing mission outcomes—by eliminating or modifying 407

time-consuming plans and reports that are outdated or duplicative. The list of proposals appears 

in the FY 2019 President’s Budget and is available at 

www.performance.gov 

In June of 2017, the Office of Management and 

Budget lifted 59 redundant, obsolete or unnecessary requirements that it had previously issued

for all Federal agencies. With the release of the 

President’s Management Agenda this year, Ofice of 

Management and Budget will rescind an additional 

tranche of unnecessary requirements. These changes 

to guidance in areas like IT Security, Procurement 

Processes, and Financial Management, will remove 

unnecessary confusion and ensure that Federal 

agencies continue to eficiently implement the most 

current guidance. The Ofice of Management and 

Budget continues to identify existing guidance

that should be rescinded or modified, to free agency 

resources for the pursuit of mission outcomes. 
President’s Management Agenda

34

The Federal Government will leverage common contracts and best practices to drive savings and efficiencies.

6 Based on the Federal Procurement Data System.

7 Ibid.

8 Savings and cost avoidance for category management is measured from increased use of Best In Class solutions (BIC), which on average 

produce 10-15% savings. Details on each solution’s savings method can be found on the Acquisition Gateway at https://hallways.cap.

gsa.gov/<app/<#/gateway/acquisition-gateway/6606/government-wide-category-management-key-performance-indicators.

THE CHALLENGE 

The Federal Government spends over $300 billion6

 on common goods and services every year. 

However, because agencies buy in a fragmented 

manner, taxpayers often do not get the benefit of the Government’s position as the largest 

buyer in the world. Hundreds—and in some 

cases thousands—of duplicative contracts are 

awarded to the same vendors for similar requirements. This fragmentation leads agencies to 

pay significantly different prices—sometimes 

varying by over 300%7

—for the same items. 

THE GOAL

Federal agencies will leverage common contracts, 

meaning that they share in contracts that get the 

best value for taxpayers, in order to buy common goods and services as an enterprise. This 

approach will eliminate redundancies, increase 

efficiency, and deliver more value and savings 

from Federal acquisition programs. 

By the end of FY 2020, the Government will 

achieve $18 billion in savings for taxpayers by 

applying category management principals—or 

smart decision-making where agencies buy the 

same kinds of goods and services through best 

value contract solutions—to 60% of common 

spend.8

 In addition, the Government will reduce 

duplicative contracts by 50,000, potentially 

reducing administrative costs by hundreds of 

millions of dollars.

THE STRATEGIES

Agencies will implement four key actions:

• Establish annual goals to leverage common

contract solutions while meeting small business

and other statutory socio-economic goals;

• Develop effective vendor management

strategies to improve communication with

vendors, especially those that support mission-critical functions;

• Implement best practices to eliminate inefficient purchasing and consumption behaviors; and

• Share transactional data across the Federal

Government, including prices paid, terms

and conditions, and other important factors

that can differentiate quality and value of

products and services.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Success means the Government will not only 

save taxpayer dollars but will improve mission 

outcomes. For example, this work will allow:

• Our law enforcement personnel to ensure

their safety through easy access to equipment

such as ammunition and body armor;

• Medical professionals to save time and focus

more on patients by ordering pharmaceuticals through electronic catalogues;

• Agencies to more easily prioritize modernizing the Government’s IT infrastructure, to

include efforts such as buying standardized

computers.

The goal will be evaluated using industry best 

practice metrics, including savings, spend 

through common contract solutions, reduction 

of duplicative contracts, small business utilization and training the workforce. 

CAP GOAL 7

CATEGORY MANAGEMENT- LEVERAGING COMMON CONTRACTS 

AND BEST PRACTICES TO DRIVE SAVINGS AND EFFICIENCIES 
President’s Management Agenda

35

State of Spending for Common Requirements 

FY 2017 (Total - $303 Billion)

$168B

$32B

$95B

Currently, the Federal Government applies category management principles to 

roughly 42% of its spending on common goods and services through common 

contracts at the agency or government-wide enterprise level, according to the 

Federal Procurement Data System. By the end of FY 2020, the Federal 

Government will increase this proportion to 70%.

Spend on Agency-wide Contracts

Spend on Enterprise Contracts Unaligned Spend

10%

58% 32%

THE TEAM

Department of Defense and Office of Management and Budget will lead this goal. The governance body includes the Departments of 

Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and 

Human Services, and Homeland Security as well 

as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and General Services Administration. 

Category Management (FY 2016 - FY 2017)

Increase from Previous Year Decrease from Previous Year No Change from Previous Year FY17 FY16

Spend Under Management (SUM) Definition: Spend (in millions of dollars) on contracts that meet defined criteria for management 

maturity and data sharing. SUM is defined by a tiered maturity model, which includes three tiers 

that address five attributes: leadership, strategy, data, tools, and metrics.

Best In Class (BIC) Definition: Best in Class is a designation by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a 

preferred government-wide solution that: Allows acquisition experts to take advantage of pre-vetted, 

government-wide contract solutions; Supports a government-wide migration to solutions that are 

mature and market-proven; Assists in the optimization of spend, within the government-wide 

category management framework; and increases the transactional data available for agency level 

and government-wide analysis of buying behavior. BIC is calculated as a percentage of total spend 

addressable to BIC solutions (BIC spend divided by total addressable BIC spend).

DOE -$1,654M

DOD $1,124M

VA $1,311M

DLA -$2,748M

ARMY $282M

NAVY -$721M

DHS $184M

USAF -$677M

HHS -$6M

NASA -$119M

DOJ -$12M

AID -$41M

TREASURY -$701M

GSA -$146M

ED -$72M

STATE $29M

DOC -$89M

DOT -238M

USDA -$50M

SSA $39M

DOI $-11M

DOL $24M

EPA $41M

OPM $39M

HUD $66M 

NSF $5M

SBA -$1M

NRC $6M

Agency Change Indicator

GSA 40.27

OPM 12.02

EPA 13.62

NSF 6.95

USAF 10.59

STATE 0.71

DOI 10.17

SSA 3.77

ARMY 3.41

USDA -2.64

DOJ 9.59

SBA 0.54

HUD 2.16

NCR 5.92

DOC 5.10

DOL 7.31

TREASURY 4.67

DHS 0.42

HHS 1.25

NAVY 5.26

DOD 0.00

VA 0.80

DOT 0.89

AID 0.66

NRC 0.67

DLA -0.59

ED -0.07

DOE 0.17

Agency Change Indicator

$21,053M

$17,147M

$16,754M

$11,150M

$7,783M

$6,191M

$6,013M

$6,013M

$5,030M

$3,172M

$2,748M

$2,213M

$2,022M

$1,912M

$1,555M

$1,273M

$1,140M

$708M

$1,108M

$835M

$510M

$428M

$400M

$257M

$2,697M

65.72%

61.33%

51.08%

47.27%

44.32%

43.95%

42.86%

37.27%

37.08%

32.93%

29.88%

35.60%

29.51%

27.95%

26.29%

27.45%

25.14%

22.03%

17.63%

15.01%

8.80%

6.16%

14.63%

3.70%

3.36%

2.29%

1.29%

11.19%

Agency Indicator

DOE

DOD

V A

DLA

AR MY

NAV Y

DHS

US AF

HHS

NAS A

DOJ

AID

T R E AS UR Y

G S A

E D

S T AT E

DOC

DOT

US DA

S S A

DOI

DOL

E P A

OP M

HUD

NS F

S B A

NR C

-$

$1

$1

-$

$2

-$

$1

-$

-$

-$

-$

-$

-$

-$

-$

$2

-$

-$

-$

$3

-$

$2

$4

$3

$6

$5

-$

$6

Definition: S pend (in millio

maturity and data sharing. S

address five attributes: lead

Increase N
President’s Management Agenda

36

CAP GOAL 8

RESULTS-ORIENTED ACCOUNTABILITY FOR GRANTS

Federal agencies will maximize the value of grant funding by applying a risk-based, data-driven framework 

that balances compliance requirements with demonstrating successful results for the American taxpayer.

9 Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, ch. 14. Available at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

pkg/BUDGET-2019-PER/pdf/BUDGET-2019-PER.pdf.

10 The George Washington University, the National Grants Management Association and REI Systems. 2017 Annual Grants Management 

Survey. https://www.reisystems.com/rei-in-govexec-how-agencies-can-improve-grant-management/

11 GAO report, GAO-16-573, Federal Research Grants, Opportunities Remain for Agencies to Streamline Administrative Requirements: 

https://www.gao.gov/assets/680/677949.pdf

THE CHALLENGE 

Approximately $700 billion is invested annually 

through more than 1,800 diverse Federal grant 

programs listed on CFDA.gov.

9

 These funds support activities that touch every American, such 

as medical research, education, transportation 

infrastructure, workforce initiatives, economic 

development, and services for veterans. 

However, grant managers—including those that 

administer funds from inside the Federal Government and those from external organizations that 

receive Federal funds—report spending 40% of 

their time using antiquated processes to monitor compliance instead of data and analytics to 

monitor results.10 The organizations that receive 

Federal grant funds—from states, localities, and 

tribes to schools to non-profits—report that 

this current management framework is overly 

burdensome and takes away from the missions 

they are working to deliver. For instance principal investigators of research grants estimate that 

they spend, on average, 42% of their time meeting requirements11—including those associated 

with pre-and post-award administration and 

preparation of proposals and reports—rather 

than conducting active research. 

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Agencies will be able to articulate clearly the 

goals of grant programs and the results of 

Federal investments. Recipients and agencies 

spend less time on administrative compliance 

and more effort is put into achieving and reporting program results.

THE GOAL

This goal will:

• Rebalance compliance efforts with a focus on 

results for the American taxpayer;

• Standardize grant reporting data and 

improve data collection in ways that will 

increase efficiency, promote evaluation, 

reduce reporting burden, and benefit the 

American taxpayer;

• Measure progress and share lessons learned 

and best practices to inform future efforts, and

• Support innovation to achieve results.

THE STRATEGIES

Agencies will focus on three strategies:

• Standardize data; 

• Develop digital tools to manage risk, such as 

a grantee’s past performance and financial 

management; and 

• Implement a maturity model to encourage 

agencies to structure grant programs that 

best balance program results and financial 

management as important aspects of stewarding tax dollars.

THE TEAM

The Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and 

Office of Management and Budget will lead 

this goal. Other participating agencies will 

include major grant making agencies with 

additional support provided by General Services Administration.
President’s Management Agenda

37

Why Does Results-Oriented Accountability 

for Grants Matter?

Federal grant funding supports activities that touch 

every American, such as medical research, education, 

transportation infrastructure, homeland security, 

workforce initiatives, and services for veterans. The 

organizations that receive and implement these funds—

including state and local governments, non-profits, 

and educational institutions—report that they are 

much better positioned to achieve program results 

for the American taxpayer when (1) we use technology to reduce reporting redundancies; (2) they can 

collect and report meaningful information based on 

clear objectives and goals; and (3)the system rewards 

organizations that are best at achieving meaningful 

results over compliance. 

Moreover, the Federal Government collaborated 

with over 500 participants from the grantee community to pilot new ways of standardizing, collecting, 

and sharing data from grantees (known as the DATA 

Act Section 5 Pilot). Results from that pilot demonstrate that these efforts successfully reduce burden 

on grantees, allowing them to focus on using grant 

funds to get results.
President’s Management Agenda

38

CAP GOAL 9

GETTING PAYMENTS RIGHT

Federal agencies will save taxpayer money by making payments correctly and collecting money back from 

incorrect payments.

THE CHALLENGE 

While all improper payments can compromise 

citizens’ trust in Government, only a portion 

stem from fraud or lead to actual loss of taxpayer dollars. In addition to the incorrect 

payments themselves, improper payments also 

impose costs associated with fixing mistakes 

and recovering funds. Historically, the Federal 

Government has focused on improper payments 

broadly, including process errors that do not 

affect money paid, rather than strategically targeting monetary loss to taxpayers. 

THE GOAL

This goal will:

• Reduce the amount of cash lost to the taxpayer through incorrect payments;

• Clarify and streamline reporting and compliance requirements to focus on actions that

make a difference; and

• Partner with states to address improper payments in programs that they administer using

Federal funds.

THE STRATEGIES

The Federal Government will streamline requirements and clarify guidance for 

improper payment reporting and compliance 

to allow agencies to focus on making payments correctly, helping agencies to:

• Focus their work more strategically on

improper payments by identifying cash lost

and changes needed to make payments correctly the first time; and

• Establish stronger partnerships with the

states that will prevent and reduce incorrect

payments in programs that states administer

using Federal funds.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

The Federal Government will:

• Reduce the annual amount of cash lost to

the taxpayer;

• Reduce burden on agencies to help focus

their efforts strategically; and

• Increase collaboration with states to further

reduce cash lost.

THE TEAM

The Department of the Treasury, the Department of Health and Human Services, and 

the Office of Management and Budget will 

lead this goal. Other participating agencies include the Departments of Agriculture, 

Defense, Education, Transportation, Housing 

and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, as 

well as the Social Security Administration, the 

Federal Communications Commission, and 

the Office of Personnel Management. 

According to an audit by the US Department of 

Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, more 

than one in three of the 90 disability claims they 

reviewed in 2014 were incorrectly processed. 

Veterans who receive underpayments may never 

know they were owed more. Veterans who receive 

over payments often get an unexpected bill when 

the US Department of Veterans Affairs fixes the 

mistake. One veteran with multiple disabilities lost 

$19,154 over a period of nearly four years because 

of an administrative error. In four cases involving 

over payments, the US Department of Veterans 

Affairs overpaid veterans totaling $139,052.
President’s Management Agenda

39
President’s Management Agenda

40

The Federal Government will adopt Technology Business Management (TBM) government-wide by FY 

2022. This approach will improve IT spending data accountability and transparency, empowering agency 

executive suite leadership from across the enterprise to drive mission value and improve customer 

experience through technology.

THE CHALLENGE 

The Federal Government spends at least $90 billion annually on IT, and Federal executives have 

long known they could better manage that spending with increased visibility and more accurate 

data. Congress and taxpayers have pressed for 

better information about how Federal IT dollars 

are spent and the return on that investment. The 

FY 2018 President’s Budget reported 84% of the 

total Federal IT budget categorized as “other,” as 

opposed to being clearly tied to a specific IT category of spend. This lack of granularity makes it 

difficult to baseline Federal investments and show 

the public whether Government is spending taxpayer dollars effectively in order to drive the large 

scale change needed to improve business transformation and citizen services. In the spring of 

2017, Office of Management and Budget guidance 

called on agencies to begin adopting elements of 

the Technology Business Management framework 

- an open source standard for IT costs. This will

provide more granularity in IT spend based upon

a taxonomy broadly accepted across both private

and public sector organizations.

THE GOAL

This goal will:

• Improve business, financial, and acquisition outcomes;

• Enable Federal executives to make datadriven decisions and analyze trade-offs

between cost, quality, and value of IT

investments;

• Reduce agency burden for reporting IT

budget, spend, and performance data by

automating the use of authoritative data

sources; and

• Enable IT benchmarking across Federal Government agencies and with other public and

private sector organizations. 

THE STRATEGIES

Agencies will focus on three strategies:

• Increasing granularity in current IT budget

and spend reporting through the Federal

IT Dashboard;

• Develop government-wide implementation

guidelines and enabling mechanisms; and

• Adopt and implement Technology Business

Management across the Federal enterprise.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

The TBM Framework will enable the Federal 

Government to:

• Run IT like a business;

• Drive innovation and business

transformation;

• Improve services to citizens;

• Add cost transparency; and

• Increase accountability to taxpayers.

THE TEAM

The Office of Management and Budget will lead 

this goal with General Services Administration’s Office of Government-Wide Policy team 

and with Executive Councils. Agency specific 

implementation will require resources from 

across the executive suite for all agencies.

CAP GOAL 10

IMPROVING OUTCOMES THROUGH FEDERAL IT SPENDING TRANSPARENCY 
President’s Management Agenda

41

Early use of TBM quadrupled the percentage of IT spending that could be

clearly tracked to a specific cost category.

FY16 Projected IT Spend

Data Center

Telecom

Data Center

Output

IT Security and Compliance

Source: FY 2017 CPIC Submission, Agency Infrastructure Table

Source: FY 2019 CPIC Submission*, Agency IT Portfolio

* Department of Defense IT Spending not included

Reported FY17 IT Spend

Other

Helpdesk

Desktop Laptop Systems

Mobile Devices

End User Devices

Compute

End User

IT Management

Storage

Application

Other

Network

Delivery

84.0%

34.7%
President’s Management Agenda

42

Federal agencies will ensure that contracts supporting transformative and priority projects meet or 

beat delivery schedules, provide exceptional customer service, and achieve savings or cost avoidance 

for the taxpayer.

12 To the extent practicable, independent agencies are encouraged to participate.

THE CHALLENGE 

Major acquisitions—which vary in size by 

agency but often exceed $50 million—account 

for approximately one-third of annual Federal 

spend on contacts. These large contracts frequently support projects meant to transform 

areas of critical need. Yet major acquisitions 

often fail to achieve their goals because many 

Federal managers lack the program management and acquisition skills required to successfully manage and integrate large and complex 

acquisitions into their projects. These shortcomings are compounded by complex acquisition rules that reward compliance over creativity and results. 

THE STRATEGIES

Agencies will pursue three strategies:

• Strengthen program management capabilities in the acquisition workforce;

• Use modern and innovative acquisition

flexibilities; and

• Track investments using portfolio, program, and project management principles.

Agencies will also develop use cases demonstrating how achieving their transformational 

goals impact the public as a result of well managed major acquisitions.

THE GOAL

Every CFO Act12 agency will successfully achieve

at least two transformational program goals

over the coming year through well-managed

major acquisitions supporting a transformative

critical or high-risk mission priority.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE 

Agencies and their contractors will successfully

meet taxpayer expectations and performance

goals on key transformational projects across

the Government—from upgrading hospitals to

better meet veterans needs to integrating technology into conducting a modern and efficient

census to achieving IT modernization needs for 

a 21st Century Government. 

THE TEAM

The Office of Management and Budget and the

Department of Commerce will lead this goal 

with 23 other participating agencies. The 

Office of Management and Budget will work 

with several of these agencies to pilot a 

program management dashboard prior to 

broader implementation across Government. 

CAP GOAL 11

IMPROVE MANAGEMENT OF MAJOR ACQUISITIONS
President’s Management Agenda

43

A key priority of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is to 

modernize E-Verify, which is part of the Verification Information System (VIS) used by 

more than 600,000 companies nationwide to validate employment eligibility to work 

in the U.S. Specific modernization goals include enhanced data analytics, decreased 

enrollment time, and improved timeliness of data collection and quality. 

To achieve these goals, USCIS used an innovative two-step acquisition strategy, supported 

by a certified professional trained in IT acquisition through an experiential program sponsored 

by the Office of Management and Budget’s

US Digital Service and the Office of Federal 

Procurement Policy. First, USCIS entered a 

joint venture partnership with Commerce’s 

National Technology Information Service to 

find a suitable contractor to help develop 

and prototype a new customer service portal 

supported in the cloud. Following successful 

testing, USCIS then leveraged common-sense 

acquisition strategies to simplify and accelerate the competition for follow-on scaling of the 

portal, such as limiting proposal length from 

bidders, identifying the estimated contract 

price range in the solicitation, and conducting 

a one-day technical demo for bidders to prove 

their capabilities.

These efforts produced timely and quality 

results, capped by the award of a multimillion dollar contract in just four months after 

successful testing—half the time projected 

by the program office—and the subsequent 

launch of myUSCIS, my.uscis.gov. According 

to the Office of Management and Budget’s IT 

Dashboard, which helps agency program managers track performance against project goals, 

the contract has helped VIS meet key quality 

and efficiency performance targets, including 

reduced data inaccuracies. This site is also 

helping users decrease case status processing 

time by 30% and employer enrollment time by 

more than 45%. In 2017, myUSCIS was nominated by satisfied USCIS customers and won 

the American Council for Technology-Industry 

Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) Igniting Innovation 

Overall Award, which recognizes transformative 

Government and industry solutions to critical 

taxpayer problems.
President’s Management Agenda

44

The Federal Government will reduce the time to process environmental reviews and authorization 

decisions for new major infrastructure projects to an average of two years, providing consistent, 

coordinated, and predictable Federal environmental reviews and authorization processes.

THE CHALLENGE 

The American people rely on infrastructure 

improvements to benefit our economy, society, and environment. However, inefficient 

decision processes, including environmental 

reviews and permit decisions or authorizations 

have delayed infrastructure investments and 

increased project costs. 

THE GOAL

Improving the Federal environmental review and 

authorization process will enable infrastructure 

project sponsors to start construction sooner, 

create jobs earlier, and fix our Nation’s infrastructure faster while also ensuring that a project’s 

potential impacts on environmental and community resources are considered and managed 

throughout the planning process. 

Infrastructure investment strengthens our 

economic platform, makes America more 

competitive, creates millions of jobs, increases 

wages for American workers, and reduces the 

costs of goods and services for American families and consumers.

THE STRATEGIES

Agencies will advance this goal by:

• Standardizing interagency coordination;

• Improving predictability and transparency;

• Increasing agency accountability; and

• Identifying and implementing best practices.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

This goal will:

• Reduce time and cost to complete environmental reviews and authorizations for new

major infrastructure projects;

• Increase predictability and transparency for

project investors and stakeholders; and

• Result in agencies implementing clear timetables, consistent processes to make decisions, and best practices.

A public dashboard tracks individual projects at 

www.permits.performance.gov

THE TEAM

Goal leadership will come from the Federal 

Permitting Improvement Steering Council in 

conjunction with the Office of Management 

and Budget and the Council on Environmental Quality. Participating agencies include the 

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; the 

Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, 

Energy, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban 

Development, Interior, and Transportation; the 

Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation; 

the Environmental Protection Agency; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; the Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission; and the General Services Administration.

CAP GOAL 12

MODERNIZE INFRASTRUCTURE PERMITTING
President’s Management Agenda

45
President’s Management Agenda

46

Promote and protect the Nation’s interests by ensuring aligned, effective, efficient, secure, and 

reciprocal processes to support a trusted Federal workforce.

13 PAC members are the Office of Management and Budget, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Office of Personnel Management , 

Department of Defense; the Departments of State, Treasury, Justice, Energy, and Homeland Security; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the 

General Services Administration, the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Security Council, and the National Background Investigations Bureau. 

THE CHALLENGE 

The Government’s existing framework for 

establishing trust in the Federal civilian, military, and contracted workforce has struggled 

to onboard needed personnel efficiently and 

effectively, and to determine whether those 

workers can be consistently trusted to perform 

their duties and not to cause harm to people, 

property, systems, and information.

THE GOAL

The Federal Government will advance this goal 

through four work streams:

• Trusted workforce. Instill a sense of shared

responsibility by enabling a trusted workforce

through consistent reporting requirements,

awareness, and strengthened partnerships

with other mission areas and industry;

• Modern clearance process. Transform the Government’s approach at a fundamental level,

revamping the policy framework and process 

to a more effective and efficient model that 

leverages the latest innovative technologies;

• Secure, modern, and mission-capable information technology. Rebuild the end-to-end

information technology to accelerate the

implementation of new policies and processes and to improve the cyber security

posture of the enterprise; and

• Continuous performance improvement. Use

outcome-based metrics, research and innovation, and an institutionalized Executive

branch-wide model to continuously evaluate and improve policies and processes.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

A Federal workforce that reliably protects 

Federal Government people, property, systems, and information through an enhanced 

risk management framework, which features:

• Improved early detection, enabled by an

informed, aware, and responsible Federal

workforce;

• Quality decisions, enabled by improved

investigative and adjudicative capabilities;

• Optimized government-wide capabilities

through enterprise approaches; and

• Strong partnership with Federal Insider

Threat programs to identify, deter, and

mitigate problems before they negatively

impact the workforce or national security.

THE TEAM

Leadership will come from the Security Clearance, Suitability, and Credentialing Performance 

Accountability Council (PAC) Principal agencies, 

which include Office of Management and Budget, 

the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 

Office of Personnel Management, and Department of Defense. The PAC13 is responsible for driving government-wide implementation of security, 

suitability, and credentialing reform. 

CAP GOAL 13

SECURITY CLEARANCE, SUITABILITY, AND CREDENTIALING REFORM
President’s Management Agenda

47

CAP GOAL 14

IMPROVE TRANSFER OF FEDERALLY-FUNDED 

TECHNOLOGIES FROM LAB-TO-MARKET 

Improve the transfer of technology from federally funded research and development to the private sector 

to promote U.S. economic growth and national security.

14 Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, Ch. 18. Available at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

pkg/BUDGET-2019-PER/pdf/BUDGET-2019-PER.pdf.

THE CHALLENGE 

The Federal Government invests approximately 

$150 billion annually14 in research and development (R&D) conducted at Federal laboratories, 

universities, and other research organizations. 

For America to maintain its position as the leader 

in global innovation, bring products to market 

more quickly, grow the economy, and maintain 

a strong national security innovation base, it is 

essential to optimize technology transfer and support programs to increase the return on investment (ROI) from federally funded R&D. 

THE GOAL

This goal will:

• Improve the transition of federally funded

innovations from the laboratory to the marketplace by reducing the administrative and

regulatory burdens for technology transfer

and increasing private sector investment in

later-stage R&D;

• Develop and implement more effective

partnering models and technology transfer

mechanisms for Federal agencies; and

• Enhance the effectiveness of technology

transfer by improving the methods for evaluating the ROI and economic and national

security impacts of federally funded R&D,

and using that information to focus efforts

on approaches proven to work.

THE STRATEGIES

Agencies will focus on five strategies: (1) identify regulatory impediments and administrative 

improvements in Federal technology transfer policies and practices; (2) increase engagement with 

private sector technology development experts 

and investors; (3) build a more entrepreneurial 

R&D workforce; (4) support innovative tools and 

services for technology transfer; and (5) improve 

understanding of global science and technology 

trends and benchmarks.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Agencies will develop and implement stakeholder-informed action plans which may include 

improved Federal practices and policies, regulatory reform, and legislative proposals; increase 

interactions with private sector experts; identify, 

share, and adopt best practices for technology 

transfer; and increase the transfer of federally 

funded innovations from lab to market.

THE TEAM

The Department of Commerce and the Office 

of Science and Technology Policy will lead this 

goal. Other participating agencies include the 

Office of Management and Budget, National 

Security Council, Environmental Protection 

Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, Small 

Business Administration, and Departments of 

Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Health and Human 

Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs.
President’s Management Agenda

48

CAP GOAL 14

IMPROVE TRANFSER OF FEDERALLY-FUNDED 

TECHNOLOGIES FROM LAB-TO-MARKET 

Trends in Federal Technology Transfer Activities (FY 2011 - FY 2015)

Invention Disclosures

Invention Licenses

Federal Intramural Research Budget

Traditional CRADAs

80

90

100

FY 2011 FY 2012

Index Value (FY 2011 = 100)

FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015

110

120

130

140

150

160

Patents Issued
President’s Management Agenda

49

The President's Management Agenda was developed by the President's Management Council and the Executive Office 

of the President. 

The Administration appreciates important contributions from citizens, business leaders, Federal employees, Congress, 

academia, and the good government community. 
PRESIDENT’S

MANAGEMENT

AGENDA

LEARN MORE AT

WWW.OMB.GOV

WWW.PERFORMANCE.GOV/PMA