FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT)

STRATEGIC PLAN 

FY 2017-2021 
 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The IT Strategic Plan for the Federal Election Commission’s Office of the Chief Information 

Officer covers the period from October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2021. The Plan focuses 

on aligning IT activities with FEC objectives and the government-wide Digital Government 

Strategy outlined for federal agencies by the Office of Management and Budget. 

Across government and at the FEC, agencies are challenged to meet new expectations for our 

ability to deliver and receive digital information and services, anytime, anywhere and on any 

device. We must also do so safely, securely and with fewer resources. Each year, the FEC has 

more data and information to store, manage, share and protect. Rapidly evolving technologies 

challenge us to constantly upgrade and change our tools and systems to meet the public’s 

desire for data access. New technologies require new methods for ensuring the security of our 

systems and the integrity and accessibility of our data. 

Our challenge for the next five years is to position the FEC to meet the public’s evolving 

expectations for access to digital data and tools by modernizing and streamlining our systems, 

processes and infrastructure. Guided by the IT Objectives outlined in this Strategic Plan, the 

FEC will implement the core components of a 21st century digital services model to ensure that 

the Agency continues to meet its mission, now and in the future. 

2
 

 

 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

MESSAGE FROM THE CIO 

I am pleased to present the 2017 update to the IT Strategic Plan for the Federal Election 

Commission which illustrates the Agency's strategic vision and direction for technology 

initiatives while providing guidance to Agency decision makers as they make their investment 

decisions. Each year we make investments in technology in order to support the vital programs 

and services that serve constituents efficiently and effectively. 

As computing technology has the potential to transform every aspect of government, it is 

important that those investments be strategic and effective in delivering services and 

information with excellence. The way citizens access campaign finance data and the way in 

which we consume the data have fundamentally changed due to the impact of computing 

technology and social media. 

By making strategic investments in technology, government serves citizens in a manner that 

provides them the convenience, access, choice, and control over technology empowering their 

interactions with campaign finance data. The goals and objectives laid out in the 2017 IT 

Strategic Plan consider mobile and cloud technologies first, and focus on the impact in 

providing new abilities on the FEC website. 

The 2017 Plan continues to focus on securing the critical technology infrastructure as well as 

building up the capacity and skill-level of the technology workforce. Finally, the 2017 Plan also 

highlights the continuing efforts to ensure the successful development and implementation of 

current technology initiatives. Working together, we can ensure the 21st century government is 

delivering results and effectively serving its 21st century constituents. 

3
 

• MISSION 

• - Who we are MISSION 

• - What we do 

• - 3 to 5 years 

OBJECTIVES: 

- What we want to accomplish STRATEGIC ACTIVITIES: 

- Measurement - How to accomplish the goals 

- Time associated - Simple statements 

- 2 to 3 years - Oriented to competition 

- do what we say we will do - 1 to 2 years 

(if not, change it) 

CRITICAL ISSUES: 

- Show stoppers 

- Short-Term barriers to success 

- Identify and control 

- 6 months or less 

- Contingencies 

Planning = Results

OBJECTIVES 

STRATEGIC ACTIVITIES 

CRITICAL ISSUES 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

IT STRATEGIC PLAN OVERVIEW 

Approach to Development 

The Federal Election Commission Strategic Plan, FY 2014-20191, and the Administration’s 

Digital Government Strategy2 were used to guide the development of this IT Strategic Plan. 

The IT Objectives and strategies identified in this plan were developed through a traditional 

approach. The mission defines the purpose and focus of the IT organization. IT objectives are 

defined by consideration of the FEC strategic objectives and business strategy and activities. 

Each objective was created in support of a business goal and designed to counter a weakness 

or threat, while taking advantage of our strengths and opportunities. The objectives are 

followed by the supporting strategies and actions used to realize each FEC and IT objective. 

These are the issues we addressed as we developed this Strategic Plan. 

1 http://www.fec.gov/fecig/documents/OIGStrategicPlan2016-2020-FINAL-09-30-15.pdf#search=strategic%20plan

2 https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/egov/digital-government/digital-government-strategy.pdf

4
 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

ACHIEVING THE FEC’S MISSION 

Mission drives organizations, and the need to deliver better services to customers continues to 

push every level of government to look for new solutions. The FEC’s Office of the Chief 

Information Officer (OCIO) is committed to ensuring that the FEC has IT systems, tools and 

resources in place to meet the Commission’s mission to protect the integrity of the federal 

campaign finance process by providing transparency and fairly enforcing and administering 

federal campaign finance laws. Over the next five years, the OCIO will seek innovative 

solutions to meet IT challenges arising from rapidly evolving technologies and a growing 

demand for the FEC’s services, in support of the FEC’s mission. 

The FEC has set as its strategic goal to fairly, efficiently and effectively administer and enforce 

the Federal Election Campaign Act, promote compliance and engage and inform the public 

about campaign finance data and rules, while maintaining a workforce that delivers results. 

This goal is supported by four objectives. 

FEC Objective 1: Engage and Inform the Public about Campaign Finance Data 

The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA/the Act) requires accurate and 

comprehensive public disclosure by federal candidates and political committees of all 

contributions and expenditures. In an average fiscal year, the FEC receives campaign 

finance reports, statements and other disclosure documents from more than 10,000 

political committees and other filers. The Commission will facilitate transparency in the 

federal campaign finance system through a state-of-the-art, web-based public 

disclosure system for all campaign finance activity, ensuring that this vast quantity of 

campaign finance data is available to the public quickly and in a manner that is easy for 

the general public to sort and search. In addition to ensuring greater access to a larger 

quantity of campaign finance data, the FEC will also promote public engagement, 

usability and greater understanding of campaign finance data through targeted 

educational and communication initiatives. 

FEC Objective 2: Promote Compliance with the FECA and Related Statutes 

The Commission’s statutory obligation is to administer, interpret and enforce the FECA, 

which serves the compelling governmental interest in deterring corruption and the 

appearance of corruption in financing elections. In doing so, the Commission must 

remain mindful of the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and 

association, and the practical implication of its actions on the political process. 

Public confidence in the political process depends not only on laws and regulations to 

assure transparency and limits and prohibitions on the amounts and sources of 

5
 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

contributions, but also on the knowledge that those who disregard campaign finance 

regulations will face real consequences for non-compliance. The FEC will focus on 

administering fair, effective and timely enforcement and compliance programs. 

Complementing the FEC’s vigorous enforcement and compliance programs are the 

FEC’s increased efforts to promote voluntary compliance. Because of the large and 

rising number of political committees and the ever-growing number of financial 

disclosure reports filed with the FEC, voluntary compliance is essential. Accordingly, the 

Commission will devote significant resources to encourage voluntary compliance 

through the widespread dissemination of educational materials related to campaign 

finance laws to the public, the press, political committees and to state election officials. 

FEC Objective 3: Interpret the FECA and Related Statutes 

The Commission responds to questions about how the Act applies to specific situations 

by issuing advisory opinions (AOs). In addition, Commission initiatives, Congressional 

action, judicial decisions, petitions for rulemaking or other changes in campaign finance 

law often necessitate that the Commission update or adopt new regulations. 

Consequently, the FEC undertakes rulemakings either to write new Commission 

regulations or revise existing regulations. 

The Commission represents itself in litigation before the federal district and circuit courts 

and before the Supreme Court with respect to cases involving publicly financed 

Presidential candidates. It also has primary responsibility for defending the Act and 

Commission regulations against court challenges. In addition, the FECA authorizes the 

Commission to institute a civil action in enforcement matters that cannot be resolved 

through voluntary conciliation. 

Objective 4: Foster a Culture of High Performance 

The Commission will devote significant attention to ensuring that it can recruit and 

retain a diverse and engaged workforce that is well-trained, well-informed and 

understands the Agency’s mission. Organizational performance is also significantly 

improved when internal management processes are efficient and effective. The 

Commission will take steps to ensure that the Agency’s working environment promotes 

and supports the best efforts of its staff. 

6
 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

Role of the Office of the Chief Information Officer 

The OCIO consists of four units that together work to help ensure the Agency meets its 

strategic goal and objectives: (1) Enterprise Architecture; (2) Operational Support; (3) 

Data Administration; and (4) IT Security. OCIO provides secure, stable and robust 

technology solutions for Commission staff and the public. OCIO ensures Agency 

employees have a technology infrastructure that allows them to perform their day-to-day 

responsibilities administering and enforcing campaign finance laws. OCIO develops and 

supports analytic reporting tools that help staff perform their disclosure and compliance 

duties. 

In addition, OCIO develops and maintains the systems that serve as the public’s primary 

source of information about campaign finance data and law. In this way, OCIO serves a 

pivotal role in ensuring the FEC protects the integrity of the federal campaign finance 

process by ensuring that the public has access to reliable data describing how candidates 

raise and spend funds to support their campaigns. 

The OCIO bears the primary responsibility for pursuing the Agency’s first strategic 

activity, as identified in the FEC Strategic Plan: to ensure easy public access to both raw 

data and data summaries on the FEC website and to communicate the availability of 

disclosure resources to the public. Thus, in addition to supporting agency-wide 

information technology operations, OCIO places a special emphasis on ensuring that 

campaign finance data and information is collected, maintained and made available to the 

public in a manner that ensures the integrity and accessibility of that information. 

7
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

BUILDING A 21st CENTURY STRATEGY 

The President has set federal agencies a challenge—soon to become a mandate—to innovate 

with less to deliver better digital services. Today’s mix of “cloud-computing,” ever-smarter 

mobile devices and collaboration tools is changing the consumer landscape, providing 

government with both a challenge and an opportunity. New expectations require agencies to 

be ready to deliver and receive digital information and services anytime, anywhere and on any 

device. Agencies must do so safely, securely and with fewer resources. 

The Administration has set out a roadmap for meeting this challenge in its Digital Government 

Strategy. This strategy is based on the implementation of four core components: 

1. An information-centric approach where we stop managing “documents” and start 

managing discrete pieces of open data and content that can be tagged, secured and 

shared in the way that is most useful to the consumer of that information. 

2. A shared platform approach where we consolidate and streamline our systems and 

processes to reduce costs and ensure consistency in how we create and deliver 

information. 

3. A customer-centric approach that influences how we create, manage and present data 

to ensure that customers can shape, share and consume information when and how 

they want it. 

4. A platform of security and privacy that ensures innovation happens in a way that 

provides for the safe and secure delivery and use of digital services to protect 

information and privacy. 

Following these principles, the FEC has already taken the first steps to develop the IT 

infrastructure necessary to support a 21st century digital services model. The FEC’s vast store 

of campaign finance data is arguably our most valuable and most durable asset. The Agency 

currently maintains 40 years’ worth of detailed data on campaign finance transactions collected 

over time and via an array of media, including letters, paper forms and electronically filed 

documents. During FY 2015, we began moving this data and the systems that support it into a 

secure, scalable cloud environment. With a cloud-hosted system, we can enjoy effectively 

limitless capacity but only pay for the capacity we use. Transitioning to a cloud environment 

will allow us to continue to grow our database in the future, providing an agile, searchable 

system able to meet the public’s peak demand for services. 

At the same time, we opened our campaign finance data for public use by developing an 

application programming interface (API), and we’ve taken significant steps to make this 

information portable by developing a campaign finance data interface that is fully mobile 

responsive. In October 2015, we released a beta version of the new FEC website that provides 

a customer-centered approach to sharing campaign finance data with the public. 

8
 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

The FEC has taken steps toward virtualization. Utilizing virtual servers increases the uptime of 

servers by allowing faster provisioning and provides greater efficiency by sharing a common 

pool of resources which can be adjusted as necessary. Stand-alone systems often leave these 

valuable resources idle, and unusable to other processes. These virtual systems reduce the 

need for data center power, cooling and space which adheres to the Federal Data Center 

consolidation Initiative (FDCCI). Using virtualization and additional tools, we are able to 

ensure those systems identified as critical are automatically mirrored to the disaster recovery 

site allowing us to adhere to the agency’s COOP. As new systems are introduced to the 

infrastructure, they are evaluated on their ability to perform within a virtualized environment, 

and if compatible, provisioned accordingly. This same evaluation process is followed for 

existing systems in an effort to consolidate space and resources. 

Additionally, the FEC has transitioned to smart phones and tablets, making users more 

productive by increasing their response to time sensitive emails and standard requests. With 

the addition of the soon to be released building WiFi and transition to a cloud 

environment, staff become more receptive by accessing documents freely throughout the 

building fostering collaboration through document sharing and real-time updates. OCIO is 

simultaneously working on completing the implementation of all three efforts; Wifi, Mobile 

Devices, & Transition to Cloud Environment for Email and Office Collaboration which will 

soon define a new level of productivity. 

Going forward, the FEC is faced with the task of meeting quickly evolving user expectations for 

access to an ever-growing universe of data and information. Across government and at the 

FEC, there is simply too much information and too great of a demand for that information to be 

met within our current budgets and infrastructures. To meet the public’s future information 

needs, we must begin to streamline our IT systems today. Guided by the IT Objectives outlined 

in this Strategic Plan, the FEC will build on its previous successes to implement the core 

components of a 21st century digital services model. 

9
 

 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

FEC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES 

The FEC’s IT Strategic Plan outlines the steps to meet this challenge over the next five years 

by implementing the four components of the government-wide Digital Services Strategy. 

IT Objective 1: Implement an Information-Centric Approach 

The FEC must fundamentally shift how it thinks about digital information. Rather than 

thinking primarily about the final presentation—publishing web pages, mobile 

applications or brochures—an information-centric approach focuses on ensuring our 

data and content are accurate, available and secure. We must treat all content as 

data—turning any unstructured content into structured data—then ensure all structured 

data are associated with valid metadata. Providing information through web APIs helps 

us to architect for interoperability and openness and makes this data freely available for 

public use. 

IT Objective 2: Implement a Shared Platform Approach 

A shared platform approach to developing and delivering digital services and managing 

data not only helps accelerate the adoption of new technologies, but also lowers costs 

and reduces duplication. The FEC will utilize shared solutions and existing infrastructure 

to prevent duplication and ensure that we continue to realize the best return on our IT 

investments. 

IT Objective 3: Implement a Customer-Centric Approach 

A customer-centric model requires us to focus first on the customer’s needs and 

building our systems and processes based on those needs. To accomplish this, we 

must conduct research to understand how and why our customers use our services and 

make content more broadly available and accessible—both by making content available 

on multiple devices and platforms and by ensuring that the information itself is 

presented clearly and in plain language. 

IT Objective 4: Ensure a Platform of Security and Privacy 

10
 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

To support information sharing and collaboration, we must build in security, privacy and 

data protection throughout the entire technology life cycle. We must also adopt new 

solutions, such as continuous monitoring, identity and authentication and credential 

management that support the shift from securing devices to securing the data itself and 

ensuring that data is only shared with authorized users. 

11
 

 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION 

The strategies to accomplish these four IT Strategic Objectives are presented on the following 

pages. 

IT Objective 1: IMPLEMENT AN INFORMATION-CENTRIC APPROACH 

Strategic Activity 1.1: Develop an API Library 

An information-centric approach separates information from its presentation. Instead of 

building a web page specifically to house data or information, an information-centric 

approach asks organizations to put the information itself first, making data available in a 

machine-readable format—a web API—that can be accessed by any number of 

computers in any number of ways. By leveraging the power of the API, organizations 

can create content once and use it everywhere. 

The FEC will create a library of APIs to support the Agency’s campaign finance data 

and information. Building APIs to present the FEC’s information, such as its legal 

resources and web content, will make the FEC’s content fully accessible to the public. 

Creating an API library is a first step in ensuring that campaign finance data is fully 

portable and useful to the public. The FEC’s library of APIs will allow even non-technical 

users of the website direct access to FEC data and information across a range of 

subjects. Creating a library of APIs will also position the FEC to meet OMB’s 

forthcoming requirement that agencies identify at least two major customer-facing 

systems that contain high-value data and content and present this information to 

appropriate audiences through web APIs. 

Strategic Activity 1.2: Implement Paper Automation 

The FEC is committed to providing timely and transparent campaign finance disclosure 

to the public and delivering data in accessible and easy-to-use formats. The FEC will 

implement an automated data capture process to convert paper-filed reports into 

structured, machine-readable data. As the technology supports the ability to automate 

this labor-intensive process, it will decrease data processing time, increase the 

accuracy of data and reduce the overall costs of capturing data from paper forms. In 

addition, the Agency will undertake a microfilm conversion project to transfer all 

remaining microfilm reels of financial reports to images, making this historical campaign 

finance data easily accessible to the public. 

Strategic Activity 1.3: Investigate Creation of a New eFiling Platform 

12
 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

The FEC’s eFiling platform is a crucial component of the Commission’s campaign 

finance disclosure system. During the 2013-2014 election cycle, over 8,000 committees 

and other filers used the eFiling platform to file campaign finance disclosure reports. 

The FEC will study making improvements to its eFiling platform to allow greater 

operating system flexibility for users when generating filings for submission to the FEC 

and increase the consistency and accuracy of reporting. 

A new eFiling platform could, for example, allow users to file reports using any system 

or device, improve data quality, improve the ease of filing, improve the process for 

validating filings prior to acceptance and generate modern file outputs that could 

provide for more flexibility in accessing data. Modernizing the eFiling platform could 

provide for improvements to the overall quality of data reported to the FEC—better data 

validation means better data. Consolidating the delivery of this data within the shared, 

cloud-hosted platform, as described below, could provide for better interoperability with 

the data portion of the website and more efficient use of the Agency’s resources. 

13
 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

IT Objective 2: IMPLEMENT A SHARED PLATFORM APPROACH 

Strategic Activity 2.1: Database Consolidation 

OCIO will study moving applications and databases from a traditional agency-owned 

server hosting model to “light technologies” (e.g. cloud computing). Cloud computing 

involves storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of 

accessing them from a computer's hard drive or a local area network. Cloud computing 

provides infrastructure and services, and a cloud computing provider makes servers, 

storage and Internet bandwidth scalable on-demand. 

The move to a cloud-hosted model provides the Commission with several benefits, 

including scalable infrastructure on-demand. The FEC anticipates certain cost savings 

as a result. The Agency’s Internet traffic is variable, with many more visitors accessing 

the website during election years and near reporting deadlines. In addition to website 

visitors, filers need to access the electronic filing system and Commission staff need to 

access applications, including the website and databases to perform their work-day 

duties. With a cloud-hosted application and database infrastructure, the FEC will only 

need to pay for the actual usage, rather than constantly maintaining the capacity to 

support peak usage, even during periods of reduced usage. Website downtime will be 

minimized and server maintenance will be managed by the cloud computing provider. 

OCIO currently utilizes four data centers to host databases, application servers and the 

Commission's website. As part of OCIO's cloud study, OCIO will determine how best to 

reduce its physical footprint, as some data or applications may be ill-suited to move to 

the cloud. OCIO envisions reducing its number of data centers to one. 

The first step in the database consolidation project will focus on the campaign finance 

database and eFiling platform. Specifically, OCIO plans to consolidate the data 

warehouse and other existing campaign finance databases to reduce redundancy and 

improve processing efficiency. The current campaign finance database consists of three 

distinct but interrelated databases, the Electronic Filing System (EFS), the current 

disclosure database and the data warehouse and their associated processes. The EFS 

and the current disclosure database provide data to www.fec.gov. In the early stages of 

this transition, the data warehouse will provide the reporting and data feed layer 

supporting the 18F website redesign project. Once the transition is complete, the data 

warehouse will support all publicly accessed data sources, such as campaign finance 

search systems and downloadable datasets. Our new strategy for delivering data to the 

public through an API and migrating www.fec.gov to a redesigned website allows for 

changes to both the architecture and processes associated with processing campaign 

finance data. 

OCIO will conduct a study to determine what disclosure processes including web 

services, web applications, eFiling platform and data should be migrated to a cloud 

environment. Pending the results of this study the OCIO envisions, at a minimum, 

14
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

moving an external disclosure database, website application servers and website 

servers to a cloud environment. The integrated campaign finance database will 

combine the best features of our current campaign finance database and the reporting 

functionality of the current data warehouse. 

Strategic Activity 2.2: Transition Office Productivity Tools to Cloud Environment 

OCIO will migrate the FEC’s current office productivity tools, such as email, to a cloud 

environment and enhance the set of office productivity tools available to Commission 

staff. The new office productivity tools will be deployed to Commission staff in three 

phases to avoid large-scale disruptions in staff members’ work. Because they will be 

cloud-hosted, these office productivity tools will, by necessity, be National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST) compliant. The new tools will provide collaborative 

features for email management, document sharing and application access. By 

switching to cloud-hosted office productivity tools, the FEC will save money by 

eliminating the yearly costs for server and software maintenance, as well as 

the resources required to keep multiple servers updated, patched and backed up. 

Strategic Activity 2.3: Implement Open Source Content Management System for 

FEC Website 

The FEC will implement a Content Management System (CMS) that is open source to 

ensure code sharing and modular development in the future. Implementing a robust, 

open source CMS will help to ensure that the FEC can continue to update and share 

information on the site using a standardized, reproducible and efficient shared process. 

Strategic Activity 2.4: Enhance FEC's Administrative Functions via Federal 

Shared Services 

The FEC is committed to achieving an organizational excellence in its operations and 

administrative functions. With increased focus on the FEC's primary missions, OCIO 

continues to explore avenues for maintaining operational efficiencies at a reasonable 

cost. The Federal Shared Services program supported by OMB, CIO Council and GSA's 

Office of Government Wide Policy offers this opportunity. 

Currently, the FEC partners with USDA as a provider for payroll and financial 

management. OCIO will analyze current services, develop a roadmap for implementing 

additional services, and assess agency readiness for an expansion of shared services. 

15
FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

In expanding its federal shared services portfolio, the FEC will consider services that 

achieve the following goals: 

• Reduce data duplication across business units; 

• Ease the adoption of new government wide requirements; 

• Enhance the continuity of service for administrative functions; 

• Reduce the infrastructure "data center" footprint; 

• Improve business processes and data standards; 

• Increase access to information for decision makers; and 

• Share the cost of providing technology in a secure environment. 

16
 

 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

IT Objective 3: IMPLEMENT A CUSTOMER-CENTRIC APPROACH 

Strategic Activity 3.1: Redesign FEC Website to Meet Customer Needs 

T , to ensure robust public 

access to campaign finance information and data. The new website will respond to 

needs articulated by our public users, and we will measure our success in creating a 

user-centered site through extensive usability testing performed at each stage of 

development. 

he FEC will complete the redesign of its website, www.fec.gov

In October 2014, the Commission entered into a partnership with 18F—a digital 

services delivery team in the General Services Administration—to redesign the FEC’s 

website. 18F was created within the GSA in March 2014 to simplify the government’s 

digital services. 18F directly supports the President’s Cross Agency Priority Goal to 

provide smarter IT delivery throughout government by eliminating barriers and creating 

new incentives to enable the federal government to procure, build and provide worldclass, cost-effective IT delivery for its citizens and hold agencies accountable to modern 

IT development and customer service standards. 

18F relies on an agile development model to ensure a user-centric approach. 

Development methodologies that are central to 18F's way of building government 

services include user-centered design, open source development, agile development 

and an API first strategy. 

• User-centered design: Projects begin by researching user and stakeholder needs 

and often include collaborative design workshops. 18F also tests prototypes 

frequently for their usability by asking real users for feedback. 

• Agile Development: Cross-functional teams deliver an initial prototype as soon as 

it meets baseline standards (often referred to as a "minimum viable product" or 

MVP). The team then iterates based on user feedback and usability testing to 

release frequent updates and improvements. 18F describes their work in stages: 

discovery, alpha, beta and live. 

• Open source: 18F prioritizes developing its work in the open, and open source 

software allows for better product customization, advances interoperability 

between tools and improves the overall quality and security of the final product. 

• API first strategy: An API allows systems to communicate and share data. By 

building a robust, public API first, the project has more flexibility to build various 

web services on top of a strong foundation. It is a more scalable, nimble 

approach to system development. 

17
 

 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

IT Objective 4: IMPLEMENT A PLATFORM OF SECURITY AND PRIVACY 

Strategic Activity 4.1: Adopt the NIST Cyber Security Framework (CSF) 

FEC has recognized that perfect security is not feasible; it is a continuing process of 

detecting risks, process improvements and hardening defenses. For that reason, the 

benchmark of the FEC’s approach to cybersecurity has always been practicability and 

continuous improvement. Our cybersecurity strategy outlines an approach of securing 

our infrastructure and preventing intrusions through a holistic cybersecurity program led 

by the chief Information Security Officer (CISO). The strategy implements leading 

practices for a comprehensive cybersecurity from the National Institute for Standards 

and Technology’s (NIST) Cyber Security Framework (CSF) and industries’ best 

practices. 

The CSF functions provide a common language regarding cybersecurity issues that can 

help facilitate important discussions between different organizations. Therefore, 

adopting the NIST CSF will encourage effective collaboration and communication with 

FEC leadership and partner agencies and industries. FEC’s cybersecurity strategy 

strives to mature the five functions of the NIST CSF: 

Identify: This function seeks to develop our deep understanding to manage 

cybersecurity risk to systems, assets, data, and capabilities. The project in this 

function are foundational for effective use of the framework. Understanding the 

business context, the resources that support critical functions, and the related 

cybersecurity risks will enable the OCIO to focus and prioritize our efforts. This 

action will be consistent with the organization’s risk management action plans 

and business objectives. 

Protect: This function seeks to help the team develop and implement the 

appropriate safeguards to ensure delivery of critical infrastructure services. This 

function supports the ability to limit or contain the impact of a potential 

cybersecurity event. 

Detect: This function seeks to develop and implement the appropriate activities 

to identify occurrence of a cybersecurity event. This will enable the OCIO timely 

discovery of cybersecurity event. 

Respond: This function seeks to develop and implement the appropriate 

activities to take action regarding a detected cybersecurity event. The respond 

function supports the ability to contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity 

event. 

Recover: This function seeks to develop and implement the appropriate activities 

to maintain plans for resilience and to restore any capabilities or services that 

18
 

 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

were impaired due to a cybersecurity event. The recover function supports timely 

recovery to normal operations to reduce the impact from a cybersecurity event. 

Strategic Activity 4.2: Robust Security Architecture 

The goal of the OCIO is to define a robust, innovative and holistic security architecture 

that mitigates modern threats. In partnership with the Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Pacific Northwest National 

Laboratory, the OCIO will collaborate with FEC stakeholders and technical experts to 

identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover from the impact of known and unknown 

potential threats. We will continuously assess security controls and address the 

remaining residual risks. 

Through a rigorous assessment and authorization methods and programs such as the 

federal Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program and Cyber.gov, the 

OCIO will continue to mature its cybersecurity program and security architecture to 

safeguard FEC’s infrastructure, networks, and applications against cyber threats and 

malicious activities. 

Following the NIST guidelines and considering the Commission’s own prioritization and 

resources, the first wave of projects primarily focuses on the “Protect” function to hinder 

threat actors from gaining access to the FEC’s IT assets and data. The initial project 

includes strengthening our perimeter defenses using Software Defined perimeter (SDP) 

and protecting our users from inadvertently infecting their systems by using a robust 

end-point security solution. 

SDP will ensure that anyone attempting to access the FEC infrastructure are 

authenticated and authorized at the perimeter prior to being able to access any 

resources on the network. Finally, the FEC will seek to implement the most advanced 

endpoint security solution to combat zero-day attacks, enabling users to click on 

virtually anything without risk of compromise. 

Strategic Activity 4.3: Leverage Cloud First Initiative for Security, Accessibility 

and Recoverability. 

The OCIO will strive to achieve the right balance between security, agility and 

transparency. Leveraging cloud computing allows FEC to take advantage of cost 

savings and cloud service providers’ significant resources dedicated to maintaining the 

highest level of security. Hosting our information, data and systems in the cloud will 

provide a platform of security and privacy, allowing the FEC to better leverage 

government and industries best practices. Adopting cloud first initiative will ultimately 

result in the consolidation and the modernization of all FEC’s application and systems. 

The OCIO will leverage cloud service providers for their robust disaster recovery 

solutions, reducing the FEC’s overall cost while eliminating the need to maintain a 

physical disaster recover sites. 

19
 

FEC Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2017-2021 

Strategic Activity 4.4: Build a Cybersecurity Culture

For this comprehensive cybersecurity strategy to be successful, the OCIO will partner 

with federal agencies and industry leaders to leverage best practices for our IT 

workforce. The first line of defense in maintaining the protection and integrity of the 

agency’s network is the ongoing education of employees about their role in identifying 

and preventing malicious activities. The OCIO’s main target will be recruiting and 

training talent with cybersecurity expertise. 

IT Strategic Plan Governance 

This IT Strategic Plan is a living document which will be reviewed annually and modified to 

reflect progress and updates, including changes in alignment with FEC objectives and to the 

business strategy. 

CRITICAL FACTOR INFLUENCING SUCCESS 

In order to achieve success in our strategic plan we will need to have available resources and 

funding approved by the Commission. 

20