The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General has issued a new report that largely slams USCIS for it’s inability to successfully modernize its technology infrastructure. I’ve been highly critical of the disastrous USCIS web site upgrade that recently took place with virtually no customer input.
Now the OIG report indicates that USCIS’ IT folks have a serious institutional problem of not getting feedback from the agency’s customers. Is this any surprise from this most Soviet of US government agencies?
USCIS expects that its plans for increasing user involvement in transformation activities will reverse problems with limited awareness and commitment to transformation objectives.
Without adequate input or participation from a range of users, USCIS may develop transformation solutions that may not meet user needs.
As a result of its lack of participation, OCIO [Office of the Chief Information Officer] awareness and commitment to business transformation has waned. The OCIO has not been consistently involved over the past year as the initial IT modernization program shifted to a more business-driven effort. The prior CIO who began the previous IT modernization was not involved in business transformation. OCIO has had only one full-time representative involved in transformation activities: A detailee from a field location, assigned to the Technology Solution Team. This team had limited involvement in transformation from the outset, as the requirements it needed to support its systems design activities had not been gathered. The team ultimately lost resources and discontinued its work due to funding cuts. Additional OCIO involvement in transformation generally has been limited to IT project managers working on related efforts, such as infrastructure upgrades and data integration. Since joining USCIS in June 2006, the new CIO has taken steps to assist with transformation activities, such as enterprise architecture planning and technical systems design; however, the role that this official ultimately will play in transformation has not been determined.
This recommendation will remain open until USCIS makes additional progress in ensuring representation and participation of users at various levels.