Dave Powner: FITARA Scorecard Helps Elevate CIO Role

Dave Powner, a 16-year Government Accountability Office veteran, told FedTech in an interview published Tuesday that the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard has provided agency chief information officers authority to oversee IT modernization and security efforts.

“We have plenty of acquisitions that have failed, we have plenty of operations that need to improve, and I think elevating that position and making it a real CIO position at more and more agencies is extremely important,” said Powner, former director of IT management issues at GAO.

Powner, who joined Mitre in August, noted that the adoption of “incremental development” to speed up software deployment efforts is one of the key changes he has seen among agencies.

He talked about the benefits of cloud computing and the transition toward procurement to the federal government as well as the role of the FITARA scorecard.

“And if you give someone a D or an F, there seems to be more action than you’d get from a recommendation,” he added.