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Insights Data and Information as Strategic Assets: Insights from Dr. Simon Szykman, Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Commerce By Michael J. Keegan The federal government invests billions on information technology each year to help agencies accomplish their missions. IT enables federal agencies to do this more effectively and efficiently. Yet fully exploiting the potential has presented long-standing challenges. Many federal agency CIOs are responding to these challenges by focusing on the enterprise and coordinating across boundaries. The U.S. Department of Commerce is one example. Commerce’s leadership has successfully tackled one of the most significant challenges facing senior IT leadership—the requirement for greater empowerment of decision-making to drive efficiencies and improve effectiveness of IT. What is the information technology strategy of the U.S. Department of Commerce? How has Commerce changed the way it does IT? Dr. Simon Szykman, Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Commerce, shares his insights on these topics and more. The following is an edited excerpt of our discussion on The Business of Government Hour. What are the responsibilities and duties of the chief information officer at the U.S. Department of Commerce? Dr. Simon Szykman: The Department of Commerce has a dozen bureaus pursuing missions relating to commerce. In this federated IT model, my role is principally to provide strategic direction and leadership on a variety of initiatives (including cost savings and shared services) that have department-wide relevance. I develop policy guidance and conduct oversight for IT investments within the department. Unlike some CIOs, I do not manage the operational IT infrastructure across the entire department. Those activities are typically done at the bureau level. I have two deputy chief information officers. One is focused on management and business operations, while the other serves as our chief technology officer. We also have a chief information security officer, who is responsible for cybersecurity policy, compliance, strategy, and providing direction for cybersecurity across the department. Given the department’s federated IT business model, what are the top challenges you face and how have you sought to address them? Dr. Simon Szykman: My number one challenge is cybersecurity; it has been a weakness for the department for some time. However, we’ve made significant improvements. We still have work to do. The second challenge is working within this fiscal climate and the budgetary pressures we face. We have to identify opportunities for cost savings while maintaining the quality and effectiveness of our services. The third challenge is focused on improving the quality of services we deliver. Commerce views information and technology as strategic assets critical to accomplishing its mission. Would you tell us about your strategic IT vision for the department? Dr. Simon Szykman: Information technology is definitely a strategic asset for the department. This is because many of the department’s missions rely heavily on information and data—from climate modeling and weather prediction, to supporting innovation through the Patent and Trademark Office, to the research that goes on at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. We rely heavily on IT to support our mission components, but IT is the enabler. Our real asset is the information and the data we use in our products. The department has been developing a strategic plan and we’re working to align our IT priorities to support [it]. For example, we have a greater focus on data. As a result, we see the unpublished data we have as an untapped asset. What can we make available that can be used to create new products, new businesses, which can ultimately lead to job creation and help foster economic growth? 52 www.businessofgovernment.org The Business of Government
“ An effective technology leader has the ability to think strategically, articulate a vision, and be a good communicator and consensus builder. Today’s government IT leader needs to be agile, more adaptive in following and anticipating commercial IT trends, and much more customer-focused.” SPRING 2014 IBM Center for The Business of Government 53
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