FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2008
Contact: OMB Communications, 202-395-7254
FY 09 IT Budget Spring Update Reflects Sustained
Commitment to Improved Service Delivery
Washington, DC — Today, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provided an updated release of the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Information Technology (IT) Budget reflecting new information from agencies’ business plans for IT investments. The President’s FY 2009 Budget provides nearly $71 billion in funding for IT investments, an approximately 3.8 percent increase over the FY 2008 Enacted Budget.
“This IT amount is consistent with the President’s commitment to balance the budget, while protecting the homeland and fighting terrorism,” said Karen Evans, Administrator, E-Government and Information Technology. “The budget reflects the investments necessary to improve service delivery and to secure and protect government information while maximizing and spending taxpayer dollars wisely.”
In FY2009, information security spending is proposed for over $6.8 billion, a $2.6 billion or 63 percent increase over $4.2 billion, the fiscal 2004 proposed amount. The increase builds upon existing investments to assist agencies’ abilities to implement important security controls for managing their information systems’ risks. In addition, the President’s request would continue support for E-Gov and Lines of Business initiatives which have demonstrated not only significant cost savings, but significant benefits beyond financial savings through government-wide solutions and the elimination of duplicative systems within agencies. The updated budget information can be found at Budget.gov or (/omb/egov/g-9-budget_highlights.html).
Along with this budget update, OMB today is releasing for the updated FY 2008 High Risk List and the detailed Management Watch List for FY 2009 investments.
FY 2008 (Q2) Management Watch List
As of March 31, 2008, there were 473 major IT investments on the Management Watch List, representing over $25 billion in FY 2009 IT budget requests. The 473 investments are a 19 percent decline from the original Management Watch List of 585 investments announced when the President's Budget was released in February 2008.
FY 2008 (Q2) High Risk List
The High Risk List now includes 489 projects that were determined to be high risk due to different factors, such as complexity, scope or level of importance. These projects represent over $15 billion in FY 2009 IT budget requests. The 489 projects are a 19 percent decline from the original High Risk List of 601 projects announced when the President's Budget was released in February 2008.
Background on the Two Lists
Under the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, agencies are required to submit business plans for IT investments to OMB. If the agency’s investment plan contains planning weaknesses, it’s placed on OMB’s Management Watch List and targeted for follow-up action to correct potential planning deficiencies prior to execution. In August 2005, OMB established a High Risk List for IT projects to complement the Management Watch List which focuses on planning aspects for major investments and performance data to ensure agencies and programs are meeting their intended goals and achieving results. Projects on the High Risk List are those requiring special attention from the highest level of agency management, but aren't projects necessarily “at risk” of failure.###
