Do not Exempt DoD from the Clinger-Cohen Act, Modernize Federal IT Management Instead

Abstract

The Section 809 panel caused quite a hubbub with its recommendation to exempt the Defense Department from the Clinger-Cohen Act the seminal technology management law from 1996. The panelists highlighted that the bill Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed into law aimed to address how agencies plan, manage and oversaw long, complex IT programs, which was the norm in the 1990s. The panel said the problem is the Pentagon now needs to move more quickly to get capabilities to the warfighter in order to keep up with China, Russia and other nation-state competitors and Clinger-Cohen is shackling DoD with 25-year-old requirements that do not fit the modern technology approaches.