A New memo From the staff management office, recommended that federal agencies reclaim the position of information director, in what seems to be an attempt to make the technical position much more political than it was before.
More specifically, the new designation would have the information director serve as a “general” employee rather than a “career” employee. General employees, According to OPMCan be completed by a range of people, including “career, non-carrier, limited term or a limited emergency”, named by executive branch. The career reserved positions, on the other hand, are supposed to be impartial and can only be occupied by people appointed by the career.
The memo maintains that CIOs have held more and more based on policies, given their objective on issues such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and automatic learning. The document argues that reclassification of the position could also help increase the potential talent pool for CIOs.
However, this decision seems to focus on the fact that the government more easily installs foreigners – potentially technological industry or those associated with Elon Musk – in the role of the IOC, similar to the pursuit and very controversial activities Directed by the Government Department of Effectiveness.
THE note said: “When a CIO agency makes political choices on which of these subjects to prioritize and finance – and which should be raised or funded – the IOC determines government policy significantly.”
He continued: “But a CIO of the modern agency is not a simple engineer, scientist or technocrat. He does not spend his days writing complex code lines, setting up secure networks or performing other “highly technical” tasks. Instead, he develops and performs a policy, and establishes and deploys his budget, according to the priorities of his administration. »»
This decision echoes President Donald Trump Action to restore Annex FThis makes career civil servants a lot.
In response to the service note, a federal CIO declared to Fedsocop: “There are CIOs of the agency whose immediate priorities, apart from the continuity and security of the essential information systems of the mission, are those of their high political level. With the change of each administration, they assess these priorities and adapt to their activities to ensure their success. »»
The IOC continued: “Meanwhile, there are many CIOs from the agency that have encountered the highest centralization of technical resources to stimulate in -depth cost costs – which seems to be aligned with the current orientation of the ‘administration.”
Any agency with a CIO currently classified as main executive service and appointed as a career reserve is requested by OPM to send an email to rethink this position to the general employee by February 14.