[4] In February 1996, Congress enacted the Clinger–Cohen Act to reform and improve the way Federal agencies acquire and manage IT resources.
While the law is complex, all consumers of hardware and software in the Department should be aware of the chief information officer's leadership in implementing this statute.
[6] The Act assigns the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) responsibility for improving the acquisition, use, and disposal of information technology by the federal government.
The Act supplements the information resources management (IRM) policies contained in the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) by establishing a comprehensive approach to improving the acquisition and management of agency information systems through work process redesign, and by linking planning and investment strategies to the budget process.
This circular incorporated some other memoranda:[7] as well as new material including; This "Information Technology Management Reform Act" was part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996, which is organized in five divisions:[9] This public law was intended to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1996 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe personnel strengths for such fiscal year for the Armed Forces, to reform acquisition laws and information technology management of the Federal Government, and for other purposes.
The following list represents a selection:[9] Other tasks are about the comparison of agency uses of IT, training, Informing Congress, and procurement policies.
OMB's Director is tasked with the following responsibilities:[9] The head of each US Federal executive agency shall comply with several specific matters.