Library Of Congress Needs IT Strategy
The Library of Congress has made "tremendous progress" with its information technology infrastructure but in order to remain current and competitive, the facility needs to take several significant steps to evolve, Library Inspector General Karl Schornagel told the House Administration Committee on Wednesday. He recently published a 60-page report that concluded strategic IT planning is not a "unifying force" at the Library nor is it linked to the investment process. The disconnect results in duplicated efforts and acquisitions. In addition to costs incurred for unfunded mandates, he found numerous areas where there were overlaps in support services and systems.
Schornagel also found that the Library's organizational structure of the Library's IT office does not foster strategic planning and good governance; the Library is missing an enterprise architecture program; and its customer service needs improvement. At the hearing, he suggested that the Library migrate to a more cohesive IT strategy, like comparable federal agencies, and recommended that the facility's IT security group be given the ability to implement higher security standards. Chairman Robert Brady cited the increasingly vital role technology plays in Library operations and ranking member Dan Lungren emphasized the criticality of cybersecurity.
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