ML20236K522
| ML20236K522 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/04/1987 |
| From: | NRC |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20236K518 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-87-459 NUDOCS 8708070150 | |
| Download: ML20236K522 (32) | |
Text
- __ _ _ _ _ _
- o UNITED STATES 8 1 ' NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
{ ; ,E W ASHINGTON, D. C. 20656 1"' . . . g ,/
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
- 1. STRATEGIC OVERVIEW (Appendix A)
- a. Sumary: The program priorities established by the Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), who assumed the Chairmanship on July 1,1986, are these: to do everything feasible, within the context of NRC's regulatory responsibilities and available resources, to assure that current nuclear power plants continue to operate safely; to confirm the quality of plants under construction; and to encourage and emphasize standardization of future reactor-plants. The fundamental mission of the agency is to assure that civilian uses of nuclear materials in the United States--as in the operation of nuclear power plants or in medical, industrial or research applications--are carried out with proper regard and provision for the protection of public health and safety, of the environment, and of the national security. The NRC accomplishes its purposes through the licensing and regulation of nuclear reactor operations and of other possession and use of nuclear materials, including the transport, storage and disposal of nuclear a materials and wastes; the safeguarding of nuclear materials and facilities from a: theft and sabotage; and inspection and enforcement actions, e o Principal among the changes affectin planned uses of information
{'
o m$e technology within the agency was the creation, in FY 1986, of the Office of g6$. Information Resources Management, a watershed event in the agency's long oom QIR 41,
[
O D'>-
history as a pioneer in applying state-of-the-art information technology 459 g to the regulation of civilian nuclear activities. The Office was recently integrated, in FY 1987, into the Office of Administration and Resources
y A-2 Management, the better to wed information resources to the delivery of
. administrative services agency-wide. The explicit goals of the agency's information systems are to provide NRC inanagement with the information needed to manage agency. programs; to. ensure that all data gathered by, or contained in, automated systems is consistent, timely and-accurate; to provide the capability to process and report information efficiently for the most effective results; and to provide the strategic approaches, equipment and software, as well as the organizational structures, to. facilitate achievement of these goals.
The NRC's long-range plans are based lon the principle that infonnation is a corporate asset and a-critical element in carrying out the agency's mission.
The process of managing information as a corporate asset calls for the creation of a Corporate Data Network (CDN). Under the CDN approach, responsibility for both the availability and integrity of data rests with the NRC organizational units responsible for the collection and validation of the data. Data-users will have ready access to the data they need with a minimum of technical knowledge or required training. Data will be managed in a network of subject-oriented data bases in an integrated hardware / software environment, linked by current telecommunications technology. (The CDN process was renamed the Safety Information Network (SINET) in FY 1987, in order to stress primary
)
application in the area of safety-related data bases.)
The key assumptions underlying NRC infonnation programs and policies governing them are these: (1)informationisanorganizationalassetwhich nost be managed and shared; data stewardship, accountability for data management, and responsibility for data accuracy, security and integrity, are essential; (2) the HRC operating budget will stay constant; (3) available intra-agency personne1' resources for information technology will
-___ _ - - _ - _ _--__ - _-- A
A-3 remain constant; users will assume greater responsibility for application system development and modification; (4) increasingly diversified, user-oriented software and low-cost equipment will stimulate a steadily increasing spread of expertice and capability for automation of NRC program functions throughout the agency; (5) larger allocations of resources will be needed to support the increasingly sophisticated software needed by both users and information managers; (6) the general public will continue to demand improvements in the delivery of government services and increased access to government information; (7) NRC users will continue to demand improvement in the delivery of information services; and (8) the NRC Headquarters staff in the Washington, D.C. area will be relocated and consolidated within the next five years.
- b. Accomplishments and Initiatives: Information systems containing and 1
i communicating safety-related information are given first priority in commitment of resources. Several important applications were being developed or expanded in FY 1986. These include: the Safety Issues Management System (SIMS), the Executive Information System, the Operator Licensing Tracking System, and the Operations Center Information Management System.
The Safety Issues Management System (SIMS), which was placed in operation in May 1986, will be expanded to provide infonnation in the agency-wide management of power reactor and fuel cycle plant safety issues, from their inception through the implementation of requirements by licensees and verification by the NRC.
The NRC Safety Information Network will collect health and safety information concerning licencees regulated by the NRC in a centralized data base. !t wi'll provide a variety of software tools which will permit users
A-4 at Headquarters and in the NRC Regions to obtain instant access to these data.
The Operator Licensing Tracking System and the Operations Center Information ManagementSystem(IMS)alsocontainsafety-relateddataandareunderactive development.
Major administrative systems under active development in FY 1986 included the Executive Information System, the FBI Criminal History Check, and the new Work Item Tracking System. The Executive Information System is an extension of ;
a pilot program requested by the by the Chairman to improve scheduling of events, correspondence management, and vote tracking. The criminal history check derives from the NRC's legal obligation to assist the FBI in processing fingerprints of individuals who seek the right to unescorted access at nuclear power plants. The fingerprints are submitted by NRC licensees to the NRC, which in turn submits them to the FBI for checking. The automated system will track the progress and status of each submission.
In the area of document control and retrieval, major efforts include the Document Control System, the Public Document Room Bibliographic and Retrieval System, the Waste Management Transitional Licensing Support System (TLSS), the Congressional Correspondence Retrieval System,'and the ASLBP (Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel) Pilot Project. A single achievement was the recent development, under TLSS, of a system allowing the user to search millions of words of text and retrieve the original image of a document, including graphics, from a disk encoded through use of an optical character reader.
)
Other noteworthy initiatives include a demonstration project exploring uses of optical disk technology for gathering data inside an operating nuclear power plant (the Davis-Besse Demonstration Project) and several telecommunications projects involving both intra-agency and agency-power plant communication.
i
List of Major Information Systems (Appendix B)
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR R'dGULATORY COMMISSION Health and Safety-Related Information Systems System name: Safety Issues Management System.
Status code: [NC]
Purpose and relationship to mission: This system supports the NRC mission of assuring that reactor and fuel cycle licensees implement NRC requirements and do so in an acceptable way.
l System name: Safety Information Network.
S_tatus code: [N]
Purpose and relationship to mission: The network will support the NRC mission of monitoring health and safety information so as to identify possible need for licensing or regulatory action, and will do so through a centralized data base.
System name: Operator Licensing Tracking System.
Status code: [C]
Purpose and relationship to mission: The system was developed to assist in the tracking of reactor-operator applications and licenses and serves a number of purposes relatec' to occupational health as well as operator qualification. Twenty-eight potential improvements, identified and prioritized in FY 1986, are to be effected in FY 1987.
B-2 i
System name: Operations Center Information Management System.
Status code: [N]
Purpose and relationship to mission: The NRC Operations Center is a fully equipped facility maintained at all times in readiness to be activated in response to an incident or accident. In such a circumstance, the Center ;
serves as the NRC lieadquarters command post, a clearing-house for receiving and sharing information, for making decisions and issuing directives. This system provides the hardware, software, and procedures to integrate the various technical and administrative functions of the Center. Development and testing 1 of the system are scheduled during FY 1987.
r Administrative Information Systems System name: Executive Information System.
Status Code: {C]
Purpose and relationship to mission: The system is designed to improve the scheduling of events, management of correspondence, and tracking of voting records at the Commission level. In FY 1987, portions of the system are to be converted from the IBM Tampa facility to the Department of Justice computer system, to reduce operating costs.
B-3 I
System name: FBI Criminal History Check.
Status code: [N]
Purpose and relationship to mission: As one of its reactor-safety responsibilities, the NRC is required to regulate safeguards measures taken to prevent theft of materials from or sabotage to licenced nuclear power plants. This task entails an FBI fingerprint check of personnel to be accorded unescorted access to vital areas of the plant. The system permits the NRC to track the progress and status of fingerprints sul.mitted by the NRC to the FBI for this criminal history check.
Document Retrieval Systems System name: Document Control System.
Status code: [C]
Purpose end relationship to mission: The system is the agency's central system for the processing, storage, dissemination and retrieval of licensing and regulatory documents. During FY 1987, significant changes are being introduced without interruption of basic services; improvements include a full-text search and retrieval capability, software modifications to allow downloading of system oata to microcomputers for individual search and report functions.
I
B-4 System name: Public Document Room.
Status ;ade: [NC]
Purpose and relationship to mission: Through the NRC's principal Public Document Room (PDR) in downtown Washington, D.C., the agency makes very .
extensive information (about 1.4 million documents) on commercial nuclear facilities available to the public. The PDR provides retrieval services through its own computer and receives computer tapes and microfiche copies of document from the Document Control System (above).
System name: Waste Management Transitional Licensing Support System.
Status code: [NC]
Purpose and relationship to mission: Under the Waste Policy Act of 1982, the NRC has been given certain regulatory responsibilities regarding the high-level waste facility under development by the Department of Energy (DOE).
This system assists NRC technical and legal staff in meeting those responsibilities during the transition to such time as the DOE's Licensing Support System !
becomes operational and adequate to meet NRC's information requirements.
System name: Congressional Correspondence System.
Status code: [N]
Purpose and relationship to mission: Responding to the numerous committees of Congress with nuclear oversight responsibilities is a basic agency obligation. About 500 letters of inquiry are received each year, eliciting about 3,500 pages of responses. This new system will comprise all
E l B-5 correspondence from 1984 to the present to quickly provide a history of past
- c. correspondence on a given subject, improving response time and consistency.
Technology Improvement and Demonstration Projects I
System name: Power Plant Demonstration Project.
Status code: [N] s 1 Purpose and relationship to mission: The project seeks to demonstrate I I
application of the CD-ROM technology (see previous item) to a specific problem, namely, documentation of conditions and records in a licensed nuclear power plant (the Davis-Besse plant in Ohio). The technology would provide full text retrievability, via microcomputer, of safety and environmental reports on the plant, "as-built" drawings and other materials, text or graphics.
l
B-6 l
Telecommunications Systems System name: Replacement of emergency communications at nuclear power plants.
Status code: [N]
Purpose and relationship to mission: The project would replace emergency communications with licensed nuclear facilities, to and from the NRC Operations Center (see " Operations Center Information Management System," above). The current system, employing dedicated phone lines, is vulnerable and needs backup alternative means of communications. It is also expensive, costing $2.9 million annually. Studies to be undertaken in FY 1987 will seek to provide the needed alternative means and to reduce the cost of the capability.
System name: NRC Data Communications Network Status code: [N]
Purpose and relationship to mission: This effort is intended to improve the agency's ability to transmit data nation-wide, giving increased support to local area network cabling (see below), Electronic Mail, and the interconnection of the agency's various micro , mini , and mainframe computers.
B-7 System name:_ Broadband and Local Area Network Cabling.
Status code: [N]
Purpose and relationship to mission: These two projects will be undertaken in the NRC's new headquarters building in Rockville, Md., to optimize internal communications capability. The broaaband cable would permit delivery of television signals throughcut the building and could be used for high-speed data transmittal, modem pooling, and internal video teleconferencing. The local area network cabling would permit interconnection of existing IBM 5520 word-processing systems, primarily used for word-processing, and the removal or addition of terminals in seconds. ilt would also accommodate networking of microcomputers. I l
4
2.SIGNIFICANTINFORMATIONTECHNOLOGYINITIATIVES(AppendixC)
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (Note: Programs of this agency were not a part of the "Five-Year Plan ;
for Meeting the Automatic Data Processing and Teleconsnunications 1 Needs of the Federal Government," September 1986; this explains the ;
absence of requested references to changes in plans and milestones set forth in that document.)
- a. SAFETY ISSUES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
Objective: The Safety Issues Management System (SIMS) addresses the basic need of the NRC to effectively manage power reactor safety issues, i.e., identified safety-related problems or concerns, froin their it::eption through to the implementation of corrective measures by licensees and verification thereof by I the NRC. These concerns necessarily engage a number of offices and components of the egency and call for a system with agency-wide scope and access.
Design strategy: The system became operational in May 1986, but it was clear from the outset that its effectiveness would depend directly upon the ability of all users to understand and report SIMS data. This would mean not only a thorough understanding of the data base but of reporting capabilities in the system. To this end, a training program was developed, in conjunction ;
l with the NRC Training Center, to provide the user-community with the needed 1
tools to take full advantage of the information resource. I It was also clear from the start that certain existing intra-office systems devoted to issues management would have to be subsumed under or replaced by the agency-wide facility. Thus the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) l requested that the Office of Information Resources Management (IRM) undertake i an upgrading of its generic issues tracking system and then link it to data 1
l C-2 available in SIMS. The then Office of Inspection and Enforcement requested that SIMS be expar.ded to provide the capacity to identify and to facilitate retrieval of documents needed to track implementation and inspection verification data, with respect to generic issues, on a plant-specific basis. The Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguareis (NMSS) requested that IRM determine the functional and informational requirements, present and future, for an automated system to track the progress of investigative and research tasks associated with accidents at fuel cycle facilities. At the time, NMSS was tracking over 100 tasks to completion using an automated system on personal computers to collect information and generate periodic reports for offices whose support was required to complete the tasks.
At the request of the N.RC Executive Director for Operations, IRH also undertook to review the NRC Regulatory Agency, a quarterly publication, to determine the feasibility of generating the document by means of SIMS.
Summary of Prior Year's Performance: The training of agency personnel on SIMS has been launched with several classes completed at the Training Center.
Reviews of NRR requirements and steps by which to incorporate the existing generic issues tracking system into SIMS were completed and implementation begun. Inspection and enforcement tracking requirements were explored and a system upgrade designed. (Inspection responsibilities have recently been rear. signed to NRR and NMSS, ano enforcement to a newly created office.)
Requirements analysis for the NMSS fuel cycle issue tracking needs was completed and system design, programming, testing, user-training, and system documentation was under way. Analysis of requirements for the production of the NRC Regulatory Agenda quarterly by means of SIMS was completed and the identification of implementing tasks initiated.
Milestones. To be detennined, oending completion of requirements analyses for all egency components dealing with safety issues.
l l
C-3
- b. NRC SAFETY INFORMATION NETWORK.
Objective: The purpose for this initiative was and is to collect health and safety information related to NRC licensees and their operations into a I d
centralized data base, and to provide the software tools that the NRC staff, ;
Headquarters and Regional, will need to obtain instant access to these data, as well as to analyze and display the information in the most relevant, usable mode. The objective is to assure that the NRC perfonns its basic mission--
protecting public health and safety by assuring adequate safety in civilian nuclear operations--in the most infonned, coordinated, efficient and effective way.
Design strategy: Over a period of two years, the information resources staff set out to identify the data requirements of each office in the NRC, to analyze existing computer systems and their data content, to define the data bases needed to adequately support the conduct of NRC business, and to propose an approach to converting existing systems, in their widely dispersed computers, into a single computer system, employing state-of-the-art software tools. This work is done.
Following the modelling phase, a pilot data base was designed and installed, comprising data related to both " units" and " events." This experience demonstrated the usefulness of shared data bases, which is the conceptual essence of the safety information network. Agency management endorsed the concept of centralized data bases by ratifying the award of a three-year ADP Systems Development Data contract in December 1986.
Summary of prior year's performance: Following completion of the pilot program, the information resources staff developed a Request for Proposal for the development of the centralized data bases. A fourth-generation software product was selected and installed for NRC use at the Department of Justice
C-4 computer center. As a first application, the pilot data base encompassing units and events was installed. Identification of other health and safety information which belongs in the safety information network is continuing.
Planning for assuring access to thest data from various Headquarters l locations, the Regional Offices and by Resident Inspectors is under way.
Milestones: Two technical data bases (events and units) developed from existing systems by 08/87.
I
l C-5 c.WASTEMANAGEMENTTRANSITIONALLICENSINGSUPPORTSYSTEL Objective: Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), the NRC is charged with extensive regulatory and licensing duties related to development, by the Department of Energy, of high-level nuclear waste disposal facilities.
This massive and unprecedented project in assuring control of the nuclear fuel cycle well into the future imposed a regulatory burden ,nvolving very complex and voluminous in7ormation collection and retrieval capability. The Waste Management Transitional Licensing Support System (TLSS) is transitional in that it looks to furnish document location and retrieval to assist NRC technical and legal staffs only until such time as the DOE's licensing support system can fulfill these needs and requirements. The TLSS was intended to provide these staffs with full search and retrieval capability and to demonstrate the capture, dissemination and retrieval of original document images (including signatures, photos, maps, illustrations, glosses, etc.) in a cost-effective storage medium. The TLSS would allow this access to complete original text and images to staff personnel throughout the agency, to affected States and Indian Tribes, and through local NRC Public Document Rooms.
Design strategy: In FY 1985, the Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) requested that a pilot program be instituted to evaluate automated technologies then available for prospective application in meeting the requirements and anticipated information-gathering tasks associated with NWPA. The program was undertaken with a view to potential agency-wide applications. It was designed to test manifold capabilities, including: the ability to transfer documents directly from the IBM 5520 to the IBM Information Network, for future access; an assessment of the possible use of optical readers to enter incoming documents into the IBM Information Network for future processing; an evaluation of the potential for storing full text, searching full text and
i-l j C-6
- retrieving by key words or phrases, using boolean logic; an appraisal of a system
! for storing and searching images by means of _ advanced scanning and laser disk technology; and establishment of an open-item tracking system with on-line access-and report generation features.
Summary of prior year's performance: The pilot program was completed in December 1986, and TLSS was put in place. The current plan calls for TLSS to provide interim ongoing support to NMSS and the Office of the General Counsel in meeting NWPA requirements until the " Negotiated Rulemaking on the Submittal and Management of High-level Waste Licensing Records and Documents" is completed and the DOE's Licensing Support System is available to meet NRC's requirements.
It is also considered that TLSS will provide an excellent test: environment for evaluation of CD-ROM (compact disc-read only memory) and laser disk information l management technologies.
Milestones: Procure and install first group of 20 TLSS terminals and multi-disk by 09/87; Implement standard operating procedures for TLSS by 01/88; Procure and install second group of 20 TLSS terminals by 09/89; Transfer TLSS to DOE's Licensing Support System by 07/90.
I I
__.____-__.2. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
l
(. Appendix D: Owing to the fact that the NRC has recently undergone an extensive reorganization (April 1987), involving the incorporation of the Office of !
Information Resources Management into a new Office of Administration and i
Resources Management, it is not possible to submit a policy assessment in this year's submittal on information systems. As the new Office fonnulates policies and pricing / cost recovery practices--and also gains greater working experience with the systems earlier described and with current Federal information resources policies--these kinds of determinations can be made. The agency's five-year plan is also still under development and is expected to be completed by the end of calendar year 1987. Goals and objectives contained in the plan will constitute the basis for an assessment as to whether Federal information policies and guidelines promote or deter agency initiatives in mission-related information technology.
.,i. .g i
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OFFICE oF MANAGEMENT ANo sVDGET l wAsHNGToN, D C. M03 j March 24, 1987 BULLETIN No. 87-10 TO THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND ESTABLISHMENTS
SUBJECT:
Federal Information Systems and Technology Planning ,
1.. Purpose. This Bulletin provides guidance and instructions to selected agencies for the preparation and submission of information on their strategic plans for information systems and technology.
- 2. Authority. This Bulletin is issued pursuant to the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, as amended; the Budget and Accounting j' Procedures Act of 1950, as amended; and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, as amended.
- 3. Background. OMB Circular No. A-130, " Management of Federal Information Resources," (December 12, 1985), provides that agencies shall "[e]stablish multiyear strategic planning processes for acquiring and operating information technology that meet program and mission needs, reflect budget constraints, and form the basis for their budget request." Such plans are necessary to --
- Improve agency management by providing timely information to support decision-making and to forecast resource and syster, requirements. '
- Support government-wide planning and oversight by providing consistent and complete information concerning major information systems and technology investments.
Planning for information systems and technology in the Federal government has evolved since the enactment of the Pacerwork !
Reduction Act of 1980. Initially, agencies were asked to submit copies of any plans that they had already developed (oMo Bulletin No. 84-9, dated March 27, 1984). Beginning in 1986, the; Pero asked to provide strategic overviews, and to identify ano describe significant information technology initiatives (OMB Bulletin No. 86-12, dated April 14, 1986). The 1986 amendments to the Paperwork Reduction Act, in addition to formalizing the requirement that the government-wide five-year automatic data processing and telecommunications plan be revised annually, require that OMB report annually to the Congress en agency accomplishments, new initiatives, and an assessment of the extent -
to which government-wide policies promote or deter new initiatives to acquire information technology.
(
F- .
~ l
- l. . .
J 2
The information requested by this Bulletin will be used for several purposes --
- To encourage more effective planning by Federal agencies;
- To provide information on Federal information systems and technology Pl ans to the Congress and the public through "A Five-Year Ple.n for Meeting the Automatic Data Processing and 1 Telecommunications Needs of the Federal Government"; .f'
- To provide information for the annual management and I budget review process; and
- To support analysis and development of Federal information resources management policies.
Information submitted shall be consistent with the 1988 Budget.
- 4. Definitions. For purposes of this Bulletin, the following definitions apply:
- a. The term "information resources management" means the planning, budgeting, organizing, direct.ing, training, promoting, controlling, and management activities associated with the burden, cellection, creation, use, and dissemination of information by agencies, and includes the management of information and related resources su'h c as automatic data processing equipment (as such term is defined.in section 111(a) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 759(a)).
- b. The term "information technology" means the hardware and sof tware used in connection with government information, regardless of the technology involved, whether computers, telecommunications, micrographics, or others. For the purposes
' of this Bulletin, automatic data processing and telecommunications activities related to certain critical i national security missions, as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502 (2) and 10 U.S.C. 2315, are excluded. ,
- c. The term " major information system" means an infonnation system that reqaires special continuing management attention because of its importance to an agency mission; its
' high development, operating or maintenance costs; or its significant impact on the administration of agency programs, finances, property, or other resources.
- d. The term "significant information technology initiative" means an agency project that is likely to result in substantial investments to install, automate or modify a major -
information system. ?,/M
(
W 4 wem me-
- me --
3 i The term *significant investments in hardware, information software technology initiative" includes and telec also includes actions that are par,t of the p, communications. lanni'ng stage;.
It e.g.,
feasibility studies of automation alternatives, benefit-cost result in a new major information system or substantialanalys modification to an existing major information system.
e.
The term " strategic planning" means a process of defining agency and activities over missions and identifying a specified period ofagency time. goals, objectives information systems and technology, strategic planning meansWith respect to*
specifying the application of information technology and other information resources to support identified missions and objectives.
- 5. Changes from previous years.
- a. Optional' Electronic Sub paper copies of agency responses, mission. In addition to the submit, agencies are requested to for Appendices A and C only, one single-spaced ASCII version diskette. on a 5-1/4" double-sided double-density soft-sectored
- b. Appendix A.
Agencies are asked to describe accomplishments and~1niti.atives in the improvement of information overview contained in Appendix A. resources management for the past fiscal y
- c. Appendix C.
submit information on significant information technologyThe Bul initiatives but places particular emphasis on priority j iqitia.tives listed in the Information Technology section of Management of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1988. !
- d. Appendix D.
The requirement for detailed responses on specific technology been moved to Appendix D. issues, formerly contained in Appendix A, has Reduction Act as amended, In accordance with the Paperwork i agencies are asked to provide ;
information assessing the extent to which current Federal !
information resources management' policies promote or deter
' initiatives to acquire information technology. Agencies are also asked to comment on compliance with the cost accounting and )
recovery requirement contained in OMB Circular No. A-130. j
- 6. Coverage.
All agencies are required to establish appropriate information technology strategic planning processes.
The following agencies are subject to the reporting requirements of this Bulletin enumerated in paragraph 7.
Department of Agriculture k -
Department of Conserce17/8 Department of Defense t-k
r . 6 g j$ eE -
'm-+. . . - amske*'#* '
- =
m
. e.-
4 Department of Education;
- i. Department of Energy v Department of Health and Human Services Department of Housing and Urban Development Department of the Interior v
! Department of Justice' Department of Labor v Department of State t ,
Department of Transportation Department of the Treasury .
Environmental Protection Agencyt v
General Services A431nistration National Aeronautics and Space Administrations Office of Personnel Management t small Business Administration - -
Veterans Administration /
Federal Emergency Management Agency -
Nationti Science Foundation -
Nuclear Regulatory Commission -
Railroad Retirement Board .
United States Information Agency -
Agency for International Development.
- 7. Action Required. Not later than 10 weeks from the date of issue, each department and agency listed in paragraph 6, above, shall submit the following to OMB in-three paper copies: i
- a. An agency strategic overview in accordance with instructions in Appendix A. This will identify accomplishments ]
in, and planned initiatives for, the improvement of agency information resources management. The overviews will be published in the government-wide Five-Year Plan.
- b. A revised list of major information systems in the format prescribed in Appendix B. Agencies should use the list of major information systems published in A Five-Year Plan for Meeting the Automatic Data Processing and Telecommunications Needs of the Federal Government, Volume I, September 1986, (pages 336 et. seq.).
- c. Descriptions of significant information technology initiatives in accordance with the instructions in Appendix c. ]
These descriptions will be published in the government-wide i Five-Year Plan. ,
- d. Discussions of information technology strategies for specific issues in accordance with the instructions in Appendix D.
l e
b
. . _ . . _ . . . . . . _ _ _ . _ . _ . . . . . . . . ._ . )
. a- e S. Information Contact. Questions regarding a specific agency's submission should be directed to the Desk Officer in OMB's Of fice of Information ar.d Regulatory Affairs who reviews that agency. Questions regarding electronic submission of Appendices A and C should be directed to Bruce McConnell (395-3785). Questions of a more general nature may be directed to Sheri Fox (395-3785).
- 9. Sunset Date. This Bulletin expires March 31, 1988.
k a .
irec t
l l
4
~
o
(
i 9
A.*W
Appendix A Bulletin No. 87-10 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING AGENCY STRATEGIC OVERVIEW General: The purpose of the strategic overview is to describe the program priorities of the head of the agency and to discuss how information technology is being used to meet those priorities. In addition, it seeks to identify specific ways agencies are improving, or are planning to improve, the management of their information resources pursuant to 44 U.S.C.
3514 (a) (9) (A) . This information should not exceed four double-spaced pages, and will be published in the 1987 Five-Year Plan. i content. The strateg'ic overview is a narrative with two individual sections captioned as indicated below:
- Summary. Describe the agency's program priorities and explain how agency plans for information systems and technology will support those priorities over the next five years. Discuss major changes the agency has made in FY 1986 in its planning for information technology resources and any anticipated changes it will make in the next five years. Explain the assumptions the agency is making about changes in its programs and the policies governing them.
- Accomplishments and Initiatives. For FY 1986, describe specific accomplishments in the improvement of, and planned general management initiatives to improve, information resources management in the agency (in addition to the specific significant technology initiatives described under Appendix C). Relate these accomplishments and initiatives to the agency's program priorities. Discuss the scope of the accomplishment or initiative, i.e. shether the effects were or are agency-wide or bureau or system-specific, any reduction of burden on the public, and any quantitative measures of improved efficiency in the collection, creation, use or dissemination of information. Discuss associated milestones and time frames, where applicable.
4 e
9
, . 6 Format. (sample)
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT (bold, uppercase) 1.
from STRATEGIC left margin)OVERVIEW (bold, uppercase) (begin title five spaces l a. Summary:
- b. Accomplishments and Initiatives: __
General Requirements Text on one side of sh et only Double-space text Paginate text These General Requirements also apply to the format in Appendix C.
i i
i
_-- ____ - - - l
ee .
Appendix B Bulletin No. 87-10 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING LIST OF MAJOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS For each major information system provide the following information:
AGENCY NAME BUREAU HAME (if applicable)
System name: Short descriptive title. Spell out all acronyms.
Status code.* ,
Purpose and relationship to mission: What mission or program does the system support? Not required for systems being deleted.
- Identify each entry as (N) new, [C] change or correction, (D) delete or (NC) no change from 1986 inventory. Please refer to Section V, Inventory of Major Federal Information Systems, in Volume I of the 1986 Five Year Plan.
,e .
Appendix C Bulletin No. 87-10 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING AGENCY DESCRIPTIONS OF SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES General: These initiatives describe significant actions underway or ple.nned by the agency to acquire information technology to improve the agency's information resources management. These actions should relate to the building or modification of major information systems of the agency. This section should include those initiatives designated as Presidential Priority and Future Priority in the Information Technology section of the Management of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1988, as well as all other actions that meet the requirements of the definition of "significant information technology initiative" contained in the Bulletin. These inc1 impact major systems,,ude e.g., actions that have a feasibility the to study potential determine to whether new technologies could affect a major agency program.
Information provided shall be consistent with the 1988 Budget, content. Each initiative description must contain all of the following elements, except as indicated, and should not exceed two double-spaced pages in length, except for descriptions of Presidential Priority initiatives, which should be more extensive' and detailed than those for other initiatives and may be up to
'four double-spaced pages long. Each description should be in a form suitable for publication in the Five-Year Plan, i.e., it should be written in complete sentences and avoid the use of organizational or technical jargon.
- Agency / bureau name.
- System name. In most cases this should be the' name of a major information system in the agency's current inventory.
- Obiective. This section should answer the question: "What is the problem to be solved?" This statement should be about program needs, not information technology. Explain the initiative's objectives and how the initiative is consistent with the agency head's priorities outlined in the agency's strategic overview (Appendix A). Descriptions should be quantitative and provide measures of program size such as population served or cases handled, as well as how the proposed initiative will change system performance. These estimates should give the reviewer a sense of the magnitude of the program and potential impact of the initiative.
. i
- Design Strategy. This section should discuss how the agency intends to resolve the problem addressed in the section above and discuss the system configuration as appropriate.
(
- - _ _ - _ - _ _ _ - _ _ - _ - - - _ - - - - - - - i
, y
- Summary of Prior Year's Performance. This section must be provided fo'r all Presidential Priority systems and, if applicable, for other systems. Discuss major activities accomplished, including adherence to established milestones and completion dates. Relate these accomplishments to achievement of I system objectives. Discuss whether system implementation is proceeding according to schedule. Explain any changes from the descriptions contained in the 1986 Five-Year Plan in objectives, strategy or schedule.
- Milestones. Describe key project deliverables with a date (month and year) for each. This section must contain at least one future deliverable. In some cases, it may be appropriate to include only one milestone; e.g., the completion of a study on .
which further discussion is to be based. Where future actions I are contingent on unknowns; e.g., a demonstration of technical feasibility, the schedule should so note.
s I
O l
Format. (sample)
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT (bold, uppercase)
)
- 2. SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES (bold, uppercase)
Bureau Name (bold)
- a. system Name (bold) objective:
Design Strategy:
Summary of Prior Year's Performance: !
Milestenes: ; I Milestone M0/YR l
- b. System Name For General Requirements, see format in Appendix 'A.
e
- 4 e
i l
J
\ .
/
- en* o l I Appendix D Bulletin No. 87-10 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING INFORMATION ON SPECIFIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOIDGY ISSUES General: The Office of Management and Budget has identified several information systems and technology issues that are likely to have significant effects on agency programs or to create important opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness in program delivery. OMB will use agency responses to determine whether policy changes or additional guidance in these areas would increase the efficient and effective management of information resources. . Several issues included in previous bulletins are not included this year, including telecommunications,.end-user computing, and electronic information collection and dissemination, because asking agencies for more experiential, data would not be useful at this time.
- 1. Policy Assessment Pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 3514 (a)(9) (C), OMB will be analyzing the extent to which current Federal information resources management policies, principles, standards, and guidelines, promote or deter initiatives to acquire information technology to improve information resources management within agencies.
Discuss how these policies, principles, standards and guidelines are enhancing or hindering the significant initiatives listed in the agency response to Appendix C of this Bulletin. To the extent that they apply specifically to the listed initiatives, agencies should comment on the following areas:
- a. Agencies may have identified approaches to ' complex I information resources management coordination of responsibilities problems (such as across bureaus in the large procurement, the establishment of agency-wide project management standards, etc.) that are unusually successful or innovative.
Give specific examples of how Federal information re' sources management policies and procedures influenced the design of these approaches.
- b. Agencies may have encountered regulatory or other impediments contained in Federal policies and procedures in the course of pursuing the listed initiatives. Give specific examples.
- c. Suggest specific chandes to existing policies (e.g.,
consolidation and rationalization of conflicting rules, reduction in documentation or reporting requirements, delegations of management authority, changes in management structure, etc.) that
'would improve agency information resources management. Indicate
( specifically how the proposed change would affect the listed initiatives. -
l
- 2. software Modernization.
Agencies should discuss their progress in reducing obligations incurred for maintaining software. The goal stated in the FY 1986 report on Management of the United States Government was a 25 percent reduction in software maintenance ,
obligations government-wide over three years. Agencies should I update their estimates of obligations incurred for maintaining '
software that was operational in FY 1986 in the following format:
(1) (2) 3) (4)
System Year Lines (of code Maintenance obligations Name Implemented '(thousands) FY86 FY87 FY88 FY89 List individually all major information systems that are fully or partially automated and the software component of which contains more than 500 thousand lines of code or requires obligations of more than $500,000 per year to naintain. Aggregate all other major information systems under "other".
In addition, for each system listed that was installed prior to 1978, either describe specific plans and timetables for reengineering or replacing the system, or provide an explanation i
of why continuing to maintain the system is justified,
- 3. Cost Accounting and Recovery OMB Circular No. A-130 provides that agencies shall account for the full costs of operating information technology facilities and recover such costs from government users. The purposes of this initiative were to minimize the cost and maximize the usefulness of government information activities.
Agencies should describe their current policies and procedures to ensure compliance with this requirement, as it applies to both intra-agency and inter-agency users. Specific areas to be covered include the following: *
- a. Cost Accounting. Describe how the agency accounts for the full cost of the operation of the information technology facility. Describe the system the agency has established to meet this requirement.
- b. Distribution of charges. Describe how the agency distributes the full cost of providing services to all users.
Describe the system the agency has established to bill users for services provided. Describe any arrangements the agency has made.
for distributing the full costs of dedicated services and equipment or unique software to relevant users.
l.
~ ~
l_ _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ - _ - _ _ _ _ _- - - _ _ . - _ _ - _ _ - - - - - - - - _ - - - - - - - -- -
I
- c. Pricing. Describe the elements involved in pricing services provided to users and how the pricing strategy ensures the equitable distribution of costs among all users.
- d. Cost Recovery. Describe the procedures the agency has established to recover or collect full costs from all Federal !
users, including both intra-agency and inter-agency users.
Describe how successful the agency has been in implementing this policy.
- e. Management control. Describe the procedure the agency has established for the selection of facilities to support new applications. Describe any impediments that prevent users within the agency from seeking alternative, non-internal services.
- f. Date of Implementation. The effective date of implementation of this provision is the beginning of FY 1987.
Describe what plans the agency has made to implement these procedures if they are not already in place. Describe any impediments that exist' to prevent the agency from establishing the cost accounting, user cost distribution, cost recovery or management control systems required by Circular No. A-130.
- g. Accomplishment of Goals. Based on the agency's initial experience with implementation of this provision, describe how well the agency is meeting the provision's intended goals as I enumerated in Circular A-130. ,
9 e
9 4
- 4 l .
l L.
is imm
_ ________ ___ _ _-_ _______ ____ ______