White House Surveys Workers On IT NeedsWhite House Surveys Workers On IT Needs

Obama's Tech Tools

The White House is seeking guidance from federal employees about agencies' IT needs, with the goal of helping the Obama administration implement reform across its IT operations.

Workers are being asked to participate in the 2011 IT Workforce Capability Assessment (ITWCA) Survey, an anonymous online questionnaire that the government will use to make future decisions about IT investments, according to a blog post on CIO.gov.

The survey -- developed by the Federal CIO Council and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) -- is available online until Feb. 25 and is aimed at gathering information about the current state of the federal workforce.

The results of the survey will help federal CIOs and human resources managers identify where the gaps are in terms of IT capabilities, skills, and resources within the federal workforce, according a memo about the survey issued by U.S. CIO Vivek Kundra.

"The Federal Information Technology (IT) Workforce plays a critical role in ensuring that agencies can harness the best technology to fulfill their mission needs," he said in the memo. "Growing this expertise is a priority for this administration as we work to improve the ability of the federal government to use and manage IT."

The White House plans to use survey findings to achieve a 25-point implementation plan Kundra revealed in early December for achieving federal IT reform. In the memo, Kundra encouraged employees to take the survey so they could use results to work with their managers to help achieve long-term career goals.

Employees also can help agencies plan for the future and identify where the IT expertise is in the federal workforce by completing the assessment, he said.