Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996
The Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 is a United States federal law, designed to improve the way the federal government acquires, uses and disposes information technology (IT). It was passed as Division E of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (S. 1124; Pub. L. 104–106 (text) (PDF)). Together with the Federal Acquisition Reform Act of 1996, it is known as the Clinger–Cohen Act.
The Clinger–Cohen Act supplements the information resources management policies by establishing a comprehensive approach for executive agencies to improve the acquisition and management of their information resources, by:
- focusing information resource planning to support their strategic missions;
- implementing a capital planning and investment control process that links to budget formulation and execution; and
- rethinking and restructuring the way they do their work before investing in information systems.
The Act directed the development and maintenance of Information Technology Architectures (ITAs) by federal agencies to maximize the benefits of information technology (IT) within the Government. In subsequent guidance on implementing the Act, the Office of Management and Budget stipulated that agency ITA's "...should be consistent with Federal, agency, and bureau information architectures.." In keeping with this mandate, in 1999 the US Federal CIO Council initiated the Federal Enterprise Architecture, essentially a federal-wide ITA that would "... develop, maintain, and facilitate the implementation of the top-level enterprise architecture for the Federal Enterprise."