FBI Announces Progress Made by the Office of Information Technology Policy and Planning

Washington, D.C. -- The FBI today announced details of progress made in the on-going development of the FBI's enterprise Information Technology (IT) management and governance infrastructure. The FBI's Office of IT Policy and Planning (OIPP) has made important contributions to the success of FBI IT ventures. OIPP is one of four offices under the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and its mission is to optimize FBI IT resources through policy and planning, to provide enterprise guidance for integrating FBI IT strategies and solutions, and to ensure compliance with various governance frameworks.

Led by Acting Assistant Director Sanjeev (Sonny) Bhagowalia, the OIPP has made significant contributions to the FBI's IT program since its official inception in July, 2004. Mr. Bhagowalia began working with Chief Information Officer Zalmai Azmi in January, 2004, to provide assistance with FBI IT policy and planning.

CIO Zalmai Azmi stated: "The OIPP has a dedicated team of technologists and architects who have already delivered milestones in a variety of IT governance and enterprise frameworks. I am confident that they will be able to further guide the FBI's technology transformation with the most appropriate governance solutions and strategic directions."

The OIPP has made progress on a variety of key OCIO initiatives, which include continuing development of a mature Enterprise Architecture (EA) and Strategic Plan, expansion of FBI's already established Life Cycle Management Directive, assurance of successful IT projects through a governance framework, and continuing assessment of the enterprise IT portfolio. This year's FBI Director Team Award for Special Achievement went to OIPP for their contributions to the FBI's overall mission.

Mr. Bhagowalia stated: "A flexible and responsive EA, evolving strategic plan, and disciplined governance framework provide checks and balances to ensure IT projects deliver the most appropriate services to the end-user. Through these governance processes and project management frameworks, OIPP has already been able to facilitate the successful completion of IT ventures."

Recent examples of successfully completed IT projects, which have begun to implement components of the architecture, include: the FBI Intelligence Information Report (IIR) Dissemination System (FIDS), developed by the IT Operations Division, OCIO, and the Directorate of Intelligence; and the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), developed by the Security Division and the Office of IT Program Management, OCIO.

The PKI program provides greater security to FBI's information systems and physical infrastructures and FIDS allows the FBI to more easily and effectively share intelligence data with their law enforcement partners and the Intelligence Community. These programs provided the envisioned functionality within cost and schedule, and were compliant with enterprise governance and architectural guidelines as outlined by OIPP.