Case Study: Borderline Success at the Department of Homeland Security - ' A New Way of '

Changing the culture of government IT is no easy task. Beyond questions about methods and schedules, says Hite, there is often a lack of accountability on many federal projects that gives agencies little impetus to change their ways. "It's a consistent pattern when it comes to government IT programs," he says. "Not just this one. Pick one, pick the program du jour. People act in their own perceived best interests. There are criteria out there on how you are supposed to do it, but the bottom line is that there are no consequences if you don't." On US-VISIT, he says, "Congress took an active role and said, 'we want this and we want this,' but DHS didn't do it. They didn't set the schedules, or build the exit system. You can't put it all on the CIO. The responsibility and accountability are shared by a lot of people inside and outside the program office. There's plenty of blame to go around."

Mocny says the successes are replicable, but that strong leadership is required. "It will take a champion who believes what you are doing is necessary and important," he says. Techniques used at US-VISIT, such as integrated project teams that regularly gathered together users and developers, can be duplicated with executive help. Other federal projects have moved in similar directions. Earlier in the decade, the Federal Aviation Administration used an iterative methodology known as "spiral development" to create a successful air-traffic control system, amid a much larger project that saw epic cost overruns and disappointing deliverables. But the overall culture is still waiting for a reason to change.

Cooper hopes that Karen Evans, the Office of Management and Budget's administrator for e-government and IT, can help lead that change. Speaking to Congress in May, she said, "We have been collecting 'best practices' and 'promising practices' and they are documented both in the public and private sector. However, it is now time to actually execute some of these practices and achieve results for the American citizens."

Indeed it is. And US-VISIT, for all its flaws, may help show the way.

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