THE GOVERNMENT TELLS THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TO HIRE A PERMANENT CIO The Library of Congress, an institution created 215 years ago to house vast troves of data, faces serious weaknesses in managing information technology, according to a government report released Tuesday. The Library, which has employed five temporary CIOs since 2012, needs to hire a permanent CIO, said the report. Aside from administering the largest library in the world, the Library of Congress provides research and policy analysis to members of Congress. It also includes the U.S. Copyright Office. In 2013, the value added by the core copyright industries to the U.S. growth domestic product reached $1.1 trillion, accounting for 6.7% of the U.S. economy, according to a 2014 report prepared for the International Intellectual Property Alliance. "With five acting CIOs in the last three years, there's been no real leadership of IT management and that's permitted individual units to go off on their own," said Joel C. Willemssen, the author of the report. Some have bought their own commodity IT software such as email, human capital and financial management because they haven't gotten what they needed from the Library, said Mr. Willemssen. Buying in a fragmented fashion increases costs because discounts are given for volume purchases. The new CIO at the Library also needs to be given more oversight over the Library's IT as the current role doesn't have enough authority, he said. The Library of Congress posted the job opening on March 17 and expects a permanent CIO to be on board by September 2015, said a spokesman for the Library. "I have assigned an experienced manager with a strong background in IT to serve as Chief Information Officer on an interim basis while we conduct a nationwide search for a permanent CIO," wrote James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress in a response included in the GAO report. Often, the inability of a government agency or company to keep a permanent CIO on staff for any length of time can signal that the role doesn't have enough power, said Bobby Cameron, vice president and principal analyst serving CIOs at Forrester Research Inc. "A CIO without adequate power can't solve the problem and is either gets frustrated, leaves or is kicked out," he told CIO Journal. In 2014, the Library's budget was $618.8 million with about 3,746 employees with about 380 IT workers. The GAO estimates that the Library spent about $119 million on IT for 2014. However, the Library has not fully established and implemented a process for maintaining a full accounting of IT-related expenditures, so the exact amount couldn't be determined. In addition, the Library 's primary asset inventory system is highly inaccurate. The system lists 18,000 personal computers in use but Library officials told the GAO there were fewer than 6,500 personal computers in use. These are the types of problems a permanent CIO can resolve, said Mr. Willemssen. This GAO report, along with previous reports, "reveal library mismanagement costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, and outdated and inefficient systems in the U.S. Copyright Office," wrote The Washington Post's Peggy McGlone. REFLINK: http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/04/01/the-government-tells-the-library-of-cong... Best Regards, Raghvendra R The information contained in this electronic message and in any attachments to this message is confidential, legally privileged and intended only for use by the person or entity to which this electronic message is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, and have received this message in error, please notify the sender and system manager by return email and delete the message and its attachments and also you are hereby notified that any distribution, copying, review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this electronic transmission or the information contained in it is strictly prohibited. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and may not represent those of the Company or bind the Company. Any commitments made over e-mail are not financially binding on the company unless accompanied or followed by a valid purchase order. This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Mail Scanner, and is believed to be clean. The Company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. www.jubl.com -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.