My Experiences as Chief IT Strategist at USPTO Marti Hearst March 19 2012 About Me Computational Linguistics Hearst patterns Discourse TextTiling Boundary Detection Semantic Relations ID: 630505
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Slide1
Building Government IT 2.0: My Experiences as Chief IT Strategist at USPTO
Marti Hearst
March 19, 2012Slide2
About MeComputational Linguistics“Hearst patterns”
Discourse /
TextTiling
Boundary DetectionSemantic Relations
HCI/Search User Interfaces
Faceted NavigationTilebars VisualizationAutomating Metrics for UsabilityBiosearchSlide3
Why Should You Care About Government IT?Your $$$$$$ (~$
81 B
on
IT in 2012)Software Engineering Practices Masters of Engineering ProgramSlide4
Industry Fails at IT
Year
Company
Cost
2005
Hudson Bay Co$33.2 M2004
Avis Europe PLC$54.4 M2004
Ford Motor Co$400 M
2004
J Sainsbury
PLC
$527 M
2004Hewlett-Packard Co$160M
Why
Software
Fails, R.
Charette
, IEEE Spectrum Sept
2005 Slide5
Government Fails at IT
Year
Agency
Cost
2001-2005
FBI Virtual Case File System$170 M2005-2010
FBI Virtual Case File System$450 M1987-1995
IRS Business System$3 B
1995 –
now
IRS
Business
System (some working)$5 B2000-2009
VA Outpatient
Scheduling
$127 M2002-2009FEMA claims System$40 M1983-2002USPTO Patent System $1 B2006-2009USPTO Patent System (PFW) $?? M
Why Software Fails, R. Charette, IEEE Spectrum Sept 2005
GAO report, June 2005, ttp://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05336.pdf
http://fcw.com/articles/2009/11/20/it-turkeys-7-government-projects-gone-wrong.aspx
GAO report, May 27, 2010
www.gao.gov
/
new.items
/d10579.pdSlide6
Why Did I Do It?Slide7
Federal Government ServiceIf you go into government, be sure you work directly for a winning change agent.Slide8
David KapposDirector & Undersecretary2 Below POTUS
UC Davis Computer Engineering
UC Berkeley Law
IBM IP VPSlide9
USPTO Overview Statistics~10,000 Employees
~500,000 patent
appl’s
/year~400,000 trademark appl’s/year~$2.5B annual budget~$350M spend on IT/yearSlide10
A Winning TeamBacklog: 655,00 from 770,000 peak
Average 5%/year increase in filings
L
owest total in 5 yearsRanking in Annual Survey of Federal Employees Job Satisfaction (out of 240)From # 172 (2007) to #19 (2011)
Reduced achievement gapsCo-negotiated with unionsLeading telework programInternational Advances
Innovative Programs to Improve PatentsNew Quality MeasuresFast Track (speed up patent appl’s)Ombudsman programFirst action interview programNew work counting agreementHiring of experienced IP professionals
Refresher trainingSlide11
Some Measurable ImprovementsSlide12Slide13Slide14Slide15
What Was Broken in Patents IT?
All documents in image form.
Converted several
times.A complex, huge, centralized data storage system.No notion of status
New document ID codes added at willEvery piece in silosNew functionality added in many different places
Atrocious interface designInextensible and InflexibleIndexing the search system requires 4 months and $Ms to changeExaminers top requests:Doesn’t crash.Isn’t slow.
Is up all the time.Slide16Slide17
What Are the Hurdles?
Ingrained Habits and Pessimism
Rules Preventing:
User-Centered DesignAgile Software Development
IT Staffing and HiringProcurement Rules and MythsRules Around BudgetingVendorsOversightSlide18Slide19
Changes and Successes
Hired Professional IT Managers
Invented New Procurement Methods
Procured Strong Software ContractorsInstitutionalized User Centered Design
Facilitated Agile Software DevelopmentInstituted Service Oriented ArchitectureEarned the Trust of User StakeholdersEarly Successes:
Online ManualsFront End for Patent ExaminersNew Search ToolMany smaller successes“Rebooted IT at the USPTO” – Director KapposSlide20
Remaining ChallengesNeed
more strong IT Staff
Procurement: still very difficult and very slow
Converting Legacy Data is a NightmareCommunication Slide21
Reform at the Federal LevelSlide22
How to Fix All This?Slide23
Procurement ReformEnded
unnecessary or unaffordable contracts,
weapons
systems, information technology, financial management, operations and maintenance, transportation and fuel. Smarter buying practices
Using competitive techniques such as electronic reverse auctions for purchasing Strengthened the acquisition workforce, after years of
inattention.http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/contracting_reform.pdf
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/02/04/turning-tide-contract-spendingSlide24
A Shortage of Procurement Staff
http
://
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/
procurement_workforce/AWF_Plan_10272009.pdfSlide25
25 Point Plan for Reforming ITCurrent status: cio.gov/modules/
itreformSlide26
25 Point Plan for Reforming ITSlide27
25 Point Plan for Reforming ITSlide28
25 Point Plan for Reforming ITSlide29
Enabling User-Centered Design Legal Hurdles:
Paperwork
Reduction Act
~6 months to ask questions of 10 or more people
Solution:Special new guidance created.Only takes 5 days!Applies to customer-service related information gathering.Slide30
Strengthen Program Management
Design an IT management career path
Enable mobility across
govt and industryLaunch a technology fellows program
Require integrated program teamsSlide31Slide32
Enabling User-Centered Design
A brand new program!
Started Fall 2011
2 year paid fellowshipRotate among agenciesBuilds on the highly successful Presidential Management Fellows program
Trains leaders for Federal Government ServiceUsually a terrific cohortMust apply in the Fall before graduating with a masters or PhD
But very few opportunities for non-US citizensSlide33
It is still very difficult to successfully develop IT in government.
However,
many reform efforts
are greatly improving the situation.
An IT-savvy
administration.
A focus on usability and citizen input.
The 25 point
plan.
Additional changes in procurement guidance.
Academics, researchers, and practitioners can all help!
Summary