b'Conversations with Leadersthe mechanics and process we can lose sight of our overallThe fiscal year funding of $100 million followed by $25 purpose: why we are here to begin with. Keeping the missionmillion in 2019 has enabled us to fund projects with U.S. of government front and center is key.Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and U.S. General For a period of time, I was also the acting director of theServices Administration (GSA), along with a host of other U.S. Office of Personnel Management. This role, which tendsagencies. USDAs Farmers.gov was one of the earliest to focus on human capital from an operational perspective,projects seeking to provide a one-stop-shop for self-service complemented my OMB role where I approach governmentapplications, educational materials, and business tools for policy, including HR, from a strategic perspective. Havingfarmers, ranchers, conservationists, and private foresters. both perspectives afforded me an opportunity to look at theWith this project, the department has made incredible strides personnel function from end to end, finding more effectivetowards modernizing their core infrastructure and becoming ways to help federal agencies address the complex andmuch more service oriented to support farmers, producers, critical human capital challenges they face.and ranchers across the country. The fund was designed to have initially funded project payback the fund. This way the Doing both roles, I also began to see the importance offund wouldnt solely rely on annual appropriations. Some jettisoning siloes and working towards optimization acrossof the earlier funded proposals are starting to be set towards agencies, whether doing IT modernization, personnelrepayment. If youd like more detailed information on the management, procurement, or leveraging data.TMF, go to tmf.cio.gov. On the Technology Modernization Fund On Establishing Government Effectiveness The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) was authorizedAdvanced Research Centersby Congress as a mechanism to finance technologyWhen I came from the private sector to government, modernization efforts across the federal government. It is anI noticed at-risk capital from the private sector wasnt innovative funding model that allows agencies to acceleratereally being deployed to help government with its unique key IT modernization projects. It seeks to enable agenciesmanagement challenges. Let me provide some context. to reimagine and transform the way they use technology toThe federal government has been slower than the private deliver their mission and services to the American publicsector to adapt operations to new realities. These failures in an effective, efficient, and secure manner. Were makingmean we are not meeting the publics expectations as I investments in incremental, agile ways, not spendingmentioned earlier, and that our use of resources is less than millions on critical IT and then having the agencies comeoptimal. Moreover, reliance on outdated technology has back for more monies when theyve proven it out.led to a workforce insufficiently equipped to transition to more modern ways of doing business. We conceived of the Government Effectiveness Advanced Research (GEAR) Center as a nongovernmental public-private partnership that would engage researchers, academics, nonprofits, and private industry from disciplines ranging from behavioral economics, computer science, and design thinking. The goal is to use creative, data-driven, and interdisciplinary approaches to reimagine and realize new possibilities in how citizens and government interact.Working with the General Services Administration (GSA), we launched a competition to create a GEAR Center to address challenges facing the federal government. The intent is to have the centers provide the federal government with the opportunity to not only catch up to where the private sector services and capabilities are today, but also to lay the groundwork for where government operations and services need to be in five, ten, twenty years or more. It would provide capacity to explore questions concerning how government can best harness technological advances to WINTER 2019 / 2020 IBM Center for The Business of Government 27'