b'InsightsCan you tell us more about the Technology Modernization Fund Project Management Office? I love this initiative. It is fabulous. I am very excited to be a part of it. It was authorized by the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017. Since that time, the fund has received $100 million in FY 2018 and another $25 million in FY 2019. Were waiting to see with crossed fingers that were going to receive something in FY 2020.I oversee the TMFs Project Management Office along with its executive director, Liz Cain. Suzette Kent, federal CIO, chairs the TMF Board. The board is made up of IT and acquisition experts across government. The process borrows from the TV show Shark Tank. Agencies come pitch different ideas to the board. The board does a very rigorous assessment process with key players involved in the proposed project. The fund is designed to provide resources for the IT modernizationmore efficient. This is a great example of a common project that never seem to receive the proper funding. Therepeatable transaction service that, as a government, we can TMF is a great way for these projects to get funding. It isand should do in a shared, centralized way. important to underscore these are not grants, but loans that are expected to be paid back with savings from whatever it isIn the early 2000s, the federal government launched the that they are modernizing.e-payroll initiative. Its focus was to streamline payroll The funds are also dispersed in tranches. If an agencyprocessing governmentwide. At the time, there were 26 requests $15 million, the board will allocate a set amount to,payroll systems. So, the initiative resulted in the consolidation say, run a pilot or provide upfront monies. However, the nextof those 26 down to four designated payroll providersGSA tranche of money isnt provided until progress is reportedis one of those four. New Pay really is about finishing this and results shown. As of this discussion, we have awardedwork, trying to get the federal government to streamline even seven projects totaling $89 million. It is important to notefurther, achieving a single payroll provider for the civilian that in July, the TMF PMO received three payments totalingside. So, right now, those four current payroll providers about $1.1 million. This is important for two reasons: first,are stuck with some pretty old, costly systems, and they getting repaid may assuage some of the initial doubt aboutneed to be repaired or replaced. Maybe not today, maybe that aspect of the TMF concept, and second, that repaidnot tomorrow, but very soon. We believe that through money can be used to support another TMF project.this migration to a single provider, we can realize some significant economies of scale. We can modernize to a Does GSA have any TMF funded projects?software as a service model, which puts the risk and the cost off onto whoever is providing that software as a service and GSA actually has two projects. We have the applicationthen improve the functionality and user experience of the modernization project that is helping us transition frompayroll technology. legacy technologies to open source technologies. As of thisWhat is the GSAs Emerging Leaders Program? discussion, that project just wrapped up its pilot phase. We have transformed two applications with a third one inELP is a great program. It had kind of been put off to the production. The project identified best practices andside. I wanted to get this program back on track. We take techniques during the pilot stage that will benefit the team asnewly graduated college students. We bring them into GSA they go into full implementation. We promised the TMFfor two years of training and rotations throughout the agency. board that the team will put together a playbook that couldAfter that time, these participants are then placed be distributed to all federal agencies to assist other agenciespermanently in the agency. I had an amazing young woman in this area. The other GSA TMF project was the New Payfrom University of Wisconsin as my special assistant for two project. TMF is funding part of this project. This initiative isrotations. I would have hired her, but she decided to move to essential to GSAs goal of making back office operationsChicago. She is still with the agency in the fleet department. WINTER 2019 / 2020 IBM Center for The Business of Government 37'