PREFACE

The impetus for the enactment of the Clinger Cohen Act was the Federal Government's increased reliance on IT, and the resulting increased attention and oversight on its acquisition, management and use. For example, the "Computer Chaos" report, released by U.S. Senator William S. Cohen of Maine in 1994, highlighted some long-standing systemic problems such as those identified below that the Clinger-Cohen Act was intended to resolve.

• Insufficient attention to (a) the way business processes are conducted, and (b) opportunities to improve these processes before investing in the IT that supports them;
  
  
• Investments in new systems for which Agencies had not adequately planned, and which did not work as intended and did little to improve mission performance;
  
  
• Implementation of ineffective information systems resulting in waste, fraud, and abuse; and
  
  
• Outdated approaches to buying IT that do not adequately take into account the competitive and fast pace nature of the IT industry.

On February 10, 1996, the President signed the Information Technology Management Reform Act (ITMRA) into law; ITMRA together with the Federal Acquisition Reform Act became known as the Clinger-Cohen Act. Coupled with other reform legislation, the Clinger-Cohen Act provides the statutory foundation for correcting the deficiencies described above.