Web Management Task Force Final Report - Executive Summary

Background

The President and Congress have mandated all federal agencies to implement "electronic government" and paperwork elimination, to the extent practical. HUD has been on the cutting edge, within the federal community, in using the web to reach citizens, business partners, and employees in creative and substantial ways. But realizing these new mandates requires stepping up our efforts. To that end, the Deputy Secretary convened a Web Management Task Force. The charter was to propose a strategic plan for web management that will enable the Department to achieve the mandates of the President and Congress.

During the 4-week review period, the 14-member Web Management Task Force, with the assistance of 22 staff and advisors, interviewed and surveyed HUD’s 100 current web managers, a number of program managers and Senior Community Builders, and web teams at 5 other federal agencies and at 5 private organizations.

Issues and Recommendations

Issue 1: Implementing "electronic government" at HUD will require a cultural change, from the top on down.

There are two parts to managing the web: managing the content and managing the technology. A good analogy is running a major newspaper - you need editors and reporters on one side, and you need printing and distribution on the other. Determining the content is up to management. But with few exceptions, managers at HUD do not have content management on their radar screens. Consequently, content management often is lumped together with technology management and delegated to technical staffs. If HUD is to deliver its services via the web, in addition to the traditional means of service delivery, then managers have to become aware of the opportunities the web affords and incorporate web content management in their everyday lives. And, as with any major management initiative, they have to be willing to put the funds into the effort to make it successful.

Summary of Recommendations:

	Incorporate electronic government initiatives and initiatives that utilize the web into annual Department plans. Monitor and report progress quarterly. Ensure that funding - both for content and technology - is adequate to accomplish these plans.
	Require Department executives and managers to allocate sufficient resources to both web content management and web technical support.
	Educate executives and managers on opportunities for using the web, not only to do current work in new ways but also to provide products (information and services) to citizens, business partners, and employees that were heretofore not possible.

Issue 2: Staffing is inadequate to accomplish web management responsibilities

The Departmental Web Team, which reports to the Deputy Secretary, manages the content of HUD’s web products (what they say, how they say it, how they’re organized, how they look, how they’re promoted, etc.). The Web Team members are skilled analysts, writers, and entrepreneurs, as the job requires. They receive technical support from a separate technical contracting staff. However, that same alignment of skills does not follow through the rest of HUD’s organization. Web managers in program and field offices perform both content and technical duties, in addition to their normal jobs as Community Builders and program staff. Consequently, web managers are not able to do the jobs adequately.

Summary of Recommendations:

	Designate web managers who are exclusively responsible for content-related duties:   Designate full-time web managers in major offices in Headquarters (Housing, PIH, CPD, FHEO, REAC, CFO, and Administration) and in the 10 regional offices. The CPO already has a full-time web manager and should continue to do so.   Create half-time web managers in other offices in Headquarters.
	Empower web managers by involving them in planning processes and management meetings.
	Assign technical support duties to separate staff or contractors.

Issue 3: Training for Web Managers is inadequate.

Most of HUD’s program and field office web managers are self-taught. Though the Departmental Web Team has conducted annual training on content management skills, there has been little training on technical skills. Furthermore, the tools (software and hardware) provided to web managers to do their jobs are woefully inadequate.

Summary of Recommendations:

	Fund training to develop skills needed to be a successful Web Manager.
	Develop appropriate training for the staff performing technical support duties.
	Ensure that technical support staff have adequate tools to do their jobs.

Issue 4: HUD lacks leadership in managing the technical web infrastructure to ensure that it is adequate to support the demands of electronic government.

HUD has established a leadership structure for managing the content of the web: the Departmental Web Team reports to the Deputy Secretary, ensuring that content management is at the highest level. This has proven successful and often is viewed as a model by other federal agencies and federal consultants. But HUD lacks a complementary leadership structure in managing web technology. Thus, HUD’s web technical infrastructure is inadequate; funding for improvements to the web infrastructure has been insufficient; and there is little - if any - research and development of new web technologies that could help the Department lead the way in implementing electronic government.

Summary of Recommendations:

	Designate a senior-level Web Technology Officer in the CIO’s Office to:   Work with the content managers;   Develop and manage a long-term strategic plan for HUD’s web technical infrastructure;   Oversee research and development efforts;   Ensure that web technology maintenance/improvements are included in budget processes; and   Brief top executives on forthcoming technologies
	Designate or create a senior-level official in the Office of Administration to implement the strategic plan, identify and resolve technical problems and issues, and present technical needs so they can be addressed in both strategic and budgetary planning.
	The Web Technology Officer and the Assistant Secretary for Administration (Office of Information Technology) should ensure that Web Managers have adequate technical support, including advice on opportunities to use new technologies.