A shutdown will slow tech modernization, experts warn

"A potential shutdown could stall modernization efforts if lawmakers and the White House aren't able to reach a deal to avert a funding lapse by Tuesday at midnight, former tech leaders and experts have told Nextgov/FCW. Even planning for a potential shutdown takes time and attention away from normal work in government technology shops, they say. "You have to divert what you were doing on the day-to-day to shut down," one former federal agency CIO, not authorized to speak on the record, told Nextgov/FCW. "Shutdown planning consumes all of your time. It does take a lot to shut the government down.""

"Agencies are under unusual directions from the White House Office of Management and Budget this year to prepare to layoff employees whose work isn't funded by means other than annual appropriations and doesn't align with the administration's priorities, although some agency managers have told their employees not to take the threat seriously. Agencies should continue to revise their reduction in force plans even if a shutdown is averted, OMB has told agencies."

"Within agencies, federal employees funded by means other than annual appropriations continue to work and be paid during shutdowns, as do those whose roles involve the safety of human life or protection of property, although they work without pay. Other federal employees are furloughed, although how they will fare under the Trump administration's threat of layoffs isn't yet clear."

A potential federal shutdown would stall IT modernization and divert staff time to contingency planning, reducing progress on cybersecurity and technology initiatives. Shutdown planning consumes significant day-to-day resources in agency technology shops and forces leaders to reassign priorities. OMB directed agencies to prepare reduction-in-force plans targeting employees whose work lacks alternative funding or alignment with administration priorities, while some managers have downplayed the threat to staff. Employees funded by other means and those performing safety-critical work continue operations, sometimes without pay, while others face furlough. Agency contingency plans reveal how tech roles and cybersecurity functions are being classified.

Read at Nextgov.com