The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) announced three investments today totaling over $71 million to help the Department of Justice (DoJ), General Services Administration (GSA), and Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) address security vulnerabilities and deliver better customer experience (CX) to the American public.
The TMF, which is administered by GSA, was created in 2017 under the Modernizing Government Technology Act to provide money to Federal civilian agencies to undertake tech modernization projects. The fund in recent months has been spending down some of the $1 billion cash infusion it received from Congress in 2021.
“The Technology Modernization Fund helps agencies accelerate the delivery of products and services that meet today’s expectations of an exceptional Government experience,” said Clare Martorana, Federal CIO and chair of the TMF Board. “These TMF investments will strengthen cybersecurity, reduce burden for the Federal workforce so they can focus on mission, and improve trust with the millions counting on the DoJ, GSA, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home to deliver government services.”
“The mission of the TMF is simple: invest in technology to make government services simpler, more seamless, and secure,” said Larry Bafundo, TMF executive director. “Good technology is critical to serving the American public, and all of these investments are indicative of how the TMF can help agencies modernize nimbly and effectively.”
The largest award announced today is a $45.5 million TMF investment to help the DoJ’s Antitrust Division (ATR) better enforce the nation’s antitrust laws through modern technology.
As corporate communication increasingly shifts from email to chat-based applications, ATR’s current tooling and methods are unable to effectively work with datasets that extend beyond email. The TMF investment will tackle this issue and allow ATR to rapidly acquire and deploy updated review platforms with AI, improve their internal IT service management, and simplify the public complaints process.
“This effort will free up time from employees currently spent mitigating IT deficiencies to instead focus on the enforcement work they were hired to do,” said Walt Cain, ATR executive officer. “This will in turn make the agency and the Federal government more efficient and effective in promoting and protecting a competitive economy.”
The second largest award announced today is a $19.7 million investment to help GSA upgrade its eRulemaking Program – which it established in 2002. The TMF investment will help the agency address near-term security vulnerabilities and risks to continuity of service.
At the same time, GSA said it will begin “a multi-year effort to transition to a modernized architecture that will better meet the needs of public and government users.”
“The TMF investment has potential for increasing public participation in rulemaking and improving regulations,” said Virginia Huth, GSA’s assistant commissioner of the Office of Regulatory and Oversight Systems. “Modernization aims to improve the capacity of the public to find and comment on rulemakings that are meaningful to them and better enable rulemakers to more efficiently adjudicate comments for substantive arguments and provide data-driven analysis.”
Finally, the TMF announced an investment of just over $6 million to help the AFRH upgrade its current decade-old electronic health record (EHR) system.
The existing system lacks interoperability across the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and private sector provider networks. However, the TMF investment will help AFRH to implement a modernized, interoperable EHR system that lends to better care and services for residents.
“This transformative project represents a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to provide the highest quality healthcare to our residents,” said John RisCassi, AFRH’s chief operating officer. “By modernizing our EHR system, we’re not just upgrading technology, we’re enhancing the lives of some of our Nation’s bravest heroes.”
