U.S. General Services Administration
OMB and GSA to Prioritize Distribution of $1 Billion Technology Modernization Fund to Bolster Cybersecurity Defenses, Better Respond to Pandemic, and Support Economic Recovery
Flexible model seeks to serve the best interests of the American public by delivering simple, safe, and equitable access to government services
WASHINGTON — Today, the Office of Management and Budget and General Services Administration announced an updated and more flexible model for distributing to federal agencies the $1 billion from the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). The funds were provided by Congress as part of the American Rescue Plan the President signed into law on March 11, 2021.
The model prioritizes investments to address urgent IT modernization needs, bolster cybersecurity defenses, foster cross-agency collaboration, improve the delivery of government services for all Americans, and support services that can be scaled for impact across government. The disbursement plan creates new opportunities for investing in a diverse range of projects by allowing agencies significant flexibility in repaying awarded funds, especially for projects that tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing our nation.
“The TMF enables multi-year transformational projects by ensuring federal agencies have resources that exist throughout the lifecycle of modernization. We plan to use these resources to enable the federal government to better respond to SolarWinds, the COVID-19 crisis and support the economic recovery,” said Federal Chief Information Officer Clare Martorana.
“The updated TMF model provides the clarity and flexibility necessary to encourage federal agencies to prioritize technology modernization while transforming the relationship between the federal government and the public we serve. It is more aggressive—to meet the urgent technology needs of the federal government today, as well as more ambitious—to anticipate the demands of tomorrow,” said GSA Acting Administrator Katy Kale.
The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Board, whose members provide funding recommendations and monitor progress and performance of approved modernization projects, will focus on projects that cut across agencies, address immediate security gaps, and improve the public’s ability to access government services. The board will give top priority to these four proposal categories:
- Modernizing high-priority systems
- Cybersecurity
- Public-facing digital services
- Cross-government services and infrastructure
In order to be able to respond with urgency to the current crisis, repayment will shift from the full repayment model for all projects to a model allowing more flexibility. Repayment will now fall into three categories to optimize for project success and to deliver the highest value to the public:
- Full repayment: For projects that yield direct financial savings that can be used to fully repay the TMF.
- Partial repayment: For projects with strong positive impact and which will yield some financial savings, but where the proposing agency doesn’t expect to reach full cost recovery.
- Minimal repayment: For projects aimed at tackling the most urgent IT issues facing our government, including critical cybersecurity improvements and initiatives that help agencies meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic, but which are unlikely to create direct cost savings.
The TMF Board encourages agencies to submit project proposals by June 2, 2021 for prioritized consideration. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.
About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of more than 370 million rentable square feet and overseeing approximately $68 billion in annual contracts. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services across government, in support of the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities. For more information, visit GSA.gov and follow us at @USGSA.