Included in OCTO’s objectives are the responsibilities to provide technology oversight across the agencies, to lead the effort to leverage common technology infrastructure services across the District, and to add value by deploying technology to improve Education, Public Safety, Health Services and other key service areas for our citizens.

As part of this effort, IT Investment Boards have been established for Public Schools and for Public Safety. These boards govern IT initiatives, priorities and spending, ensuring that technology initiatives are aligned with business strategy and performance measures. An example of good governance can be effective project management using key metrics to deploy solutions across agencies, leveraging volume and experience to get the best price and most expedient rollout pace. At DCPS, for example, OCTO deployed 6300 PCs to 140 schools in six weeks, at a cost of $628 per PC.

These boards are cochaired by an agency director and the CTO. Members are comprised of key business and technology leaders.

Typical agendas include a review of OCTO performance metrics, key agency scorecards (project status), funding status, new project requests, issues and updates on the IT strategy for the cluster.