II-C: Operations
Ensure effectiveness, efficiency, and security of operations Other Information:
How we do our business is a critical component of good stewardship. The RRB is committed to effective, efficient and secure
internal operations. Many factors and programs contribute to this goal. We have ongoing programs which help us assess our
performance in these areas. We use our management control review process as a means of reviewing critical agency processes
in order to provide reasonable assurance of the effectiveness and efficiency of our programs and operations. If material weaknesses
are detected, we take swift, aggressive corrective action. In addition we perform a variety of quality assurance activities
to ensure that our benefit programs comply with established policies, standards and procedures. We consider the findings from
these reviews as we make our information technology plans. In addition to these ongoing programs, we have set particular goals
regarding our human capital, information technology and computer security, procurement, and performance management programs,
as described below. Continue to develop an effective human capital planning program. While there is a wealth of institutional
knowledge and practical experience among the current RRB staff, more than a third of them will be eligible for retirement
by 2009. Effective human capital planning will help to ensure that the benefit of this knowledge and experience can be passed
on by our more senior employees before they retire. At the same time, effective training and development programs will prepare
the remaining employees to assume leadership roles necessary for effective program administration and management. To address
this need, we will continue structured human capital planning activities in the following areas: Improve training capabilities,
particularly in the areas of managerial and supervisory skills, through a combination of internal and external programs, including
expanded use of video-based presentations on the agency Intranet. Identify core competencies for key positions, with an emphasis
on those with unique needs and/or potential for high turnover. Assess the skill level of employees currently in the same or
related career tracks and develop enhancement programs to close any identified competency gaps. Ensure the privacy and security
of our customers’ transactions with the RRB. We will provide close oversight to safeguard our customers' privacy and enable
them to conduct business with the RRB in a secure environment with trust and confidence. The RRB has made notable progress
in strengthening and improving the control and protection of information and is committed to addressing deficiencies identified
in the area of computer security. We continue these efforts in critical areas, such as: Conducting periodic vulnerability
assessments on critical assets; Updating our business continuity plan to ensure that essential functions continue during an
emergency; Deploying advanced security technologies and integrating security into our business processes to protect against
physical and cyber-security threats; Providing security and privacy awareness training to sensitize all employees to potential
security and privacy issues within their particular functional areas, and specialized security training for those individuals
with significant security responsibilities; Developing risk assessments, security plans, and security control refinements
for major applications and support systems; and, Including privacy impact assessments for applications that use sensitive
data. Improve our ability to control and monitor information technology investments. Information technology not only provides
the underlying support for the agency’s current day-to-day operations, but we also rely on it as a strategic means of improving
the cost-effectiveness of our operations in the future. Therefore, we are continually striving for improved ways to plan and
control our information technology investments, to ensure that they perform as expected, provide a meaningful return, and
are delivered on time and within budget. In 2004, the agency embarked on multi-year project to replace the agency's mainframe-based
project time management system with a network server-based enterprise project management system. The enterprise project management
system allows us to estimate, track and monitor total costs and time schedules for information technology investments throughout
the project life cycle. The enterprise project management system incorporates both web-based and mainframe-based projects
and investments. The initial rollout of the system to over 200 users was completed in October 2005. Further plans include
expanding its use for non-information technology projects and the number of people who will use it. Continue to seek ways
to increase competitive sourcing opportunities. The RRB will continue to follow the requirements of the Federal Activities
Inventory Reform Act of 1998 (the FAIR Act), which requires agencies to prepare and submit an inventory of their commercial
activities performed by Federal employees. The RRB has inventoried its positions, identified those that are commercial in
nature and published the report on the Internet, as required. In 2005, the RRB listed 7 commercial activities on its FAIR
Act report, a decline from 10 the previous year. This also reflected reduced staffing levels from the previous year, as the
2005 inventory had 119 FTE’s engaged in these areas – down from 141 the prior year. These positions were placed into the following
categories: library services; occupational health (nurse); storage and warehousing; printing and reproduction; administrative
support services; data processing services; and systems design, development and programming services. Make greater use of
performance-based contracts. Performance-based services contracting (PBSC) emphasizes objectives and measures performance
requirements and quality standards in developing statements of work, selecting contractors, and determining contract type
and incentives. In September 2004, OMB issued guidance on expanded use of PBSC, setting a goal for agencies to award at least
40 percent of service contract dollars, on contracts exceeding $25,000, using PBSC techniques. In recent years, the RRB has
awarded about that percentage of contract dollars using PBSC methods, and has been able to achieve increases in terms of the
numbers of contracts and percentages of dollars awarded. Over the next 5 years, we will continue to make maximum use of this
technique and meet government-wide goals for eligible service contracts. Expand our participation in E-Government initiatives.
The RRB currently uses electronic commerce to fulfill many of its operational requirements. For example, the RRB’s purchasing
staff publishes all required and many optional procurement notices to the government-wide, point-of-entry web-site www.FedBizOpps.gov.
The notices include pre-solicitation and award notices, as well as market surveys. The agency also has an agreement with an
office-supply vendor that provides Internet-based ordering with next-day delivery. The RRB continues to participate in the
E-Gov Business Gateway Initiative. The E-Forms Catalog provides citizens and businesses with a common access point to Federal
agencies and business forms. It provides these parties with the ability to search for forms needed to interact with the Federal
government. This catalog is a first step in a project whose goal is to provide a single site where citizens and businesses
can not only locate a form, but fill it out and submit it electronically. The RRB has already completed an initiative to migrate
our independent payroll system to a consolidated payroll service provider as part of a government-wide cost-saving effort.
We are also participating in the E-Gov Travel initiative, which is managed by the General Services Administration, to implement
an automated, integrated and web-based approach to consolidating travel services for Federal agencies. We have selected a
vendor to provide E-Gov Travel services and we expect to fully implement the new system by the end of fiscal year 2006. In
addition, we are working with the Department of the Treasury to implement Pay.gov. Pay.gov enables individuals and railroad
employers to securely and easily send electronic payments to the Federal government. Pay.gov's service allows them to pay
by debit/credit card or to authorize an Automated Clearing House debit from a savings or checking account. Comply with new
security requirements for employee identification. Federal agencies were directed to develop more sophisticated employee identification
cards under the terms of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12). Not only will the cards have a common format
across the Federal government, they will also contain an embedded chip with biometric data to confirm the identity of the
cardholder. Agencies were also directed to implement procedures for personal identity verification (PIV). Under PIV, a combination
of background checks and multiple levels of review will achieve this end. The RRB has taken steps to comply with the initial
phase of PIV, reinforcing its current review procedures to meet the new guidance. The agency also entered into a memorandum
of understanding with GSA to utilize a shared-services agreement for production of the actual identification cards. All current
RRB employees should have the new identification cards by the end of fiscal year 2008. At the same time, the RRB will continue
to work on implementation of the second phase of PIV, which calls for use of the embedded chip to gain access to buildings
as well as computer systems.
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