1: Strategic Alignment
An Information technology Investment Committee that will assure that information technology resources and investment are aligned
with and support the agency’s strategic business goals.
Other Information:
Information Technology Investment Committee: The Chairman established the Information Technology Investment Committee (ITIC)
in 2002. The ITIC is composed of the Director of the Office of Management, the Director of the Office of Supervision and the
Chief Information Officer. The ITIC is responsible for assuring that information technology initiatives are aligned with the
Finance Board’s business goals, recommending a budget for initiatives deemed consistent with business objectives, and periodically
reviewing the progress of information technology investment projects. The establishment and operation of the ITIC complies
with the requirements of the Clinger-Cohen Act that requires senior management evaluation and approval of an agency’s information
technology investments. Goal for the future: Continued support to meet evolving FHFB requirements - The business processes
of FHFB will continue to evolve as changes to the financial sector occur.. It is expected that as FHFB moves forward, the
current Microsoft centric environment may not have the flexibility to meet those requirements. ISTS is prepared to amend the
standards to allow for additional technologies such as Unix, Linux and new data storage capabilities including data warehousing
to meet the needs of the Office of Supervision. Data drives the business for FHFB, and the analysis and manipulation of that
data is essential to the success of the organization. Applications Support. Information Technology Vision and Goals: The planning
and implementation of information technology at the Finance Board is based on an Enterprise architecture (EA) that offers
the means to ensure that information technology is selected and deployed in a manner consistent with the agency’s mission
and in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible. EA provides the link between the agency’s mission and the technology
that helps facilitate that mission. It serves as a “blueprint” to capture facts about the mission, functions, and business
foundation in an understandable manner to promote better communication, planning and decision making There are three parts
to an EA: · Models of the agency’s current business processes, the data used in those processes, and the technology infrastructure
that currently supports the agency’s mission. · Models of the desired processes, data and technology required to support the
changing mission needs. · A transition plan to move from the current baseline model to the proposed target model. The primary
purpose of an EA is to inform, guide, and constrain the decisions of the agency, especially those related to IT investments.
The true challenge of enterprise engineering is to maintain the architecture as a primary authoritative resource for enterprise
IT planning. This goal is not met via enforced policy, but by the value and utility of the information provided by the EA.
The EA is not a static document, and must be continuously reviewed and refined over time to adapt to a changing business environment.
The purpose of this approach is to ensure that applications are not disjointed and limited, and that information and information
systems are appropriately shared throughout the agency. In deploying information systems, ISTS is committed to achieving the
following key objectives: · Overcome current deficiencies and limitations identified by the Program Offices. · Eliminate existing
duplicative data collection and usage by providing centralized, shared data access. · Reduce time and cost of future initiatives
by building modular systems that leverage existing technology and infrastructure. · Utilize Internet and web technologies
to simplify the submission, storage and retrieval of data making it easier for FHLBanks to meet their reporting obligations
and allowing Finance Board staff to spend more time analyzing data and less time collecting and validating it. · Maintain
an information architecture that converts institutional knowledge to a business asset. The Integrated Application Development
Vision: The Integrated Application Development (IAD) project initiated the Finance Board’s effort to apply EA concepts, and
began with the analysis and documentation of the agency’s current business processes. Prior to the IAD project, the information
collected by the Federal Housing Finance Board was disjointed and not easily accessible by Finance Board staff or other users.
In addition, collection of the data from the FHLBanks was burdensome to staff at the Banks, and difficult to manage at the
Finance Board. The Integrated Application Development project (IAD) was designed to correct these problems and provide a platform
for future improvements to data management. The IAD effort identified several core business areas that are now at various
stages of the system development lifecycle. Analysis of these business areas resulted in the development of an as-is model
or “blueprint” describing how and what information is currently used throughout the agency. Description of Current IAD Efforts:
CALL REPORT . The Call Report System (CRS) was implemented in February 2001 as a result of an urgent need to replace the outdated
VAX-based legacy application in use at the Finance Board. CRS allows the 12 FHLBanks to submit monthly and quarterly call
reports using a secure Internet connection. Access to data is greatly simplified, and changes required as a result of new
programmatic requirements are easy to make. MEMBERSHIP . This module of IAD maintains current financial information on advances
and capital stock for all member institutions. The system consists of approximately 8000 records with 40 data fields per record.
The reporting cycle for Membership data is quarterly, however FHLBanks are required to enter new member (termed new approval)
information as it occurs throughout the reporting period. Finance Board staff review both the quarterly and new member information
and accept or reject the information provided. In addition, the Membership module imports financial and demographic data from
Plansmith’s FIRE; this is done quarterly, and is used as part of the profile review process. FHLBank users will enter quarterly
detail and activities either interactively or by sending a batch file to the system. Any rejected transactions can then be
edited on-line and resubmitted. FHLBank users can also enter member profile changes directly into the system using the same
access path. The Membership system is currently in production. DESIGNATION OF DIRECTORSHIP. Annually, the FHFB Board of Directors
determines the number of director seats on the board of each FHLBank. The Designation of Directorship (DOD) module provides
for a submission from the Banks to the Finance Board (using the web-enabled reporting tool). Upon receipt of the list, this
module reconciles the data with the Membership data and provides notification back to the Banks of final approval. This system
module is planned for deployment in March 2004. AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROGRAM. By statute, each FHLBank must contribute 10% of
their earnings or a minimum of $100 million per year to fund the Affordable Housing Program (AHP). Currently the Finance Board
collects this information periodically via an MS Access based system that is outdated and inefficient. COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
CASH ADVANCE PROGRAM . CICA data is currently collected via spreadsheets emailed by the Banks to the Finance Board. The reporting
cycle is at least semi-annually, but may be reported at any time. COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROGRAM. The initial part of the CSP program
involves selecting members to be reviewed. Reviews are conducted during two-year periods called cycles. A member will be reviewed
at most once per cycle. The cycle is divided into eight rounds. Each round, the Finance Board selects a portion of an FHLBank’s
members that meet certain criteria to review for community support. The list of members to be reviewed in a given round is
called the selection list. Once both the Finance Board and the appropriate FHLBank approve the selection list, it is printed
in the Federal Register and serves as the official notice. The second part of the CSP program involves evaluating the members
that were selected in a given round. Members are evaluated based on their response to a Community Support Statement (CSS Form).
The statement is composed of two main parts: a member’s CRA rating and evidence of supporting first time homebuyers. Based
on the response to these two sections, the member will receive a CSP disposition of pass, probation, or restriction. The disposition
impacts a member’s access to long-term advances. ACQUIRED MEMBER ASSET Pursuant to § 955.4 of the Finance Board's Acquired
Member Asset (AMA) Regulation (AMA Regulation), each FHLBank that acquires AMA that are residential mortgages shall submit
to the Finance Board a mortgage report every quarter. The AMA Regulation specifies that each quarterly mortgage report shall
include an aggregation of loan-level data. The format of this aggregate data submission, was set forward in AB 01-6 and should
be used for the aggregate data submission for the second and fourth quarter reports. AMA data is currently collected via floppy
disks or CDs that are mailed from the FHLBanks to the Finance Board and stored as spreadsheet files and SAS data sets. FEDERAL
HOME LOAN BANK SYSTEM DIRECTORY. The FHLBank System Directory is maintained by the Finance Board and includes the names, titles,
addresses, and communication numbers for the officers, directors, and senior staff members of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks
and associated institutions. Currently, the directory information is updated and printed annually. Any interim changes are
sent to the Finance Board and changes are made to a file maintained as a PDF file. In the new system, the Directory module
will allow real time, web-based access to the most current data, and all approved users can view and download reports through
a web interface. Bank staff assigned the task of maintaining these data will have full-time access and the ability to create
reports at their discretion.
Objective(s):
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