Technology

Virginia's 11th district is home to some of the nation's most successful technology firms. From his private sector experience, Congressman Connolly knows firsthand the positive impact the technology sector has on our regional and national economy. He believes a strong and innovative technology agenda will be critical to ensuring America maintains our global competitiveness.

As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee Government Operations, Congressman Connolly is directly engaged in federal contracting and technology procurement policies. Congressman Connolly serves as the Co-Chair of the Government Efficiency Caucus, Smart Contracting Caucus, and Cloud Computing Caucus, bipartisan groups that work together to facilitate partnerships between federal agencies, government contracts, and the high-tech industry.

Congressman Connolly is the author of landmark bipartisan IT reform legislation known as the Federal Information Technology Acquisition and Reform Act (FITARA). The government spends roughly $80 billion on IT products and services; however, much of it is spent maintaining aging legacy systems. Congressman Connolly's bipartisan legislation would help move us towards new IT systems by streamlining the technology procurement process and empowering CIOs within federal agencies, consolidating data centers, and identifying additional technology savings. Congressman Connolly has held a series of hearings and has devised a biannual scorecard to measure each agency’s progress implementing the various components of FITARA.

Congressman Connolly also helped author the Modernizing Government Technology Act or "MGT Act." The bill allows agencies to use savings generated through FITARA and other reforms to make investments in cloud transition. This creates an incentive for agencies to find savings and reinvest them internally, creating a virtuous cycle. This reform has the potential to significantly speed up the federal government’s move to 21st-century technologies.