Trump to sign order to reform US infrastructure technology

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is signing an executive order to try to reform the federal government’s confounding information technology structure.

The White House says Trump will order agencies to strengthen the roles of their chief information officers, requiring that they report directly to the agency heads.

The order being signed Tuesday was developed by the Office of American Innovation, which is led by Jared Kushner. It is being cast by the White House as an effort to bring private-sector management principles to government. The White House says it is hoping to attract private-sector talent to the empowered roles and to give technical experts oversight of technical decisions.

The White House says the federal government spends roughly $90 billion annually on infrastructure technology, most of which goes to support antiquated systems.