The federal government lacks many of the technological capabilities that are widespread in the private sector, and this IT gap considerably impacts the ability to improve the efficiency of government and deliver better services to Americans, said federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra.

In a blog posted Tuesday, Kundra outlined the initial steps the Obama administration is taking to help close the gap within the areas of IT and cybersecurity.

“As we head into summer, agencies are hard at work preparing their budget submissions for Fiscal Year 2012,” he said. “Earlier this week, we issued budget guidance for agencies as they develop the FY2012 budget. The guidance includes several key actions for agencies to take in the areas of IT project management, IT infrastructure and cybersecurity that will help us close the IT gap.”

The steps involves agencies completing a review of their IT investment portfolios prior to submitting their FY 2012 budget requests. Agencies must also include funding for plans to consolidate data centers developed in FY 2010. In coordination with the data-center consolidations, agencies should evaluate the potential to adopt cloud-computing solutions by analyzing computing alternatives for IT investments in FY 2012. Additionally, agency submissions should include funding for the tools necessary to continue monitoring of agency IT systems.

“We won’t close the IT gap overnight – but these actions represent important steps in the journey towards a more efficient government that performs for the American people,” Kundra said.