Summary: The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development has proposed a major overhaul of the agency's programs and operations during the next several years. One proposal is to cut staff at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) by more than 50 percent by the year 2000. Information technology figures prominently in FHA's plans to streamline its single family operations, boost efficiency, and meet mandated staff reductions. Thus far, the planned actions are consistent with, but are not as extensive as, efficiency improvements taken by leading mortgage industry organizations. FHA's streamlining efforts, however, are in the early stages and, as other efforts continue, FHA will be deciding on specific operational changes, information technology applications, and management controls that will determine the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations and the achievement of staff reductions. In doing so, it can use the recently enacted Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 to establish an effective framework for making these information technology decisions.
