Developing Actionable Insights: Context for Center Research

With the IBM Center for The Business of Government’s next due date for new research report proposals approaching on September 6th, we are publishing additional perspectives on our research topics over the next week in the form of blog posts focused on each topic.   The insights in these posts draw from dialogue that helped to frame the research agenda, as well as subsequent content relevant to each research topic area.  We hope that these posts provide potential research

Approaches for Accelerating Shared Services Implementation in the Federal Government

It involves setting standards for service delivery that meet the needs of multiple customer agencies and migrating agencies to modern, scalable, and secure platforms operated by best of breed government or industry service providers. Managing organizational change and creating positive customer experiences are core challenges in making shared services work.    

RPA in Federal Financial Management Organizations

One significant gain in productivity comes from robotic process automation (RPA). In 2020, the Association for Government Accountants (AGA) Corporate Partners Advisory Group (CPAG) Technology Committee studied the maturity of RPA in federal CFO organizations, and AGA released the results in February 2021. The report is entitled, “RPA In Federal FM Organizations: A Study of Progress.”

Managing Financial Risk in Government

Efficient and effective financial management is an essential way U.S. federal agencies serve the American people and protect the interests of taxpayers. Managing financial risk in government is more than a compliance exercise; it goes to the core of agency mission delivery. Strengthening financial risk management aligns with the government’s goals of minimizing waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement while also enabling government leaders to improve efficiency, increase transparency, and enhance decision-making.

Financial Management for the Future: How Government Can Evolve to Meet the Demands of a Digital World

Government can leverage emerging technologies and processes to modernize financial systems.

In recent months, major changes in Federal Government policies around financial management and related shared services have occurred, and agencies are piloting innovative approaches to modernize financial systems.

Karin O’Leary

Karin O’Leary leads IBM Consulting’s business portfolio for the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Courts. She is responsible for proposing and managing consulting services contracts and driving account strategy, which includes business development, profit and loss, delivery excellence, business partner relationships, and customer satisfaction. Mission critical projects include clients at the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, Federal Bureau of Prisons, National Security Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Defender Services Office.

Will Congress Enact Improvements to the Federal Budget Process?

Since the enactment of the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, Congress has encountered greater difficulty in passing spending legislation by not having enough votes to either raise the BCA caps or pass appropriations bills. In the spring of 2018, Speaker Ryan offered a compromise through the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 that raised the caps for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, and created the Joint Select Committee with an equal number of members of both political parties.

Lead Account Partner, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Courts, IBM Consulting
Fellow, IBM Center for The Business of Government

Karin O’Leary leads IBM Consulting’s business portfolio for the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Courts. She is responsible for proposing and managing consulting services contracts and driving account strategy, which includes business development, profit and loss, delivery excellence, business partner relationships, and customer satisfaction. Mission critical projects include clients at the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, Federal Bureau of Prisons, National Security Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Defender Services Office. Sponsor and support two small businesses in IBM Federal’s Access & Accelerate program for Black Entrepreneurs.

As a fellow with the IBM Center for The Business of Government, she serves as IBM’s Federal shared services lead and represents IBM with the Shared Services Leadership Coalition and ACT-IAC. Karin also leads the Professional Services Council’s DOJ Team as chairperson for the annual Vision Federal Market Forecast Conference in 2022 and 2023.

Karin has extensive experience in managing complex organizational change in the public sector, with over 25 years of government service. Before joining IBM in 2018, Karin was a career executive in both the Judicial and Executive Branches of the U.S. Federal Government. She was the Chief Financial Officer of the Judicial Branch, where she led the implementation of a single financial and procurement system to over 450 court locations in 3 years and transitioned local disbursing to the U.S. Treasury. Before that, Karin was DOJ’s Budget Director and Deputy Performance Improvement Officer for nearly a decade, with responsibility for developing, promoting, and executing a budget exceeding $30 billion per year, as well as departmental strategic planning, and performance management. Karin also held senior positions at the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia, which she helped to establish. She began her Federal public service career at the Corporation for National and Community Service (later renamed “AmeriCorps”) and, prior to that, worked at the local level for the Lackawanna County Government in Pennsylvania.

Karin holds a MPA from The American University in Washington, DC, and a BA in Political Science from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg, PA. She is an advocate for shared service business models, technology transformation, and continuous learning.