The Housing and Urban Development Department is bringing on vendors to help the agency overhaul its customer service operations, drive cloud adoption and expand its use of data analytics.

HUD and the General Services Administration on May 17th released draft solicitations for the second phase of the department’s Centers of Excellence program.  The high-profile initiative offers agencies the opportunity to improve existing IT systems and lay the groundwork for new technologies with extra assistance from GSA and the White House.

HUD was the second agency selected to participate in the program, after the Agriculture Department.  On Friday, GSA kicked off the third iteration of the program at the Office of Management and Budget.

In phase one of the HUD program, which began in September, government officials worked with industry to determine how to best address issues in key facets of the department’s IT infrastructure.  In phase two, the agency will recruit vendors to implement those solutions.

“We are excited to begin this next phase of our modernization efforts,” HUD Chief Operating Officer Ralph Gaines said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to seeing how these efforts will further transform the agency and make it more accountable to our customers.”

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