Krista Beenhouwer is part of the MITRE team working with the IRS to develop a more effective investment decision management processes.

Enhancing our nation's revenue collection systems

Faced with collecting $2 trillion in annual revenues using an aging system of computers developed over the past 35 years, the IRS has undertaken a critical modernization program. This program will enable the IRS to efficiently and effectively provide taxpayers with the services they need. MITRE supports the IRS's modernization program in a broad variety of ways, from strategic planning to technical analyses.

MITRE has been working closely with the IRS to develop more effective investment decision management processes and to integrate these with its life cycle processes. As team member Krista Beenhouwer, an Economic Business Analyst at MITRE, describes it, "We've been looking at best practices in managing numerous multimillion dollar projects; at how the projects impact each other; and at how the IRS should select projects, prioritize activities and balance funding.

"I've been working on this project since I came to MITRE in 1999," continues Beenhouwer. "It's a complex project that requires a lot of collaboration and coordination between the government contractors, and the IRS's Federally Funded Research and Development Center at MITRE. It's a great feeling to be able to work through all the different issues and come up with a solution that works for everyone in the end.

"Shortly after joining MITRE, I started working on the team developing a process for the government and contractors to develop business cases—that is how the IRS selects projects. Once we established this new process, we've continued to refine it using the lessons we learned along the way.

"I really like this project because I see there is a lot of room to improve things for the taxpayer," says Beenhouwer. The first new IRS system to be developed and deployed in 2001 will be the Customer Communications System, which will allow the IRS to answer more of the 150 million phone calls it receives each year. Another upcoming project is improving e-services to taxpayers.

"I think it's great that the IRS is starting to envision the taxpayer as the customer and that they are there to help them. I think it will make the tax administration process easier and more effective," she adds. "When all is said and done, I think people will have a better opinion of the IRS."