The ITCRB Funding Process provides multi-year funding for information technology projects that advance the University’s administrative, research, and teaching and learning priorities. The ITCRB and Small Ask program team manages the process, including technical and security reviews, and supports proposal and project teams and sponsors with guidance on requirements, timelines, and available resources.

A call for proposals is typically issued each fall, aligned with multi-year technology and functional area planning for the coming fiscal year. Proposals, and their accompanying budgets, undergo a rigorous development process that includes community engagement and feedback, review by the Project Review Committee (PRC), and final evaluation by the Information Technology Capital Review Board (ITCRB). 

The ITCRB makes award recommendations to the Executive Vice President (EVP) based on available funds and alignment with University priorities. After EVP approval, funding becomes available at the start of the next fiscal year.

For more information, contact the ITCRB and Small Ask program at OTSP@harvard.edu. 

The IT Capital Review Board (ITCRB) serves at the pleasure of the University's Executive Vice President (EVP). Chaired by the Vice President and University Chief Information Officer, the ITCRB is composed of a representative group of senior leaders from across the University, including vice presidents, vice provosts, and administrative deans in the schools. The ITCRB has the purview over the multi-year outlook and priorities for the ITCRB fund which includes contributions from Harvard’s Central Administration and the Schools and units.

The ITCRB meets throughout the year to review multi-year technology plans and project funding requests. As part of project review, the Board uses a Harvard-wide lens to balance risks, priorities, benefits, and tradeoffs and prepares funding recommendations for the EVP. At its discretion, the ITCRB also reviews project updates and status reports as well as project close-out reports for completed projects. The ITCRB provides annual summary reports to the vice presidents, administrative deans, finance deans, and the CIO Council. The Small Ask Subcommittee reviews projects in the Small Ask pool. While the ITCRB is mainly involved with the annual IT capital process, the Board may also be called upon to review and approve funding release for any projects with implementation budgets greater than $2M.

The ITCRB and Small Ask program lead staffs the ITCRB.

The Project Review Committee (PRC) is integral to the IT Capital Funding process. The PRC draws its membership from across the University and includes both technical experts and academic and administrative leaders from within the Central Administration and the schools.

During the annual IT project proposal process, the PRC reviews project proposals prior to the ITCRB portfolio review. Through its guidance it helps to maximize each project's success by ensuring each project has developed a well-defined business value statement (business case); completed an appropriate level of planning and estimating; included cost estimates that are in line with the project scope; and engaged with the right stakeholders. The PRC provides feedback to proposal teams and recommendations to the ITCRB.  The PRC also reviews Small Ask proposals and provides recommendations to the Small Ask Subcommittee of the ITCRB.

The ITCRB and Small Ask program lead staffs the PRC.