OMB’s Reforms Can Help Agencies Better Manage Federal IT Projects

May 19

Information technology (IT) is critical to the health, economy, and security of the nation. As such, federal agencies plan to spend more than $82 billion on IT this fiscal year. However, as we have previously reported and testified, many federal IT projects have troubled legacies of cost increases, missed milestones, technical problems, and management challenges.

The Office of Management Budget (OMB) and agencies need to provide appropriate oversight and transparency, and avoid duplicative spending on IT investments. Here’s a look at key issues with OMB’s IT reform initiatives.

IT Dashboard. The IT Dashboard is a public website that provides detailed information on approximately 700 major IT investments at 27 agencies. We have issued a series of reports on deficiencies in the accuracy and reliability of Dashboard’s cost and schedule data. Most recently, we reported that agencies had removed major investments from Dashboard—a troubling trend toward decreased transparency.