A Government Accountability Office audit found that risk ratings on the Federal IT Dashboard did not consistently reflect the problems documented in major technology investments. GAO compared its assessments with ratings submitted by agency chief information officers for 53 selected investments at 12 agencies.
The ratings matched GAO's assessment in 27 cases. GAO identified more risk in 24 cases and less risk in two. The watchdog said 21 ratings were not updated on time under agency processes, and two agencies used rating cycles longer than the quarterly schedule in Office of Management and Budget guidance.
GAO said the federal government spends more than $100 billion each year on IT and cyber investments. It warned that inaccurate or outdated ratings can keep troubled projects from receiving timely oversight, increasing the danger of delays, cost growth, and failed modernization work.
The audit made 17 recommendations to nine agencies. Five agencies agreed with all recommendations directed to them, one agreed in part, two disagreed, and one did not state a position. OMB announced in April that it planned to replace the dashboard with a streamlined system but had not provided a release timetable when GAO completed its review.