IT Dashboard: Selected Agencies’ Investment Ratings Fail to Fully Consider Risks

The federal government spends over $100 billion annually on IT investments. The Federal IT Dashboard is a public website that provides information about these investments, including risk ratings—e.g., how likely it is that the investment will accomplish its goals.

We reviewed some of the investments on this dashboard and found that their risk ratings weren't always accurate. This is due, in part, to agencies not regularly updating these ratings.

Without timely and accurate ratings, high-risk IT investments may not receive proper oversight, leaving the government vulnerable to costly project failures.

A computer showing the ITdashboard.gov website

The Federal Information Technology (IT) Dashboard is intended to show the level of risk for an investment. The Dashboard reflects Chief Information Officers’ (CIO) ratings of risk. Selected agencies that GAO reviewed used different processes to develop their ratings. Most of these processes included some, if not all, of six factors that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) suggested.

GAO’s assessments generally identified the presence of more risk compared to the associated CIO ratings. GAO determined its assessments based on investment risk documentation. Of the 53 investments assessed, GAO’s assessments matched the CIO ratings 27 times, showed more risk 24 times, and showed less risk two times (see graphic).

Comparison of Selected Investment’s Chief Information Officer Ratings to GAO Assessments

Two issues contributed to the differences between GAO and CIO ratings. Specifically, 21 of the 53 CIO ratings were not updated in a timely manner according to agencies’ processes. In addition, two agencies’ rating processes span longer than quarterly, contrary to OMB’s guidance.