Information Technology: Implementation of IT Reform Law and Related Initiatives Can Help Improve Acquisitions
Published: 2017-03-28T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The federal government is projected to invest more than $89 billion on IT in fiscal year 2017. Historically, these investments have frequently failed, incurred cost overruns and schedule slippages, or contributed little to mission-related outcomes. Accordingly, in December 2014, IT reform legislation was enacted, aimed at improving agencies' acquisitions of IT. Further, in February 2015, GAO added improving the management of IT acquisitions and operations to its high-risk list.
This statement focuses on the status of federal efforts in improving the acquisition of IT. Specifically, this statement summarizes GAO's prior work primarily published between June 2013 and February 2017 on (1) key IT workforce planning activities, (2) risk levels of major investments as reported on OMB's IT Dashboard, and (3) implementation of incremental development practices, among other issues.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) was enacted in December 2014 to improve federal information technology (IT) acquisitions and can help federal agencies reduce duplication and achieve cost savings. Successful implementation of FITARA will require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and federal agencies to take action in a number of areas identified in the law and as previously recommended by GAO.
IT workforce planning. GAO identified eight key IT workforce planning practices in November 2016 that are critical to ensuring that agencies have the knowledge and skills to successfully acquire IT, such as analyzing the workforce to identify gaps in competencies and staffing. However, GAO reported that the five selected federal agencies it reviewed had not fully implemented these practices. For example, none of these agencies had fully assessed their competency and staffing needs regularly or established strategies and plans to address gaps in these areas. These weaknesses were due, in part, to agencies lacking comprehensive policies that required these practices. Accordingly, GAO made specific recommendations to the five agencies to address the practices that were not fully implemented. Four agencies agreed and one partially agreed with GAO's recommendations.
IT Dashboard. To facilitate transparency into the government's acquisition of IT, OMB's IT Dashboard provides detailed information on major investments at federal agencies, including ratings from Chief Information Officers (CIO) that should reflect the level of risk facing an investment. GAO reported in June 2016 that 13 of the 15 agencies selected for in-depth review had not fully considered risks when rating their investments on the IT Dashboard. In particular, of the 95 investments reviewed, GAO's assessments of risks matched the CIO ratings 22 times, showed more risk 60 times, and showed less risk 13 times. Several factors contributed to these differences, such as CIO ratings not being updated frequently and using outdated risk data. GAO recommended that agencies improve the quality and frequency of their ratings. Most agencies agreed with GAO's recommendations.
Incremental development. An additional reform initiated by OMB has emphasized the need for federal agencies to deliver investments in smaller parts, or increments, in order to reduce risk and deliver capabilities more quickly. Specifically, since 2012, OMB has required investments to deliver functionality every 6 months. In August 2016, GAO determined that, for fiscal year 2016, 22 agencies had reported on the IT Dashboard that 64 percent of their software development projects would deliver useable functionality every 6 months. However, GAO determined that only three of seven agencies selected for in-depth review had policies regarding the CIO certifying IT investments' adequate implementation of incremental development, as required by OMB. GAO recommended, among other things, that four agencies improve their policies for CIO certification of incremental development. Most of these agencies agreed with the recommendations.
section_title: What GAO Recommends
paragraphs: Between fiscal years 2010 and 2015, GAO made 803 recommendations to OMB and federal agencies to address shortcomings in IT acquisitions and operations. The significance of these recommendations contributed to the addition of this area to GAO's high-risk list. As of December 2016, OMB and the agencies had fully implemented 366 (or about 46 percent) of the 803 recommendations. In fiscal year 2016, GAO made 202 new recommendations, thus further reinforcing the need for OMB and agencies to address the shortcomings GAO has identified.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: I am pleased to be here today to discuss opportunities for federal  agencies to improve the acquisition of information technology (IT). As you  know, the effective and efficient acquisition of IT has been a long- standing challenge in the federal government. In particular, the federal  government has spent billions of dollars on failed and poorly performing  IT investments, which often suffered from ineffective management.  Recognizing the importance of issues related to the government-wide  acquisition of IT, in December 2014, Congress enacted federal IT  acquisition reform legislation (commonly referred to as the Federal  Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act or FITARA).
In addition, in February 2015, we added improving the management of IT  acquisitions and operations to our list of high-risk areas for the federal  government. We recently issued an update to our high-risk report and  determined that, while progress has been made in addressing this high- risk area, significant work remains to be completed. For example, as of  December 2016, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and  agencies had implemented 366 (or about 46 percent) of the 803 open  recommendations that we had made from fiscal years 2010 through 2015  related to IT acquisitions and operations.
My statement today discusses agencies’ progress in improving the  acquisition of IT. This statement summarizes our prior work primarily  published between June 2013 and February 2017 on (1) key IT workforce  planning practices, (2) risk levels of major investments as reported on  OMB’s IT Dashboard, and (3) implementation of incremental development  practices, among other issues. A more detailed discussion of the  objectives, scope, and methodology for this work is included in each of  the reports that are cited throughout this statement.
We conducted the work on which this statement is based in accordance  with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards  require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate  evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions  based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained  provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on  our audit objectives.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: The federal government is projected to invest more than $89 billion on IT  in fiscal year 2017. However, as we have previously reported,  investments in federal IT too often result in failed projects that incur cost  overruns and schedule slippages, while contributing little to the desired  mission-related outcomes. For example:
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Scheduling Replacement Project  was terminated in September 2009 after investing an estimated $127  million over 9 years.
The tri-agency National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental  Satellite System was disbanded in February 2010 at the direction of  the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy after the  program invested 16 years and almost $5 billion.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Border Initiative  Network program was ended in January 2011, after the department  invested more than $1 billion to the program.
The Office of Personnel Management’s Retirement Systems  Modernization program was canceled in February 2011, after  investing approximately $231 million on the agency’s third attempt to  automate the processing of federal employee retirement claims.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Financial and Logistics  Integrated Technology Enterprise program was intended to be  delivered by 2014 at a total estimated cost of $609 million, but was  terminated in October 2011 due to challenges in managing the  program.
The Department of Defense’s Expeditionary Combat Support System  was canceled in December 2012 after investing more than a billion  dollars and failing to deploy within 5 years of initially obligating  funds.
The Farm Service Agency’s Modernize and Innovate the Delivery of  Agricultural Systems program, which was to replace aging hardware  and software applications that process benefits to farmers, was halted  in July 2014 after investing about 10 years and at least $423 million,  while only delivering about 20 percent of the functionality that was  originally planned.
Our past work found that these and other failed IT projects often suffered  from a lack of disciplined and effective management, such as project  planning, requirements definition, and program oversight and  governance. In many instances, agencies had not consistently applied  best practices that are critical to successfully acquiring IT.
Federal IT projects have also failed due to a lack of oversight and  governance. Executive-level governance and oversight across the  government has often been ineffective, specifically from chief information  officers (CIO). For example, we reported that some CIOs’ authority was  limited in that not all CIOs had the authority to review and approve the  entire agency IT portfolio.
Our past work has also identified nine critical factors underlying  successful major acquisitions that support the objective of improving the  management of large-scale IT acquisitions across the federal  government: (1) program officials actively engaging with stakeholders; (2)  program staff having the necessary knowledge and skills; (3) senior  department and agency executives supporting the programs; (4) end  users and stakeholders being involved in the development of  requirements; (5) end users participating in the testing of system  functionality prior to end user acceptance testing; (6) government and  contractor staff being stable and consistent; (7) program staff prioritizing  requirements; (8) program officials maintaining regular communication  with the prime contractor; and (9) programs receiving sufficient funding.
subsections: section_title: FITARA Can Improve Agencies’ Acquisition of IT
paragraphs: Recognizing the importance of issues related to government-wide  management of IT, FITARA was enacted in December 2014. The law was  aimed at improving agencies’ acquisitions of IT and could help enable  Congress to monitor agencies’ progress and hold them accountable for  reducing duplication and achieving cost savings. FITARA includes  specific requirements related to the acquisition of IT, such as
Agency CIO authority enhancements. CIOs at covered agencies  are required to (1) approve the IT budget requests of their respective  agencies, (2) certify that OMB’s incremental development guidance is  being adequately implemented for IT investments, (3) review and  approve contracts for IT, and (4) approve the appointment of other  agency employees with the title of CIO.
Enhanced transparency and improved risk management. OMB  and covered agencies are to make detailed information on federal IT  investments publicly available and agency CIOs are to categorize  their IT investments by level of risk. Additionally, in the case of major  IT investments rated as high risk for 4 consecutive quarters, the law  requires that the agency CIO and the investment’s program manager  conduct a review aimed at identifying and addressing the causes of  the risk.
Expansion of training and use of IT acquisition cadres. Agencies  are to update their acquisition human capital plans to address  supporting the timely and effective acquisition of IT. In doing so, the  law calls for agencies to consider, among other things, establishing IT  acquisition cadres or developing agreements with other agencies that  have such cadres.
Government-wide software purchasing program. The General  Services Administration is to develop a strategic sourcing initiative to  enhance government-wide acquisition and management of software.  In doing so, the law requires that, to the maximum extent practicable,  the General Services Administration should allow for the purchase of  a software license agreement that is available for use by all executive  branch agencies as a single user.
Maximizing the benefit of the federal strategic sourcing initiative.  Federal agencies are required to compare their purchases of services  and supplies to what is offered under the federal strategic sourcing  initiative. OMB is also required to issue related regulations.
section_title: IT Acquisitions and Operations Identified by GAO as a High-Risk Area
paragraphs: In February 2015, we introduced a new government-wide high-risk area,  Improving the Management of IT Acquisitions and Operations. This area  highlights several critical IT initiatives in need of additional congressional  oversight, including (1) reviews of troubled projects; (2) efforts to increase  the use of incremental development; (3) efforts to provide transparency  relative to the cost, schedule, and risk levels for major IT investments; (4)  reviews of agencies’ operational investments; (5) data center  consolidation; and (6) efforts to streamline agencies’ portfolios of IT  investments. We noted that implementation of these initiatives has been  inconsistent and more work remains to demonstrate progress in achieving  successful IT acquisitions and operations outcomes.
Further, our February 2015 high-risk report also stated that, beyond  implementing FITARA, OMB and agencies needed to continue to  implement our prior recommendations in order to improve their ability to  effectively and efficiently invest in IT. Specifically, between fiscal years  2010 and 2015, we made 803 recommendations to OMB and federal  agencies to address shortcomings in IT acquisitions and operations,  including many to improve the implementation of the recent initiatives and  other government-wide, cross-cutting efforts. We noted that OMB and  agencies should demonstrate government-wide progress in the  management of IT investments by, among other things, implementing at  least 80 percent of our recommendations related to managing IT  acquisitions and operations within 4 years.
In February 2017, we issued an update to our high-risk series and  reported that, while progress had been made in improving the  management of IT acquisitions and operations, significant work still  remained to be completed. For example, as of December 2016, OMB  and the agencies had fully implemented 366 (or about 46 percent) of the  803 recommendations. This was a 23 percent increase compared to the  percentage we reported as being fully implemented in 2015. Figure 1  summarizes the progress that OMB and the agencies have made in  addressing our recommendations, as compared to the 80 percent target.
In addition, in fiscal year 2016, we made 202 new recommendations, thus  further reinforcing the need for OMB and agencies to address the  shortcomings in IT acquisitions and operations. In addition to addressing  our prior recommendations, our 2017 high-risk update also notes the  importance of OMB and federal agencies continuing to expeditiously  implement the requirements of FITARA.
section_title: Opportunities Exist to Improve Acquisition of IT
paragraphs: Given the magnitude of the federal government’s annual IT budget, which  is projected to be more than $89 billion in fiscal year 2017, it is important  that agencies leverage all available opportunities to ensure that IT  investments are made in the most effective manner possible. To do so,  agencies can rely on key IT workforce planning activities to facilitate the  success of major acquisitions. OMB has also established several  initiatives to improve the acquisition of IT, including reviews of troubled IT  projects, a key transparency website, and an emphasis on incremental  development. However, the implementation of these efforts has been  inconsistent and more work remains to demonstrate progress in achieving  successful IT acquisition outcomes.
subsections: section_title: Implementing Key IT Workforce Planning Activities Can Help Ensure Acquisition Skill Gaps Are Addressed
paragraphs: An area where agencies can improve their ability to acquire IT is  workforce planning. In November 2016, we reported that IT workforce  planning activities, when effectively implemented, can facilitate the  success of major acquisitions. As stated earlier, ensuring program staff  have the necessary knowledge and skills is a factor commonly identified  as critical to the success of major investments. If agencies are to ensure  that this critical success factor has been met, then IT skill gaps need to be  adequately assessed and addressed through a workforce planning  process.
In this regard, we reported that four workforce planning steps and eight  key activities can assist agencies in assessing and addressing IT  knowledge and skill gaps. Specifically, these four steps are: (1) setting  the strategic direction for IT workforce planning, (2) analyzing the  workforce to identify skill gaps, (3) developing and implementing  strategies to address IT skill gaps, and (4) monitoring and reporting  progress in addressing skill gaps. Each of the four steps is supported by  key activities (as summarized in table 1).
However, in our November 2016 report, we determined that five agencies  that we selected for in-depth analysis had not fully implemented key  workforce planning steps and activities. For example, four of these  agencies had not demonstrated an established IT workforce planning  process. In addition, none of these agencies had fully assessed their  workforce competencies and staffing needs regularly or established  strategies and plans to address gaps in these areas. Figure 2 illustrates  the extent to which the five selected agencies had fully, partially, or not  implemented key IT workforce planning activities.
The weaknesses identified were due, in part, to these agencies lacking  comprehensive policies that required such activities, or failing to apply the  policies to IT workforce planning. We concluded that, until these  weaknesses are addressed, the five agencies risk not adequately  assessing and addressing gaps in knowledge and skills that are critical to  the success of major acquisitions. Accordingly, we made  recommendations to each of the five selected agencies to address the  weaknesses in their IT workforce planning practices that we identified.  Four agencies—the Departments of Commerce, Health and Human  Services, Transportation, and Treasury—agreed with our  recommendations and one, the Department of Defense, partially agreed.
section_title: TechStat Reviews Can Help Highlight and Evaluate Poorly Performing Investments
paragraphs: In January 2010, the Federal CIO began leading TechStat sessions— face-to-face meetings to terminate or turn around IT investments that are  failing or are not producing results. These meetings involve OMB and  agency leadership and are intended to increase accountability and  transparency and improve performance. OMB reported that federal  agencies achieved over $3 billion in cost savings or avoidances as a  result of these sessions in 2010. Subsequently, OMB empowered agency  CIOs to hold their own TechStat sessions within their respective  agencies.
In June 2013, we reported that, while OMB and selected agencies  continued to hold additional TechStats, more OMB oversight was needed  to ensure that these meetings were having the appropriate impact on  underperforming projects. Specifically, OMB reported conducting  TechStats at 23 federal agencies covering 55 investments, 30 of which  were considered medium or high risk at the time of the TechStat.  However, these reviews accounted for less than 20 percent of medium- or  high-risk investments government-wide. As of August 2012, there were  162 such at-risk investments across the government.
Further, we reviewed four selected agencies and found they had held  TechStats on 28 investments. While these reviews were generally  conducted in accordance with OMB guidance, we found that areas for  improvement existed. For example, these agencies did not consistently  create memorandums with responsible parties and due dates for action  items. We concluded that, until these agencies fully implemented OMB’s  TechStat guidance, they may not be positioned to effectively manage and  resolve problems on IT investments. In addition, we noted that, until OMB  and agencies develop plans and schedules to review medium- and high- risk investments, the investments would likely remain at risk. Among other  things, we recommended that OMB require agencies to conduct  TechStats for each IT investment rated with a moderately high- or high- risk rating, unless there is a clear reason for not doing so. OMB generally  agreed with this recommendation.
However, when we testified on this issue slightly more than 2 years later  in November 2015, we found that OMB had only conducted one TechStat  review between March 2013 and October 2015. In addition, we noted that  OMB had not listed any savings from TechStats in any of its required  quarterly reporting to Congress since June 2012. This issue continues to  be a concern and, in January 2017, the Federal CIO Council issued a  report titled the State of Federal Information Technology, which noted that  while early TechStats saved money and turned around underperforming  investments it was unclear if OMB had performed any TechStats in recent  years.
section_title: IT Dashboard Can Improve the Transparency into and Oversight of Major IT Acquisitions
paragraphs: To facilitate transparency across the government in acquiring and  managing IT investments, OMB established a public website—the IT  Dashboard—to provide detailed information on major investments at 26  agencies, including ratings of their performance against cost and  schedule targets. Among other things, agencies are to submit ratings  from their CIOs, which, according to OMB’s instructions, should reflect the  level of risk facing an investment relative to that investment’s ability to  accomplish its goals. In this regard, FITARA includes a requirement for  CIOs to categorize their major IT investment risks in accordance with  OMB guidance.
Over the past 6 years, we have issued a series of reports about the IT  Dashboard that noted both significant steps OMB has taken to enhance  the oversight, transparency, and accountability of federal IT investments  by creating its IT Dashboard, as well as issues with the accuracy and  reliability of data. In total, we have made 47 recommendations to OMB  and federal agencies to help improve the accuracy and reliability of the  information on the IT Dashboard and to increase its availability. Most  agencies have agreed with our recommendations.
Most recently, in June 2016, we determined that 13 of the 15 agencies  selected for in-depth review had not fully considered risks when rating  their major investments on the IT Dashboard. Specifically, our  assessments of risk for 95 investments at 15 selected agencies  matched the CIO ratings posted on the Dashboard 22 times, showed  more risk 60 times, and showed less risk 13 times. Figure 3 summarizes  how our assessments compared to the selected investments’ CIO ratings.
Aside from the inherently judgmental nature of risk ratings, we identified  three factors which contributed to differences between our assessments  and the CIO ratings:
Forty of the 95 CIO ratings were not updated during the month we  reviewed, which led to more differences between our assessments  and the CIOs’ ratings. This underscores the importance of frequent  rating updates, which help to ensure that the information on the  Dashboard is timely and accurately reflects recent changes to  investment status.
Three agencies’ rating processes spanned longer than 1 month.
Longer processes mean that CIO ratings are based on older data, and  may not reflect the current level of investment risk.
Seven agencies’ rating processes did not focus on active risks.
According to OMB’s guidance, CIO ratings should reflect the CIO’s  assessment of the risk and the investment’s ability to accomplish its  goals. CIO ratings that do not incorporate active risks increase the  chance that ratings overstate the likelihood of investment success.
As a result, we concluded that the associated risk rating processes used  by the 15 agencies were generally understating the level of an  investment’s risk, raising the likelihood that critical federal investments in  IT are not receiving the appropriate levels of oversight. To better ensure  that the Dashboard ratings more accurately reflect risk, we recommended  that the 15 agencies take actions to improve the quality and frequency of  their CIO ratings. Twelve agencies generally agreed with or did not  comment on the recommendations and three agencies disagreed, stating  their CIO ratings were adequate. However, we noted that weaknesses in  their processes still existed and that we continued to believe our  recommendations were appropriate.
section_title: Increasing the Use of Incremental Development Practices Can Help Agencies Better Achieve Cost, Schedule, and Performance Goals for IT Acquisitions
paragraphs: OMB has emphasized the need to deliver investments in smaller parts, or  increments, in order to reduce risk, deliver capabilities more quickly, and  facilitate the adoption of emerging technologies. In 2010, it called for  agencies’ major investments to deliver functionality every 12 months and,  since 2012, every 6 months. Subsequently, FITARA codified a  requirement that agency CIOs certify that IT investments are adequately  implementing OMB’s incremental development guidance.
In May 2014, we reported that 66 of 89 selected investments at five  major agencies did not plan to deliver capabilities in 6-month cycles,  and less than half of these investments planned to deliver functionality in  12-month cycles. We also reported that only one of the five agencies had  complete incremental development policies. Accordingly, we  recommended that OMB develop and issue clearer guidance on  incremental development and that the selected agencies update and  implement their associated policies. Four of the six agencies agreed with  our recommendations or had no comments; the remaining two agencies  partially agreed or disagreed with the recommendations. The agency that  disagreed with our recommendation stated that it did not believe that its  recommendation should be dependent on OMB first taking action.  However, we noted that our recommendation does not require OMB to  take action first and that we continued to believe our recommendation  was warranted and could be implemented.
Subsequently, in August 2016, we reported that agencies had not fully  implemented incremental development practices for their software  development projects. Specifically, we noted that, as of August 31, 2015,  22 federal agencies had reported on the IT Dashboard that 300 of 469  active software development projects (approximately 64 percent) were  planning to deliver usable functionality every 6 months for fiscal year  2016, as required by OMB guidance. Regarding the remaining 169  projects (or 36 percent) that were reported as not planning to deliver  functionality every 6 months, agencies provided a variety of explanations  for not achieving that goal. These included project complexity, the lack of  an established project release schedule, or that the project was not a  software development project. Table 2 lists the total number and percent  of federal software development projects for which agencies reported  plans to deliver functionality every 6 months for fiscal year 2016.
In conducting an in-depth review of seven selected agencies’ software  development projects, we determined that 45 percent of the projects  delivered functionality every 6 months for fiscal year 2015 and 55 percent  planned to do so in fiscal year 2016. Agency officials reported that  management and organizational challenges and project complexity and  uniqueness had impacted their ability to deliver incrementally. We  concluded that it was critical that agencies continue to improve their use  of incremental development to deliver functionality and reduce the risk  that these projects will not meet cost, schedule, and performance goals.
In addition, while OMB had issued guidance requiring covered agency  CIOs to certify that each major IT investment’s plan for the current year  adequately implements incremental development, only three agencies  (the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, and Transportation)  had defined processes and policies intended to ensure that the  department CIO certifies that major IT investments are adequately  implementing incremental development. Officials from three other  agencies (the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services,  and the Treasury) reported that they were in the process of updating their  existing incremental development policy to address certification, while the  Department of Defense’s policies that address incremental development  did not include information on CIO certification. We concluded that until all  of the agencies we reviewed define processes and policies for the  certification of the adequate use of incremental development, they will not  be able to fully ensure adequate implementation of, or benefit from,  incremental development practices.
Accordingly, we recommended that four agencies establish a policy and  process for the certification of major IT investments’ adequate use of  incremental development. The Departments of Education and Health and  Human Services agreed with our recommendation, while the Department  of Defense disagreed and stated that its existing policies address the use  of incremental development. However, we noted that the department’s  policies did not comply with OMB’s guidance and that we continued to  believe our recommendation was appropriate. The Department of the  Treasury did not comment on the recommendation.
In conclusion, with the enactment of FITARA, the federal government has  an opportunity to improve the transparency and management of IT  acquisitions, and to strengthen the authority of CIOs to provide needed  direction and oversight. In addition to implementing FITARA, applying key  IT workforce planning practices could improve the agencies’ ability to  assess and address gaps in knowledge and skills that are critical to the  success of major acquisitions. Further, continuing to implement key OMB  initiatives can help to improve the acquisition of IT. For example,  conducting additional TechStat reviews can help focus management  attention on troubled projects and provide a mechanism to establish clear  action items to improve project performance or terminate the investment.  Additionally, improving the assessment of risks when agencies rate major  investments on the IT Dashboard would likely provide greater  transparency and oversight of the government’s billions of dollars in IT  investments. Lastly, increasing the use of incremental development  approaches could improve the likelihood that major IT investments meet  cost, schedule, and performance goals.
Chairmen Hurd and Meadows, Ranking Members Kelly and Connolly,  and Members of the Subcommittees, this completes my prepared  statement. I would be pleased to respond to any questions that you may  have at this time.
section_title: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: If you or your staffs have any questions about this testimony, please  contact me at (202) 512-9286 or at pownerd@gao.gov. Individuals who  made key contributions to this testimony are Dave Hinchman (Assistant  Director), Chris Businsky, Rebecca Eyler, and Jon Ticehurst (Analyst in  Charge).
section_title: Related GAO Products
paragraphs: High-Risk Series: Progress on Many High-Risk Areas, While Substantial  Efforts Needed on Others. GAO-17-317. Washington, D.C.: February 15,  2017.
IT Workforce: Key Practices Help Ensure Strong Integrated Program  Teams; Selected Departments Need to Assess Skill Gaps. GAO-17-8.  Washington, D.C.: November 30, 2016.
Information Technology Reform: Agencies Need to Increase Their Use of  Incremental Development Practices. GAO-16-469. Washington, D.C.:  August 16, 2016.
IT Dashboard: Agencies Need to Fully Consider Risks When Rating Their  Major Investments. GAO-16-494. Washington, D.C.: June 2, 2016.
High-Risk Series: An Update. GAO-15-290. Washington, D.C.: February  11, 2015.
Information Technology: Agencies Need to Establish and Implement  Incremental Development Policies. GAO-14-361. Washington, D.C.: May  1, 2014.
IT Dashboard: Agencies Are Managing Investment Risk, but Related  Ratings Need to Be More Accurate and Available. GAO-14-64.  Washington, D.C.: December 12, 2013.
Information Technology: Additional Executive Review Sessions Needed  to Address Troubled Projects. GAO-13-524. Washington, D.C.: June 13,  2013.
IT Dashboard: Opportunities Exist to Improve Transparency and  Oversight of Investment Risk at Select Agencies. GAO-13-98.  Washington, D.C.: October 16, 2012.
IT Dashboard: Accuracy Has Improved, and Additional Efforts Are Under  Way to Better Inform Decision Making. GAO-12-210. Washington, D.C.:  November 7, 2011.
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