Although CIOs at federal agencies are entitled to full visibility on IT spending as part of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, a Government Accountability Office report shows that is not always the case, according to FCW.
The report found that federal agencies often underreport or miss IT projects, resulting in poorly created IT contracts. Specifically, the government watchdog tracked 78,249 IT-related contracts, which cost agencies $14.7 billion in fiscal year 2016.
The GAO later found 31,493 additional contracts that generated $4.5 billion in obligations, upping the total amount obligated to IT contracts in fiscal year 2016 to nearly $19.2 billion.
Fourteen of the 22 agencies the GAO reviewed also failed to meet Office of Management and Budget's requirement of CIO review and approval for IT acquisition plans. What's more, only 11 of 96 randomly reviewed IT contracts were CIO-reviewed and approved, effectively meeting OMB's requirements.
The agency made nearly 40 recommendations for agencies to revise their processes.
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