Senators Zero in on ‘Inaccurate’ IT Dashboard Ratings

The leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are cracking down on agency chief information officers who don’t appear to be accurately reporting the risks associated with large-scale IT projects. They’re starting with the Treasury Department. The committee “is examining the lack of transparency and inaccuracy of risk information” posted by agencies on the IT Dashboard, Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Ranking MemberTom Carper, (D-DE) wrote in an April 20 letter to Treasury CIO Sonny Bhagowalia. “We are concerned that a number of agencies appear to be reporting questionable risk ratings for their respective IT projects,” the letter stated. The IT Dashboard is a public website designed to provide a snapshot of federal IT spending and performance. Treasury lists nearly 60 major IT investments on the dashboard. The vast majority is rated “green,” denoting a project at low risk for falling behind schedule, going over-budget or otherwise running off the rails. No projects are marked “red,” or high risk.

However, the Senators say the Internal Revenue Service -- which is part of Treasury -- reported to Congress in 2014 that its chief technology officer rated three of its projects high risk. That meant “an eminent threat has been identified that puts the program deliverables in jeopardy,” according to the letter. Another four projects had been identified by the CTO as moderate risk. All told, the at-risk programs totaled more than $1.4 billion in agency spending. Despite this, the IT Dashboard (which relies on an agency CIO’s evaluation of IT projects) listed all those potentially troubled projects as low risk. The Senators wanted Bhagowalia to explain the discrepancy between his risk rating and the IRS CTO’s evaluation.