GAO rounds up mission-critical IT projects

The Government Accountability Office outlined how top mission-critical IT modernization projects at federal agencies are playing out.

In a new report on Sept. 8, GAO compiled a list of mission critical IT projects that include well-known efforts such as the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM), the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Disability Case Processing System, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Student and Exchange Visitor Information System Modernization and the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Next Generation Identification System Terrorist Screening System.

It also included some less-publicized IT efforts such as the Department of the Interior's Automated Fluid Minerals Support System II.

Each of the 16 profiles provides timelines, cost estimates, scope of the system, number of users, lifecycle costs, workforce numbers and development methods. They also include lists of agency-identified and GAO-identified challenges, as well as past GAO reports and risk assessments.

The report stemmed from Congressional interest in how high-risk IT projects are faring, as well as how Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act reforms are moving ahead.

Congressional requestors included Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D, N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform; Rep. Gerald Connolly, chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations of the House Oversight and Reform Committee; Subcommittee Ranking Member Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), as well as Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas).

The current report, said GAO, is an effort to "identify essential mission- IT acquisitions across the federal government and determine their key attributes."

The GAO provides the details of each agency mission critical acquisition in similar terms and categories, allowing more direct comparisons of the efforts.