Information Technology: Acquisitions, Operations, and Cybersecurity

The federal government spends more than USD 80 billion each year on information technology (IT) investments; in FY2017 that investment is expected to increase to more than USD 89 billion. Historically, the projects supported by these investments have often incurred "e;multi-million dollar cost overruns and years-long schedule delays."e; In addition, they may contribute little to mission-related outcomes and, in some cases, may fail altogether. These undesirable results "e;can be traced to a lack of disciplined and effective management and inadequate executive-level oversight."e; The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) was enacted on December 19, 2014, to address these issues and codify existing initiatives managed by the Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO).