| abstract | - On June 1, 2009 the Obama Administration launched the IT Dashboard. The IT Dashboard is a public website deployed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). It provides detailed information on approximately 759 major IT investments at 27 federal agencies, including assessments of these investments' performance against cost and schedule targets (referred to as ratings). The public dissemination of this information is intended to allow federal agencies, industry, the general public and other stakeholders to view details of federal information technology investments. Among other things, agencies are to submit Chief Information Officer (CIO) ratings, which, according to OMB's instructions, should reflect the level of risk facing an investment on a scale from 1 (high risk) to 5 (low risk) relative to that investment's ability to accomplish its goals. Ultimately, CIO ratings are assigned colors for presentation on the Dashboard, according to a five-point rating scale. Through the IT Dashboard, Federal agencies and the public have the ability to view details of Federal information technology (IT) investments online and to track their progress over time. The IT Dashboard replaced the "Management Watch List," established by OMB in 2003, which included mission-critical projects that needed to improve performance measures, project management, IT security, or overall justification, and the "High-Risk List," established by OMB in August 2005, which consisted of projects identified by federal agencies, with the assistance of OMB, as requiring special attention from oversight authorities and the highest levels of agency management. The performance data used to track the 759 major IT investments is based on milestones contained in agency reports to OMB called "Capital Asset Plans", commonly referred to as "Exhibit 300s." Federal Agency Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are responsible for evaluating and updating select data on a monthly basis, which is accomplished through interfaces provided on the IT Dashboard website.
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