Citation[]
Government Accountability Office, Information Technology: DOD Software Development Approaches and Cybersecurity Practices May Impact Cost and Schedule (GAO-21-182) (Dec. 23, 2020) (full-text).
Overview[]
The Defense Department relies heavily on information technology to protect the nation and deter war. It requested about $36.1 billion for IT for fiscal year 2020.
The GAO looked at how cost and schedule estimates have changed in 15 major DOD IT programs and examined how software development approaches and cybersecurity practices may affect costs and timeframes. Cost estimates decreased for 11 programs (ranging from .03% to 33.8%) and 10 programs experienced schedule delays (ranging from 1 month to 5 years).
All reported developing cybersecurity strategies but only 8 conducted systematic cybersecurity vulnerability assessments.