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Tag Archives: best practices
Our Guide to Tech Readiness
The development of cutting-edge technologies is critical to many of the government’s most costly acquisition projects, including new weapons, satellites, nuclear facilities, and homeland security systems. The federal government spends billions of dollars acquiring these technologies. However, these technologies can … Continue reading
Posted in Government Operations, Information Technology, Science and Technology
Tagged acquisition planning, Acquisition procedures, Acquisition strategy, best practices, critical technologies, Federal acquisitions, homeland security, IT acquisitions, Nuclear facilities, satellites, Science Technology Assessment and Analytics, software, STAA, technology assessment, weapon systems
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Troubling Trends in DOD’s Weapon Programs
The Department of Defense’s 82 largest complex programs cost an estimated $1.69 trillion. We annually assess how DOD is managing and overseeing these major acquisition programs in our “Quick Look” reports. In today’s WatchBlog, we discuss some of our observations … Continue reading
Posted in National Defense, Podcast, Quick Look
Tagged acquisition, acquisition management, acquisition planning, acquisition reform, acquisitions, Air Force, Army, best practices, CNSA, competitive bids, contracts, Department of Defense, DOD, F-35, federal contracts, government contracting, knowledge-based best practices, major weapon systems, Navy, quick look, Shelby Oakley, Virginia Class Submarine, weapon acquisitions, weapon programs, weapon systems
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GAO’s Information Technology & Cybersecurity Team
GAO’s workforce is organized largely by subject area, with most employees working in one of our 15 mission teams. Today we’ll be putting the spotlight on our Information Technology & Cybersecurity (ITC) team, which helps the government respond to the … Continue reading
Posted in About GAO, Information Security, Information Technology, Mission Team
Tagged best practices, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data security, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Greg Wilshusen, high risk, information security, information systems, information technology, ITC, medicare, Nick Marinos, Secret Service, Valerie Melvin
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Prescription Drug Labeling for Individuals Who are Blind or Visually Impaired (podcast)
About 7.4 million Americans are blind or visually impaired, and they may have trouble reading the labels on prescription drug containers. Accessible labels—including audible, Braille, and large-print labels—can help. In 2013 the government developed best practices for accessible labels, and … Continue reading
Posted in Health Care, Podcast
Tagged accessibility, accessible, best practices, blind, braille, HC, John Dicken, large print, pharmaceuticals, pharmacies, prescription drug labels, visually impaired
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Is Your Project’s Technology Up to the Job? Our New Draft Tech Readiness Assessment Guide Can Help Answer That
Technology can help solve some of the thorniest problems. But immature tech can create more problems than it solves. NASA, the Department of Defense, and others originally conceived of the idea of “technology readiness assessments” to determine technology maturity—whether the … Continue reading
Our 2016 “Quick Looks” at DOD, NASA, and DHS
Every year, we review the federal government’s priciest and therefore riskiest acquisition programs through our “Quick Looks.” The 3 agencies we focus on are the Department of Defense, NASA, and Department of Homeland Security. While these agencies have very different … Continue reading
Posted in Podcast, Quick Look
Tagged acquisition, ASM, best practices, DHS, DOD, NASA, quick looks
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Our Annual “Quick Look” at DOD’s Weapon Programs
Last week, we issued our annual review of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) major weapon programs. This review assessed 78 programs that will cost a combined $1.4 trillion to acquire. Read on for highlights of our latest DOD “Quick Look” … Continue reading
GAO’s Acquisition and Sourcing Management Team
GAO’s workforce is organized largely by subject area, with most employees working in 1 of 14 mission teams, many of which we have highlighted on the WatchBlog. Today we’ll be putting the spotlight on the Acquisition and Sourcing Management (ASM) team, … Continue reading
Posted in About GAO, Budget and Spending, Mission Team, National Defense, Quick Look, Space
Tagged about GAO, acquisition, acquisition capacity, acquisition management, acquisition planning, ASM, best practices, critical technologies, defense systems, Department of Defense, DOD, DOD space systems, government accountability office, major weapon systems, mission, mission team, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, security systems, sourcing, sourcing management, space, strategic sourcing, usgao
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Controlling Costs for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
From acquisition to operations and maintenance, Department of Defense weapons programs are consistently of interest to the federal government and the public. Since 2000, we have been assessing DOD’s most costly weapons program, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The defense acquisition … Continue reading
Posted in Budget and Spending, National Defense
Tagged acquisition, ASM, best practices, budget, cost, cost estimates, DCM, defense, Department of Defense, F-35, joint strike fighter, podcast, quick look, sustainment, weapon systems
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Marking Telework Week 2014
This winter, snow and ice have brought much of the country to a halt on a number of occasions—including this past Monday in Washington. These storms highlight the opportunity for telework to keep employees working and businesses and governments humming … Continue reading
Posted in Government Operations, Human Capital
Tagged best practices, continuity, employee, federal agencies, flexibility, government accountability office, human capital, key practices, management, Office of Personnel Management, OPM, policies, technology, telework, Telework Week, teleworking, usgao
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