# GAO Urges Agencies to Improve IT Risk Ratings

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed 53 major federal IT investments and found that it assessed risk as higher than agency CIOs did for 24 investments; 27 ratings matched GAO’s assessments, and 21 assessments had not been updated on time. GAO issued 17 recommendations to nine agencies to improve rating quality and frequency. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is preparing to replace the Federal IT Dashboard, but has not published a launch timeline. No solicitation or contract award is identified, but the findings have implications for oversight and contractor support across major federal IT programs.

- Contractors supporting affected investments can assess whether their risk reporting, evaluation, and data-quality support can help agencies address GAO’s recommendations on rating accuracy and timeliness.
- Firms providing IT portfolio assessment, risk analytics, or data-quality services may find opportunities as agencies act on the recommendations; the signal identifies no specific procurement or solicitation.
- OMB’s planned Dashboard replacement has no published launch timeline, so contractors should not assume a specific transition date. The 2026 FedCiv Summit is scheduled for October 29 in Arlington, Virginia (20 days from the current date), offering a relevant industry event.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology
**Topics:** Cybersecurity, Regulatory Compliance
**Published:** October 08, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
- U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

### Sources
- [CIOs often underestimated investment risks on IT dashboard, GAO says | FedScoop](https://fedscoop.com/federal-it-dashboard-agencies-it-investments-gao-report) - FedScoop
- [GAO: Federal IT Dashboard’s Risk Ratings Are Often Inaccurate – MeriTalk](https://www.meritalk.com/articles/gao-federal-it-dashboards-risk-ratings-are-often-inaccurate) - MeriTalk
- [GAO Urges Better IT Dashboard Investment Risk Ratings](https://www.executivegov.com/articles/gao-it-dashboard-cio-risk-ratings-recommendations) - ExecutiveGov