The Obama administration introduced online tools on Tuesday that will track and analyze the more than $70 billion a year that the federal government spends on information technology.

The new Web tools, called IT Dashboard, are part of a Web site set up to monitor government spending, USASpending.gov. Administration officials said the technology-tracking dashboard was a step toward greater openness and accountability in government, and a model for the kinds of tools it would increasingly make available to the public for other kinds of spending, like following the flow of dollars in the economic recovery package.

“This is the direction we’re headed as an administration,” said Vivek Kundra, the government’s chief information officer.

The dashboard was developed quickly, in about six weeks. Mr. Kundra said that the data was not yet complete, and that further features were planned, including a blog so people could contribute ideas and comments. But the goal, he said, was to “democratize the data” as quickly as possible to get the expected benefits of openness — pressure for greater efficiency and innovations contributed by outside experts and the public.

The site has graphics showing total spending on computer hardware, software and services by agency. A user can then click to see the particulars on hundreds of technology projects — a description of each, the amount being spent, the government manager responsible and the names of the private sector suppliers (though many of the contractor lists are not yet filled in). Read more…

Site Powered by: BPO Services, Freelance Projects