Summary: The Agriculture Department (USDA) says that it has 17 major computer systems under development with total estimated life-cycle costs of $6.3 billion. One of these--a major information technology modernization program for the farm service agencies--accounts for about $2.6 billion of this amount. USDA has two additional major initiatives--one to streamline administrative processes and another to develop integrated financial information systems--that are still in early planning stages and therefore do not yet have estimated life-cycle costs. Although the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requires specific information about major systems, USDA has not routinely collected and reported these basic data and has therefore not complied with these government reporting requirements. USDA, OMB, and Congress need these data to determine (1) how and to what extent information technology is being used and (2) whether planned information technology investments warrant further review. Recently, USDA has taken steps to comply with the OMB requirements.
