WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US departments of Defense and Homeland Security as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) waste up to $1.6 billion annually outsourcing Information Technology (IT) work, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report stated.
"Most of these agencies' IT services spending… continues to be obligated through hundreds of potentially duplicative contracts that diminish the government's buying power," the report, issued on Thursday, said.
IT services accounted for more than$30 billion in fiscal year 2013, of which $11 billion in costs came from the three government entities, the report documented.
"Leading commercial companies use strategic sourcing — a process that moves them away from numerous individual purchases to an aggregate approach — to better manage the services they acquire and achieve savings of 4 to 15 percent annually," the report explained.
For the three government entities, that would amount to annual savings of more than $1.6 billion, it added.
"In contrast, GAO previously reported that leading companies generally strategically managed about 90percent of their procurement spending, including services," the report pointed out.
The US Government Accountability Office is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer money.
