The IT Dashboard is a management tool built on Drupal for use by decision makers in the Federal Government to monitor the cost and effectiveness of IT spending. As of March of 2011, the source code that runs the site has been released to the general public as an open source project. This code in this repository is being actively developed.
This Open Source version differs from the production version in that it comes pre-populated with only sample data, and uses the Fusion Charts free library instead of the full enterprise version. After installing and configuring the site, you can use the demo site as a comparison.
Contributions to this project are welcome, and we ask that potential contributors begin by browsing the code in the repository, determining how you would like to help, then contacting the project admins in the forum.
Overview
In June 2009, Federal IT leaders asked two questions about their IT budgets. These questions are common in the commercial world, but have been difficult to answer in the public sector:
- Where are our IT dollars going?
- Are we getting value from our investments?
The answer to these questions is a website that gives insight into the acquisition and management of the federal government's $75 billion-plus IT portfolio. The result is the IT Dashboard, a site built in collaboration with the government's most senior IT leaders and nearly every federal agency.
The IT Dashboard provides full lifecycle performance information on IT projects' scope and status. The data allows users to see project status, spot problems and trends, manage performance and quality expectations, and establish accountability. The tool is useful to the public and to government IT leaders who plan and manage IT investments.
