A new report released Thursday claims the federal government wastes at least half of the $70 billion to $80 billion it spends each year on IT and cybersecurity. However, critics say the metric used to compare agencies with private industry is flawed.

The International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers (IAITAM), which compiled the report, looked at IT spending compared to headcount and found that federal agencies spend on average seven times more than private companies on IT per employee. Agencies spend an average of $36,162, while industry spends $4,867 per employee.

The largest disconnect was discovered in the Department of Education, which spends 30 times the private sector average, at $168,000 per DoE employee.

“If this level of federal spending on IT was to be reduced to just three times the average for private industry, the savings would add up to well over $30 billion,” the report states.

SOURCE: federaltimes.com