The Federal IT dashboard almost came out of thin air this week. There were no hearings before it was implemented. There were no reports or congressional inquiries either. As federal CIO Vivek Kundra promised, the dashboard was going to happen and it did.

Senators were caught surprised and pleased. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) said the new website--which allows the public to track and comment on information technology spending--is terrific. "Now, with a mere click of the mouse, anyone who wants to can see and have their say about the decisions, successes, and setbacks of how their tax dollars are spent on IT projects,"  he said in a statement.

One of the most impressive things about the new site is that it was built in six weeks, according to a blog on zdnet.com. [1] Now if only the federal government could work that quickly on every project, there would be no need for study groups, excessive reports, hearings and bogging down in the bureaucratic mud.

For more on the IT dashboard:
- check out this nationaljournal.com article [2]