From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: 2015 High Risk Overview from the Comptroller General Description: Comptroller General Gene Dodaro introduces GAO’s 2015 High Risk list, and GAO directors explain the two new areas added to the list. Related GAO Works: GAO-15-290: HIGH-RISK SERIES: An Update; GAO-15-371T: GAO’s 2015 High-Risk Series: An Update; and GAO-15-373T: GAO’s 2015 High-Risk Series: An Update Released: February 2015 >> Hello, I'm Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S, Government Accountability Office or GAO. Every 2 years at the start of each new session of Congress, GAO publishes our High Risk list-this collection of areas at high risk of fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement or areas in need of broad-based transformation. [Image: GAO High Risk Web page depicting scrolling lisk of High Risk areas]. In 2015 GAO added IT acquisitions and operations management and VA health care to the High Risk list [Image: High Risk List with new areas in bold red]. >>[Dave Powner, Director, Information Technology, talks about improving management of IT acquisitions and operations]. The federal government invests more than $80 billion annually in information technology. These investments fund programs such as the Department of Defense's Expeditionary Combat Support System. After spending more than a billion dollars and failing to deploy, the program was cancelled. The government has undertaken several initiatives to improve IT system delivery and operations, but implementation has been inconsistent [Images: Information technology shots such as circuit boards and computers]. Over the past 4 years GAO has issued numerous reports and made over 300 related recommendations. Too frequently, federal IT investments fail, incur cost overruns and schedule delays, and don't contribute significantly to agency missions. Therefore, GAO added IT acquisitions and operations management to the High Risk list. The federal IT Acquisition Reform Act may streamline IT acquisitions, and therefore help reduce risk in this area, but only if the act is implemented effectively. >> [Debbie Draper, Director, Health Care, talks about managing risk and improving VA health care]. In the year since the United States began conducting military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, enrollment in the Department of Veterans Affairs' health care system has increased significantly. At the same time, Congress provided steady increases in VA's health care budget. Despite these substantial budget increases, GAO has issued numerous reports for more than a decade on VA facilities' failure to provide timely health care [Images: Shots of caring for vets in hospital and meetings of hospital executives]. These and other identified risk and weaknesses, raise serious concerns about VA's management and oversight of its health care system. As a result, GAO concluded the VA health care is a High Risk area. >> [Gene Dodaro gives conclusion] With focused attention and reform, improvements in the 32 areas now on the list could lead to billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers, dramatically improve service to the public, and strengthen confidence in the performance and accountability of the federal government. Find out more about progress in these areas in the High Risk section of GAO.gov [Image: GAO High Risk List icon and Web link].