FAA wins praise for IT investment plan

The Federal Aviation Administration, which relies heavily on information technology to control the nation's air traffic, has mostly established "best practices" to manage its mission-critical systems, but weaknesses remain, according to a report released Monday.

The study by the Government Accountability Office found that FAA has outlined key practices for selecting and controlling its IT investments, and those practices provide "additional assurances that the investments selected will meet organizational needs and will be completed on time and within budget."

But the agency must address lapses in several areas, such as including the FAA's senior IT investment board in regular reviews and establishing standard practices for managing IT systems.

The FAA employs IT systems to control takeoffs and landings, and manage the flow of traffic among airports.

GAO said the agency incorporates a vast network of radars, automated data processing, navigation and communications equipment.