Why Government IT Projects Cost Ten Times More Than Planned

Why do government IT projects routinely blow past their budgets by 10x or more? In this episode, Lucas and Luna drill into the specific case of California's MyCalPAYS system—a $9 million payroll project that ballooned to over $1 billion before being abandoned. They explore the root causes: optimistic cost estimates, vendor lock-in, changing requirements, and the lack of accountability when projects are funded by taxpayer money. Lucas cites a 2023 study by the Institute for Government that found 70% of large government IT projects in the U.S. exceed their original budgets by an average of 45%. Luna brings up the UK's National Health Service's £10 billion IT modernization failure as a parallel. The conversation connects these failures to broader issues in public procurement and suggests why the problem persists despite decades of reform efforts. This episode will change how you think about government efficiency. #GovernmentIT #PublicProcurement #MyCalPAYS #California #NHS #ITFailures #TaxpayerMoney #CostOverruns #BudgetBlowout #ProjectManagement #VendorLockIn #EconomicPolicy #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentSpending #Politics #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo