DATA Act: Implementation Progresses but Challenges Remain

Citation
Government Accountability Office, DATA Act: Implementation Progresses but Challenges Remain (GAO-17-282T) (Dec. 8, 2016) (full-text).

Overview
The DATA Act requires the Office of Management and Budget and Department of the Treasury to establish government-wide data standards and requires federal agencies to begin reporting financial and payment data in accordance with these standards by May 2017. The Act also requires establishment of a pilot program to develop recommendations for simplifying federal award reporting for grants and contracts. Consistent with GAO's mandate under the Act, the report being released today is one in a series that GAO will provide to the Congress.

This statement discusses steps taken by OMB, Treasury, and federal agencies to implement the Act and highlights key findings and the recommendation from GAO's report (GAO-17-156). As part of this work, the GAO reviewed DATA Act implementation plan updates and interviewed staff at OMB, Treasury, and other selected agencies.

In addition to prior recommendations that GAO has made, in its most recent report, GAO recommends that OMB take steps to help ensure that the procurement portion of the pilot better reflects leading practices for effective pilot design.