Data Act: Quality of Data Submissions Has Improved but Further Action is Needed to Disclose Known Data Limitations
Abstract
The DATA Act requires federal agencies to disclose roughly $4 trillion in annual federal spending and link this spending information to federal program activities so that policymakers and the public can more effectively track federal spending through its life cycle. The act also requires OMB and Treasury to establish data standards to enable consistent reporting of agency spending. The DATA Act includes a provision for GAO to report on the quality of the data collected and made available through USA spending.gov. Specifically, this report addresses:(1) the timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of the data, and the implementation and use of data standards; and (2) progress made in developing a data governance structure consistent with key practices, and how it affects data quality. GAO examined a projectable government-wide sample ofQ4 FY2018 spending data from a Treasury database that populates data on USAspending.gov by comparing them to agency source records and other sources. GAO also compared the results of Q4 2018 with results from its previous review of Q2 FY2017 data.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1169726
Entities
People
- Michelle Sager
- Paula M. Rascona
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office