Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that integrators' solutions provide unique identifiers for hardware on selected agencies' networks. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that FAA's system integrator records FISMA system information in the agency's CDM tools. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that IHS's system integrator records FISMA system information in the agency's CDM tools. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that FAA's system integrator establishes a process to integrate all vulnerability information in the agency's CDM tools, including the time a vulnerability was remediated. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that IHS's system integrator establishes a process to integrate all vulnerability information in the agency's CDM tools, including the time a vulnerability was remediated. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that SBA's system integrator establishes a process to integrate all vulnerability information in the agency's CDM tools, including the time a vulnerability was remediated. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The FAA Administrator should commit to a time frame to complete the agency's effort to associate hardware with its FISMA systems. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Transportation: Federal Aviation Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The FAA Administrator should document agency-specific variations from federal core configuration benchmarks for each operating system on its network. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Transportation: Federal Aviation Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The FAA Administrator should configure its CDM tools to compare configuration settings against federal core benchmarks and agency-specific variations applicable to its environment. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Transportation: Federal Aviation Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of IHS should document approved hardware inventory information by associating FISMA systems with the hardware on its network in a format that can be readily integrated into its CDM tools. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Public Health Service: Indian Health Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of IHS should document agency-specific variations from federal core configuration benchmarks for each operating system on its network. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Public Health Service: Indian Health Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of IHS should configure its CDM tools to compare configuration settings against federal core benchmarks applicable to its environment. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Public Health Service: Indian Health Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The SBA Administrator should commit to a time frame to complete the agency's effort to associate hardware with its FISMA systems. (Recommendation 13)

Agency: Small Business Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The SBA Administrator should document agency-specific variations from federal core configuration benchmarks for each operating system on its network. (Recommendation 14)

Agency: Small Business Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The SBA Administrator should configure its CDM tools to compare configuration settings against agency-specific benchmarks applicable to its environment. (Recommendation 15)

Agency: Small Business Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director, MDA, should ensure an independent assessment is conducted of the agency's process for developing and executing its annual BMDS flight test plan. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense: Missile Defense Agency
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with the recommendation stating that MDA will conduct an independent assessment as recommended.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the Director of Strategic Technology Management (STM), in collaboration with other members of the Information Technology Program Management Center of Excellence (ITPM COE), identifies the skills and resources needed to complete the work intended for the upcoming fiscal year, including the availability of supplementary staff, such as subject matter experts. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the Executive Steering Committee overseeing the activities of the ITPM COE establishes target measures for the department's desired outcomes of its transition to Agile development. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the DHS Chief Information Officer (CIO) defines a process and associated set of controls to ensure that Agile programs and projects are reporting a set of core required performance metrics for monitoring and measuring Agile adoption. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the ITPM COE, in coordination with the CIO, begins measuring results associated with the transition to Agile and the success of the transition based on its impact on the department. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the CIO, in collaboration with the Chief Procurement Officer, through the Homeland Security Acquisition Institute, establish Agile training requirements for senior stakeholders. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the Chief Human Capital Officer, in collaboration with the CIO, consider modifications to the current employee recognition and performance management governance to ensure that teamwork and team performance of Agile programs and projects are incentivized. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the CIO, in collaboration with the Chief Procurement Officer, through the Homeland Security Acquisition Institute, establish Agile training requirements for staff outside of the acquisition workforce but assigned to Agile programs. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the CIO, upon establishing a set of core performance metrics, tracks and monitors the pace of Agile team development. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the CIO, in collaboration with the Executive Director of the Office of Program Accountability and Risk Management (PARM), update or develop new guidance on Agile methodologies to describe how Agile teams can estimate the relative complexity of user stories. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary should ensure that the CIO, upon establishing a set of core performance metrics, sets expectations for automated testing and code quality, and tracks and monitors against those expectations. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DOD CIO takes appropriate steps to ensure implementation of the DC3I tasks. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The Department of Defense partially concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that DOD components develop plans with scheduled completion dates to implement the four remaining CDIP tasks overseen by DOD CIO. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The Department of Defense partially concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Deputy Secretary of Defense identifies a DOD component to oversee the implementation of the seven CDIP tasks not overseen by DOD CIO and report on progress implementing them. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The Department of Defense did not concur with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that DOD components accurately monitor and report information on the extent that users have completed the Cyber Awareness Challenge training as well as the number of users whose access to the network was revoked because they have not completed the training. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense partially concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DOD CIO ensures all DOD components, including DARPA, require their users to take the Cyber Awareness Challenge training developed by DISA. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should direct a component to monitor the extent to which practices are implemented to protect the department's network from key cyberattack techniques. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The Department of Defense did not concur with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DOD CIO assesses the extent to which senior leaders' have more complete information to make risk-based decisions—and revise the recurring reports (or develop a new report) accordingly. Such information could include DOD's progress on implementing (a) cybersecurity practices identified in cyber hygiene initiatives and (b) cyber hygiene practices to protect DOD networks from key cyberattack techniques. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The Department of Defense partially concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer updates the telecommunications inventory to include all telecommunications assets and services in use at the agency, and updates Commerce's process for ongoing maintenance of the inventory to include the complete inventory. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Commerce: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: Commerce concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer completes efforts to identify future telecommunications needs using a complete inventory of existing telecommunications services; conducts and documents a comprehensive strategic analysis at all bureaus to identify areas for optimization and sharing of telecommunications resources; evaluates the costs and benefits of implementing new telecommunications technology and alternative options at all bureaus; and fully aligns Commerce's telecommunications needs with its long-term IT plans and enterprise architecture. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Commerce: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: Commerce concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer finalizes the responsibilities related to the information security management role during the telecommunications transition, and assigns the roles for providing legal expertise during the transition, as well as for managing human capital, telecommunications assets, and information security during the transition, to staff members; describes how changes and disruptions related to the transition will be communicated to end users at all bureaus and identifies the key local and regional agency transition officials responsible for disseminating information about the transition to employees and working with the vendor to facilitate transition activities in Commerce's transition communications plan; and establishes and implements configuration and change management processes for its transition. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Commerce: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: Commerce concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer identifies all of the funding needed to support the telecommunications transition; justifies requests for resources related to transition program management staff; conducts an analysis to identify staff resources needed for the entire transition effort; and analyzes training needs for staff assisting with the transition. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Commerce: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: Commerce concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer takes into account the agency's telecommunications transition risks, mission critical systems, and contingency plans in Commerce's transition time line. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Commerce: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: Commerce concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer develops a policy that requires the agency's components to maintain an inventory of the telecommunications assets and services that they acquire independently from headquarters; updates the telecommunications inventory to include all telecommunications assets and services in use at HHS, and updates the agency's process for ongoing maintenance of the inventory to include the complete inventory. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: HHS concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer completes efforts to identify future telecommunications needs using a complete inventory of existing telecommunications services; and aligns HHS's telecommunications needs with its long-term IT plans. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: HHS concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer identifies and documents telecommunications transition roles and responsibilities related to (1) managing assets and human capital during the planning and execution phases of the transition and (2) providing legal expertise during the execution phase of the transition, and assigns the transition information security management role to a staff member; and establishes and implements configuration and change management processes for HHS's transition. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: HHS concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer identifies all of the funding needed to support the telecommunications transition at each of the agency's components, justifies requests for transition resources related to hardware and software upgrades, conducts an analysis to identify staff resources needed for the entire transition effort, and analyzes training needs for staff assisting with the transition. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: HHS concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer completes efforts to identify telecommunications transition measures of success that can be used to assess transition progress; and takes into account all of the agency's components, as well as its mission critical systems, contingency plans,and telecommunications transition risks, in HHS's transition time line. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: HHS concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer updates the telecommunications inventory to include all telecommunications assets and services in use at the agency, and updates State's process for ongoing maintenance of the inventory to include the complete inventory. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: he Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer completes efforts to identify the agency's future telecommunications needs using a complete inventory of existing telecommunications services; conducts and documents a strategic analysis to justify the sharing of telecommunications resources; and aligns State's telecommunications needs with its long-term IT plans and enterprise architecture. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer identifies telecommunications transition roles and responsibilities related to (1) managing assets during the planning and execution phases of the transition and (2) providing legal expertise during the execution phase of the transition, and finalizes the responsibilities related to the information security management role for the transition; includes in State's transition communications plan the frequency with which transition status updates and meetings will occur throughout the transition, a description of how changes and disruptions related to the transition will be communicated to end-users, and the key local and regional agency transition officials responsible for disseminating information about the transition to employees and working with the vendor to facilitate transition activities; and establishes configuration management processes for the agency's transition. (Recommendation 13)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer identifies all of the funding needed to support the telecommunications transition, justifies requests for resources related to transition program management staff, conducts an analysis to identify staff resources needed for the entire transition effort, and finalizes its analysis of training needs for staff assisting with the transition. (Recommendation 14)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer takes into account the agency's telecommunications transition risks, mission critical systems, and contingency plans in State's transition time line. (Recommendation 15)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer updates the telecommunications inventory to include all telecommunications assets and services in use at the agency, and updates and finalizes VA's process for ongoing maintenance of the inventory to include the complete inventory. (Recommendation 16)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: VA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer completes efforts to identify future telecommunications needs using a complete inventory of existing telecommunications services, and determines and documents that VA's telecommunications needs are aligned with its long-term IT plans. (Recommendation 17)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: VA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer includes in its telecommunications transition communications plan the key local and regional agency officials responsible for disseminating information about the transition to employees and working with the vendor to facilitate transition activities; and establishes and uses cost and schedule management processes in the agency's transition. (Recommendation 18)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: VA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer identifies and documents all of the funding needed to support the telecommunications transition, including costs for all years of transition planning support; justifies requests for transition resources related to program management staff; conducts an analysis to identify staff resources needed for the entire transition effort; and analyzes training needs for staff assisting with the transition. (Recommendation 19)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: VA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer completes efforts to identify telecommunications transition measures of success that can be used to assess transition progress; and takes into account the agency's telecommunications transition risks, mission critical systems, and contingency plans in VA's transition time line. (Recommendation 20)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: VA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer updates the telecommunications inventory to include all telecommunications assets and services in use at the agency, and updates NASA's process for ongoing maintenance of the inventory to include the complete inventory. (Recommendation 21)

Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NASA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the agency's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer completes efforts to identify the agency's future telecommunications needs using a complete inventory of existing telecommunications services. (Recommendation 22)

Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NASA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the agency's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer identifies telecommunications transition roles and responsibilities related to (1) managing human capital during the planning and execution phases of the transition and (2) providing legal expertise during the execution phase of the transition. (Recommendation 23)

Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NASA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the agency's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer conducts an analysis to support the anticipated cost savings identified as part of the agency's justification for its resource requests related to hardware and software upgrades for the telecommunications transition, and justifies its resource requests for transition program management staff; conducts an analysis to identify staff resources needed for the entire transition effort; and analyzes training needs for staff assisting with the transition. (Recommendation 24)

Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NASA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the agency's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer takes into account the agency's mission critical systems and contingency plans in NASA's telecommunications transition time line. (Recommendation 25)

Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NASA concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the agency's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The TSA Administrator should update the BASE cybersecurity template to ensure it reflects cybersecurity key practices, including the Detect and Recover functions outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Transportation Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: TSA concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it by updating the BASE Cybersecurity Security Action Item section to ensure it reflects the NIST Cybersecurity Framework Detect and Recover functions. When we confirm what actions TSA has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Acting Director of BLM should develop a documented process to consistently implement the APD prioritization process outlined in Instruction Memorandum 2013-104 at all field offices. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of the Interior, on behalf of BLM, did not concur with this recommendation. As of August 2020, BLM has not taken steps to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Acting Director of BLM should instruct agency staff to document formal change management processes for the rollout of future AFMSS II modules consistent with leading software development practices. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of the Interior, on behalf of BLM, did not concur with this recommendation--although, it did state that it agreed with the premise of the need to further improve its formal change management procedures. As of August 2020, BLM has not taken actions to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Acting Director of BLM should document and implement an action plan that identifies potential corrective actions based on previous lessons learned to address any challenges with the rollout of future AFMSS II modules. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of the Interior, on behalf of BLM, agreed with this recommendation. In its agency comment letter, the Department said that the BLM AFMSS team would implement adjustments and improvement based on the collected lessons learned. They also stated that upon completion of the last Field Office implementation and conversion to AFMSS II, BLM will conduct a formal program review and an annual operational assessment, which will also present opportunities for annual corrective actions and additional lessons learned considerations. As of August 2020, BLM has not taken actions to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, in collaboration with the military departments, provide updated guidance for the oversight of privatized military housing, to include oversight objectives for each service to monitor the physical condition of privatized homes over the remaining duration of the ground leases. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD (S)), as the Chief Housing Officer, issued guidance requiring the military departments to monitor work order completion for housing privatized under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative based on a combination of resident input, timeliness of work order completion, and number of repeat work orders for the same repair. The guidance also required increased tracking of MHPI project work orders by installation staff. Moving forward, the ASD(S) plans to issue quarterly program review guidance that establishes oversight objectives for the military departments to monitor the physical condition of MHPI housing over the duration of their project ground leases, formalizing the requirement that the data be monitored by the Chief Housing Officer. DOD expects this to be completed by December 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Army should take steps, in collaboration with the Army's private housing partners, to review the indicators underlying the privatized housing project performance metrics to ensure they provide an accurate reflection of the condition and quality of the homes. (Recommendation 2

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Army: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Secretary of the Army has taken several steps toward addressing this recommendation. For example, the Army published the Portfolio and Asset Management Handbook creating a multi-tiered assessment approach of performance metrics to measure the health of each privatized home through inspection, assessment, satisfaction, and feedback. The Army and the private housing partners revised the Incentive Fee Performance Management Plan, placing increased emphasis on resident satisfaction and work order/maintenance management. The Army also put Commanders in charge, ensuring Army leadership at every Army installation is tracking housing quality and safety. In late 2020, the Army plans to review and evaluate these actions and make a determination by 31 Jan 2021 if any changes or revisions are needed to best implement the recommendation. As such, we will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Air Force should take steps, in collaboration with the Air Force's private housing partners, to review the indicators underlying the privatized housing project performance metrics to ensure they provide an accurate reflection of the condition and quality of the homes. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Air Force: Office of the Secretary of the Air Force
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Air Force is engaging in several steps to address this recommendation. Specifically, in March 2020, the Air Force tasked each of the Military Housing Offices to inspect all move-in, move-out, and change of occupancy maintenance events and all emergency, urgent, and life, health, and safety work orders, which is outlined in Air Force guidance. The Air Force is also engaging in several ongoing actions. In response to a memo to the military departments to provide consistency of performance incentive fees, the Air Force was negotiating with the privatized housing project owners to update performance incentive fee metrics in accordance with ASD directed categories and weightings. As of August 2020, agreements had been finalized with 2 partners and work was ongoing with the remaining partners. In addition, the Air Force was working with the project owners to deploy Satisfacts, a survey tool to independently measure resident satisfaction with projects' work order performance, across all Air Force projects with an expected completion by December 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of these recommendations.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Navy should take steps, in collaboration with the Navy and Marine Corps' private housing partners, to review the indicators underlying the privatized housing project performance metrics to ensure they provide an accurate reflection of the condition and quality of the homes. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Navy and Marine Corps are engaging in several steps to address this recommendation. Specifically, the Navy and Marine Corps have developed a centralized electronic data warehouse, which receives data from privatized housing partner maintenance systems to display work order and survey performance dashboards. By February 2021, the Navy expects to complete the development of metrics displayed by the data warehouse to include key service call performance metrics and resident feedback data. The Navy and Marine Corps are also developing a web-based monitoring matrix tool housing officials can use to evaluate the performance of privatized housing partners. The tool is intended to provide improved tracking capabilities and improved accessibility to information, thus providing more consistent oversight and improved advocacy service members and their families. The Navy is also working to hire 247 additional Navy and Marine Corps housing staff to review and analyze private partner provided recurring maintenance and customer satisfaction reports in an effort to strengthen oversight and monitoring, with an estimated completion of September 2020. Moving forward, we will continue to monitor the status of these and other efforts.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, in collaboration with the military departments and private housing partners, establish minimum data requirements and consistent terminology and practices for work order data collection for comparability across installations and projects and to track trends over time. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: e Department of Defense (DOD) partially concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD stated that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD(S)), as the Chief Housing Officer, plans to issue a policy directing the military departments to establish, to the maximum extent practical, minimum data requirements and consistent terminology and practices for MHPI housing unit work order collection to aid in comparability across installations and projects, and for tracking trends over time. However, DOD noted that the department cannot mandate changes to existing MHPI project legal documents. DOD estimates that this effort will be completed by December 2021. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment require the military departments to establish a process to validate data collected by the private housing partners to better ensure the reliability and validity of work order data and to allow for more effective use of these data for monitoring and tracking purposes. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD(S)), as the Chief Housing Officer, issued guidance directing the military departments to exercise proper oversight to ensure Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) projects perform in accordance with legal agreements, to include due diligence in monitoring and auditing project maintenance records and other project performance data. The guidance also required military departments to review their entire portfolios of MHPI projects to ensure accurate and appropriate work order management processes. In response to the new guidance, DOD noted that the military departments put in place appropriate oversight measures and undertook the required reviews, though the investigations of project business practices were ongoing in some cases. As another step, the ASD(S) plans to issue guidance directing the military departments to establish a process to validate data collected by their respective MHPI Project Owners to better ensure the reliability and validity of work order data and to allow for more effective use of these data for monitoring and tracking purposes. DOD expects this to be completed by the end of September 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, in collaboration with the military departments, develop a process for collecting and calculating resident satisfaction data from the military departments to ensure that the data are compiled and calculated in a standardized and accurate way. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) partially concurred with this recommendation based on the fact that the draft report listed the incorrect office as the source for addressing the deficiency, but subsequently changed its response to concur after the recommendation was directed to the appropriate office in the final report. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD(S)) plans to issue guidance establishing a department-wide process for collecting and calculating resident satisfaction data to ensure that the data are compiled and calculated in a standardized and accurate way effective with the survey collection effort in Fiscal Year 2021. The department expects this effort to be completed by October 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment provides additional explanation of the data collected and reported in future reports to Congress, such as explaining the limitations of available survey data, how resident satisfaction was calculated, and reasons for any missing data, among other things. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) partially concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD(S)) would provide additional explanation of the MHPI resident satisfaction data collected and reported in future annual Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) reports to Congress, effective with the annual report covering fiscal year 2019. DOD noted that the additional information will include, among other things, an explanation of the limitations of available survey data, how resident satisfaction was calculated, and reasons for any missing data. As of August 2020, the annual MHPI report covering fiscal year 2018 was in final coordination and the department noted that the report would addresses a vast majority, but not all, of the requirements identified in our recommendation. DOD noted that the additional information would be provided in the next annual MHPI report. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Army should develop and implement a plan to clearly and systematically communicate to residents the difference between the military housing office and the private partner. At a minimum, these plans should include the Army housing office's roles, responsibilities, locations, and contact information and should ensure that all residents are aware that they can directly contact Army housing office officials. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Army: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its response, DOD noted that the Army developed a "Plain Language" briefing as required by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that included the Army Housing Office's roles, responsibilities, location, and contact information at each privatized housing project site. DOD noted that the intent of the briefing was to ensure that all residents were aware of their ability to directly contact Army Housing Office and/or the Garrison Commanders. DOD stated that the briefing was disseminated to all of the Military Housing Offices, who are using it in newcomer briefings, and stated that the briefing would be provided to all current residents of privatized military housing, but that measure would not be tracked due to attrition. In addition, DOD noted that Headquarters, Department of the Army was tasking Army Materiel Command to develop a more detailed plan to communicate to residents the difference between the Army Housing Office and the private housing partner. The Army's intent is to not only capture residents upon their arrival at an installation, but making the services of the MHO known over the duration of a resident's time on at installation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Navy should develop and implement a plan to clearly and systematically communicate to residents the difference between the military housing office and the private partner. At a minimum, these plans should include the Navy housing office's roles, responsibilities, locations, and contact information and should ensure that all residents are aware that they can directly contact Navy housing office officials. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Navy has taken various steps to address this recommendation, with additional steps planned. For example, the Navy has ensured that each installation has a specific issue resolution process description marketing flyer available, both in hard copy and on the public housing websites, with a reminder that residents can contact both the privatized housing property manager and the Navy housing office with any issues. Moreover, every housing unit has been provided with a refrigerator magnet reminding residents that they can and should contact the Navy housing office if they have any issues with their home. In addition, the Navy and Marine Corps have established a requirement to contact each privatized housing resident not later than 15 days after move-in and again 60 days after move-in to provide an opportunity to request assistance and remind them of available support. Moving forward, the Navy has an ongoing effort to require private housing companies to market the same messaging as the service issue resolution processes for the MHOs that they support, for consistent advocacy messaging to the tenants. The information will be added to PPV partner websites, printed material and resident handbooks. The Navy also plans to use its annual survey to tracks resident satisfaction and awareness of the Navy's issue resolution process, with expected completion by October 2020. In addition, the Marine Corps has identified a near-term initiative to procure name tags for all MHO employees to wear, identifying themselves as distinct and separate from privatized housing property management company, which will be standardized across all USMC installations. The Marine Corps also plans to develop a standard welcome aboard package to include magnets and other items with key point of contact information. The Marine Corps expects these efforts to be completed by the end of September 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, in collaboration with the military departments, assess the risks of proposed initiatives aimed at improving the privatized military housing program on the financial viability of the projects. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, as the Chief Housing Officer, planned to issue a policy establishing the assessment of Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) project financial viability as part of quarterly program reviews as a long-term requirement. The department noted that the program review data would be augmented by input from the MHPI companies, who are assessing the likely impact of proposed initiatives in conjunction with their third party lenders. The department expected this effort to be completed by December 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the F-35 Program Executive Officer, develops a program-wide process for measuring, collecting, and tracking information on how ALIS is affecting the performance of the F-35 fleet to include, but not be limited to, its effects on mission capability rates. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the F-35 Program Executive Officer, develops and implements a strategy for the re-design of ALIS. The strategy should be detailed enough to clearly identify and assess the goals, key risks or uncertainties, and costs of re-designing the system. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Chairman of FCC should develop specific, measurable goals and performance measures for its efforts to monitor the performance of new WEA capabilities, such as enhanced geo-targeting and expanded alert message length. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Federal Communications Commission
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of the IPAWS program should document how it plans to address key actions needed to educate alerting authorities in their use of IPAWS and implement a mechanism that will allow FEMA to regularly and systematically obtain and analyze feedback on alerting authorities' educational needs. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of the IPAWS program should establish procedures to prioritize pending IPAWS applications and to follow up with applicants to address these applications. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should establish and implement a time frame for completing its drafting of the AED regulations and submitting them to the Office of Management and Budget for further review. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: According to DHS, the department was still reviewing its AED regulations in March 2020. Thus, DHS had not completed drafting the regulations or submitted them to the Office of Management and Budget for further review. DHS aims to publish the regulations by July 2020.

Recommendation: The Director of OMB should establish a process for monitoring and holding agencies accountable for authorizing cloud services through FedRAMP. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget: Office of the Director
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: OMB neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation and as of September 2020, the office has not provided information on its actions to implement our recommendation. To fully implement this recommendation, OMB needs to collect data on the extent to which federal agencies are using cloud services authorized outside of FedRAMP and oversee agencies' compliance with using the program. According to an OMB Associate General Counsel, the agency does not have a mechanism for enforcing agencies' compliance with its guidance on FedRAMP. However, we believe that OMB can and should hold agencies accountable for complying with its policies. By implementing this recommendation, OMB could substantially improve participation in the FedRAMP program, which is intended to standardize security requirements for federal agencies' authorizations of cloud services. We will update the status of this recommendation when OMB provides information on its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of GSA should direct the Director of FedRAMP to clarify guidance to agencies and cloud service providers on program requirements and responsibilities. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: General Services Administration: Office of the Administrator
Status: Open

Comments: As of September 2020, GSA has not provided evidence to close this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when GSA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of GSA should direct the Director of FedRAMP to improve the program's continuous monitoring process by allowing more automated capabilities, including for agencies to review documentation. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: General Services Administration: Office of the Administrator
Status: Open

Comments: As of September 2020, GSA has not provided evidence to close this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when GSA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of GSA should update security plans for selected systems to include the description of security controls and reviews and approvals plan. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: General Services Administration: Office of the Administrator
Status: Open

Comments: As of September 2020, GSA has not provided evidence to close this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when GSA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of GSA should update the security assessment report for the selected system to identify the summarized results of control effectiveness tests. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: General Services Administration: Office of the Administrator
Status: Open

Comments: As of September 2020, GSA has not provided evidence to close this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when GSA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of GSA should update the list of corrective actions for selected systems to identify the responsible office and estimated funding required and anticipated source of funding. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: General Services Administration: Office of the Administrator
Status: Open

Comments: As of September 2020, GSA has not provided evidence to close this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when GSA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of GSA should develop guidance requiring that cloud service authorization letters be provided to the FedRAMP program management office. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: General Services Administration: Office of the Administrator
Status: Open

Comments: As of September 2020, GSA has not provided evidence to close this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when GSA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Director of CDC to update the security plan for the selected system to identify the authorization boundary, the system operational environment and connections, a description of security controls, and the individual reviewing and approving the plan and date of approval. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, CDC stated it has taken actions to address our recommendations, but we have not received evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when CDC provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Director of CDC to update the security assessment report for the selected system to identify the summarized results of control effectiveness tests. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, CDC stated it has taken actions to address our recommendations, but we have not received evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when CDC provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Director of CDC to update the list of corrective actions for the selected system to identify the specific weaknesses, funding source, changes to milestones and completion dates, identified source of weaknesses, and status of corrective actions. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, CDC stated it has taken actions to address our recommendations, but we have not received evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status once CDC provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Administrator of CMS to update the system security plans for selected systems to identify a description of security controls. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, HHS stated CMS took actions to close this recommendation, but CMS has not yet provided evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when CMS provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Administrator of CMS to update the security assessment report for selected system to identify the summarized results of control effectiveness tests. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, HHS stated CMS took actions to close this recommendation, but CMS has not yet provided evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when CMS provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Administrator of CMS to update and document the CMS remedial action plan for the selected system to identify the anticipated source of funding. (Recommendation 13)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, HHS stated CMS took actions to close this recommendation, but CMS has not yet provided evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when CMS provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Administrator of CMS to prepare letters authorizing the use of cloud services for the selected systems and submit the letters to the FedRAMP program management office. (Recommendation 14)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, HHS stated CMS took actions to close this recommendation, but CMS has not yet provided evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when CMS provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Director of NIH to update security plans for selected systems to identify the authorization boundary, system operation in terms of mission and business processes, operational environment and connections, and a description of security controls. (Recommendation 15)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, NIH stated it is taking actions to address this recommendation, but the agency did not provide evidence of its corrective actions. NIH stated it will provide an update in December 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when NIH provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Director of NIH to update the security assessment report for selected systems to identify summarized results of control effectiveness tests. (Recommendation 16)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, NIH stated it is taking actions to address this recommendation, but the agency did not provide evidence of its corrective actions. NIH stated it will provide an update in December 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when NIH provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Director of NIH to update the NIH list of corrective actions for selected systems to identify estimated funding and anticipated source of funding, key milestones with completion dates, and changes to milestones and completion dates. (Recommendation 17)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, NIH stated it is taking actions to address this recommendation, but the agency did not provide evidence of its corrective actions. NIH stated it will provide an update in December 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when NIH provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS should direct the Director of NIH to submit the division's letters authorizing the use of cloud services for the selected systems to the FedRAMP program management office. (Recommendation 18)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, NIH stated it is taking actions to address this recommendation, but the agency did not provide evidence of its corrective actions. NIH stated it will provide an update in December 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when NIH provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of EPA should update security plan for the selected operational system to identify a description of security controls, and the individual reviewing and approving the plan and date of approval. (Recommendation 19)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, EPA stated it is taking actions to address this recommendation, but the agency did not provide evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when EPA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of EPA should update the security assessment report for the selected operational system to identify the summarized results of control effectiveness tests. (Recommendation 20)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: EPA did not concur with this recommendation and as of September 2020, the agency has not provided any evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when EPA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of EPA should update the list of corrective actions for the selected operational system to identify the specific weakness, estimated funding and anticipated source of funding, key remediation milestones with completion dates, changes to milestones and completion dates, and source of the weaknesses. (Recommendation 21)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2020, EPA stated it is taking action to address this recommendation, but the agency did not provide evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when EPA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of EPA should prepare the letter authorizing the use of cloud service for the selected operational system and submit the letter to the FedRAMP program management office. (Recommendation 22)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: EPA did not concur with this recommendation and as of September 2020, the agency has not provided any evidence of its corrective actions. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when EPA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Administrator of EPA should develop guidance requiring that cloud service authorization letter be provided to the FedRAMP program management office. (Recommendation 23)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: EPA did not concur with this recommendation and as of September 2020, the agency has not provided any additional evidence. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress and update the recommendation's status when EPA provides its corrective actions.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment should ensure that the Air Force's finalized Space C2 program's acquisition strategy includes, at a minimum, the following elements:

• acquisition and contracting approach;
• program management structure, including authorities and oversight responsibilities;
• plans for platform and infrastructure development;
• requirements management and development approach, and plans for prioritization;
• risk management plans, including how the program will identify and mitigate risks;
• metrics for measuring quality of software, and how those results will be shared with external stakeholders;
• manpower assessment identifying program workforce needs and state of expertise in Agile methods;
• requirements for reporting program progress to decision makers; and
• yearly funding levels. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with the recommendation and stated that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment directed the Air Force (this work has now been moved to the Space Force) to provide an Acquisition Strategy for approval in November 2019. DOD noted that a strategy template provided to the Air Force included the elements identified by GAO. As of July 2020, the Acquisition Strategy had been submitted to the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, but officials stated that the strategy is still in review and has not yet been finalized.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment should ensure that the Air Force's Space C2 program conducts periodic independent reviews to assess the program's approach to developing software and provide, as needed, advice to the program and recommendations for improving the program's development and progress. Participants could include, but are not limited to, officials from the Defense Innovation Board, the Defense Digital Service, the office of the Air Force Chief Software Advisor, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment's Special Assistant for Software Acquisition. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation and stated that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment will assess the need for future periodic and independent reviews of the program. As of July 2020, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment stated that it had planned to direct an independent review of the program to be conducted by a Federally Funded Research and Development Center and to be completed by September 2020. However, lack of funding and restrictions related to COVID-19 impacted planning. The office still plans to direct this review, but details are pending.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Interior should direct BLM to modify its computer program that generates its Bond Review Report to identify all instances in which a state office needs to develop a corrective action plan to address deficiencies, such as an inadequate financial assurance, a late review, or missing data. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of the Interior
Status: Open

Comments: In May 2020, BLM officials stated that they will revise the LR2000 Bond Review Report to identify all instances in which a state office needs to develop a corrective action plan in accordance with BLM policy. They estimate this will be completed by June 2021.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Forest Service to develop a centralized mechanism to record the current estimated cost of reclamation for a mining operation so that this information is readily available for comparison with the financial assurance held. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: As of July 2020, the agency has made progress in implementing this recommendation. Specifically, the agency has modified the bonding portion of the Natural Resource Manager data system to include required data fields to record the initial bond received, adjustments made to required bonding amount, and date of last annual review when a needed adjustment was determined. The agency has also added a remarks field to record any increase or decrease in the estimated cost of reclamation that resulted in the revised required bond amount. The agency is currently working to update its internal guidance so that staff are aware of the requirement and process to document these items. We agreed to check back on the status of that guidance in early 2021 and will update the recommendation status at that time.

Recommendation: The Secretary of VA should direct the Under Secretary for Health and the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology/Chief Information Officer to develop and implement a methodology for reliably identifying and reporting the total costs of VistA. The methodology should include steps to identify the definition of VistA and what is to be included in its sustainment activities, as well as ensure that comprehensive costs are corroborated by reliable data. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) generally agreed with our conclusions and concurred with our recommendation. In a January 2020 update, the department described steps it planned to take to address the recommendation including establishing a team of experts to formulate a comprehensive taxonomy for VistA and all of its components, identifying authoritative and reliable data sources to assign costs to those components, and developing a methodology for ongoing cost tracking and reporting. The department expects these steps to be implemented by September 30, 2020. We will continue to monitor the department's progress to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Director of the Office of Management and Budget should require agencies to explicitly report, at least on a quarterly basis, the savings and cost avoidance associated with cloud computing investments. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open

Comments: As of May 2020, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has not yet taken any actions to implement our recommendation. We will continue to monitor OMB's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the CIO of Agriculture establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Agriculture (Agriculture) concurred with our recommendation and stated that it planned to develop a mechanism to track savings to implement this recommendation. Specifically, Agriculture officials reported in April 2020 that the department had established an office to assist with cloud migration efforts and instituted a process that requires cloud migration efforts to submit cost data and report cloud savings in accordance with OMB guidance. Officials noted that the department would implement a mechanism within one year once OMB issues guidance related to tracking savings (OMB has not yet implemented guidance in this area). We will continue to monitor Agriculture's progress on these efforts.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the CIO of Commerce establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Commerce
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) concurred with our recommendation and stated that it planned to develop a mechanism to track savings to implement this recommendation. In October 2019, Commerce officials noted that the department would update its current procedures related to tracking savings and cost avoidances within one year once OMB issues guidance related to tracking cloud savings (OMB has not yet implemented guidance in this area). As of May 2020, the procedures have not yet been updated. We will continue to monitor Commerce's progress with these efforts.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the CIO of Defense completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (Defense) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department planned to publish guidance in this area. Specifically, in April 2020, Defense officials reported that the department planned to publish guidance by July 2020 that required all department components to rationalize business and IT applications in alignment with the department's enterprise-wide process for conducting software application rationalization and the department's Cloud Strategy. We will continue to monitor Defense's progress on this effort.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the CIO of Defense establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: As of May 2020, the Department of Defense (Defense) has not yet taken any actions to implement our recommendation. We will continue to monitor Defense's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Education should ensure that the CIO of Education completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Education (Education) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department would complete an assessment of all IT investments for cloud services. In February 2020, Education officials reported that the department had taken action to update its guidance to include a requirement for assessing new and existing investments for cloud services. However, as of May 2020, based on our review of IT Dashboard data, Education has not yet completed an assessment of 23 investments for these services. We will continue to monitor Education's progress with this effort.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Education should ensure that the CIO of Education establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Education (Education) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department would take action to address it. In May 2020, Education officials reported that the department had taken steps to identify a number of cloud investments with cost savings and avoidance data as a part of the integrated data call required by OMB. However, the department still needs to establish a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings for all IT investments. We will continue to monitor Education's progress with this effort.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the CIO of Energy updates the agency's guidance on assessing IT investments for suitability for cloud computing services to include a requirement to assess new acquisitions for these services. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Energy (Energy) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department would update its IT budget guidance to address our recommendation. In February 2020, Energy officials provided a portion of a guidance document, but it did not include language that addressed our recommendation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the CIO of Energy completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Energy (Energy) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department would update its IT budget guidance to address our recommendation. In February 2020, Energy officials provided a portion of a guidance document, but it did not include language on assessing investments for cloud services. In addition, as of May 2020, based on our review of data on the IT Dashboard, Energy has not yet completed an assessment of 107 investments for these services. We will continue to monitor Energy's progress with this effort.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the CIO of Energy establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Energy (Energy) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the CIO would establish a mechanism to address our recommendation. In February 2020, Energy officials reported that they had identified a number of cloud investments with cost savings as part of the integrated data call required by OMB. However, the department still needs to establish a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings for all IT investments. We will continue to monitor Energy's progress with this effort.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should ensure that the CIO of HHS establishes guidance on assessing new and existing IT investments for suitability for cloud computing services, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 13)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the Office of the CIO would revise its guidance by September 30, 2019 to address it. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from HHS regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor HHS's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the CIO of HHS completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 14)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the CIO would complete an assessment of all IT investments as part of its portfolio review for fiscal year 2021. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from HHS regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor HHS's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the CIO of HHS establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 15)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the CIO would take action to track savings as part of its portfolio review process for fiscal year 2021. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from HHS regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor HHS's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that the CIO of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 16)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department was taking steps to implement it. Specifically, in October 2019, DHS officials reported that the department was in the process of accessing its remaining systems to determine whether a cloud computing assessment should be completed but did not provide a date when this effort would be finished. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from DHS regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that the CIO of DHS establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 17)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department was taking steps to implement it. Specifically, in October 2019, DHS officials reported that the department was working on a plan to define the resources and processes needed to implement a mechanism to track savings that would be completed by October 2020. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from DHS regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Attorney General of the United States should ensure that the CIO of Justice completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 18)

Agency: Department of Justice
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Justice (Justice) concurred with our recommendation, and stated that it would require components to assess all investments for cloud. However as of April 2020, based on our review of IT Dashboard data, Justice had not yet completed cloud assessments for 80 investments. We will continue to monitor Justice's progress with this effort.

Recommendation: The Attorney General of the United States should ensure that the CIO of Justice establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 19)

Agency: Department of Justice
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Justice (Justice) concurred with our recommendation and stated that it would take action to address it. In December 2019, Justice officials reported that the department had taken steps to identify cloud investments and related savings data as part of an integrated data call required by OMB. However, the department still needs to establish a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings for all IT investments. We will continue to monitor Justice's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the CIO of Labor updates the agency's guidance on assessing IT investments for suitability for cloud computing services to include a requirement to assess existing investments for these services. (Recommendation 20)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Labor (Labor) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department was taking steps to integrate a process for assessing investments for cloud computing suitability into its budgeting process. Specifically, in February 2020, Labor officials reported that the department was updating its policy to reflect a Cloud First policy that will ensure that all department investment migrations to cloud services are Cloud smart but did not identify a time frame when the policy would be finalized. We will continue to monitor Labor's progress on these efforts.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the CIO of Labor completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 21)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Labor (Labor) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department planned to undertake a full review of data center-based applications for cloud suitability. Specifically, in February 2020, Labor officials reported that the department had created an Engineering Review Board in October 2019 to review proposed IT investments to ensure compliance with the department's cloud architecture, but did not provide a time frame for when all assessments of investments would be completed. We will continue to monitor Labor's progress on these efforts.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the CIO of Labor establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 22)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Labor (Labor) concurred with our recommendation and stated that it planned to develop a mechanism to track savings to implement this recommendation. Specifically, in February 2020, Labor officials reported that the department was implementing a tool called Cloudchekr for tracking costs associated with cloud services that would also track related savings and cost avoidances, but no timeframe was provided for when the tool would consistently capture all savings from these efforts. We will continue to monitor Labor's progress on these efforts.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the CIO of State establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 23)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department would develop a prototype tracking system ready for testing by the beginning of fiscal year 2020. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from State regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor State's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the CIO of Treasury completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 24)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) has not yet taken any actions to implement our recommendation. As of May 2020, we have not received any update from the department regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor Treasury's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the CIO of Treasury establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 25)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) has not yet taken any actions to implement our recommendation. As of May 2020, we have not received any update from the department regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor Treasury's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should ensure that the CIO of Transportation establishes guidance on assessing new and existing IT investments for suitability for cloud computing services. (Recommendation 26)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Transportation (Transportation) concurred with our recommendation but as of May 2020, has not yet taken any actions to implement it. We will continue to monitor Transportation's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should ensure that the CIO of Transportation completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 27)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Transportation (Transportation) concurred with our recommendation but as of May 2020, has not yet taken any actions to implement it. We will continue to monitor Transportation's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should ensure that the CIO of Transportation establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 28)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Transportation (Transportation) concurred with our recommendation, but as of May 2020, has not yet taken any actions to implement it. We will continue to monitor Transportation's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the CIO of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 29)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department would take action to address it. In February 2020, VA officials reported that the department had begun an assessment process and expected to complete this effort by June 30, 2024. We will continue to monitor VA's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the CIO of VA establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 30)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department would take action to address it. In February 2020, VA officials reported that the department had begun populating a financial management application with data to track overall IT spending and cost savings, but did not provide a timeframe for when a mechanism to track this data would be finalized. We will continue to monitor VA's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of General Services should ensure that the CIO of the General Services Administration establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 31)

Agency: General Services Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The General Services Administration (GSA) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the agency planned to develop a process for collecting cost savings data. Specifically, in January 2020, GSA officials reported that the agency intended to develop and document a process for collecting cost and savings data for current and new investments using cloud services. Officials noted that the documentation would provide guidance as to what savings data would be required to be collected, how frequent the data would be reported, and the process for approval, but did not provide a timeframe for when the guidance would be finalized. In addition, officials reported that, once the new process was finalized, the agency would pilot the new process in order to test the approach and the collection of data. As of May 2020, the process has not been finalized. We will continue to monitor GSA's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of the Small Business Administration should ensure that the CIO of the Small Business Administration establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 32)

Agency: Small Business Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Small Business Administration (SBA) concurred with our recommendation and reported that the agency would take action to address it. In November 2019, SBA officials reported that the agency had established a tool for monitoring the costs associated with the migration and deployment of cloud services. However, the documentation SBA provided did not indicate how cloud savings and cost avoidances would be isolated and reported. We will continue to monitor SBA's progress toward implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the CIO of the Social Security Administration (SSA) updates the agency's guidance on assessing IT investments for suitability for cloud computing services to include a requirement to assess existing investments for these services. (Recommendation 33)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) concurred with our recommendation and reported that the agency would take action to address it. In November 2019, SSA officials provided a copy of the agency's updated guidance but the guidance did not include language that addressed our recommendation. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from SSA regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the CIO of SSA completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 34)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) concurred with our recommendation and reported that the agency would take action to address it. In November 2019, SSA officials reported that the agency had completed an assessment of all investments for cloud services. However, our review of the agency's IT Dashboard data in November found that 24 investments remained to be reviewed. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from SSA regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the CIO of SSA establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 35)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) concurred with our recommendation and reported that the agency would take action to address it. In November 2019, SSA officials reported that the agency was working toward implementing a tool that would track cloud savings and avoidances but did not provide a timeframe for when the tool would be finalized. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from SSA regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should conduct a comprehensive review of the physical inspection process. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should resume calculating the sampling error associated with the physical inspection score for each property, identify what changes may be needed for HUD to use sampling error results, and consider those results when determining whether more frequent inspections or enforcement actions are needed. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should develop comprehensive and organized documentation of REAC's sampling methodology and develop a process to ensure that documentation is maintained going forward. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should track on a routine basis whether REAC is conducting inspections of multifamily housing properties in accordance with federal guidelines for scheduling and coordinate with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing to minimize the number of properties that can cancel or reschedule their physical inspections. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should design and implement an evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness of the Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity pilot in ensuring timely and quality inspections for properties in hard-to-staff geographic areas. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should expedite implementation of the recommendations from the Rapid Response and Resolution Team. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should follow through on REAC's plan to create a process to verify candidate qualifications for contract inspectors—for example, by calling references and requesting documentation from candidates that supports their completion of 250 residential or commercial inspections. The plan should also consider whether certain types of inspections—such as Federal Emergency Management Agency inspections and U.S. Army Office of Housing inspections—satisfy REAC's requirements. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should develop a process to evaluate the effectiveness of REAC's training program—for example, by reviewing the results of tests or soliciting participant feedback. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should revise training for quality assurance inspectors to better reflect their job duties. Revised training should be documented, include expanded subject matter training, and address skills that may not be included in training for contract inspectors—for example, instructing contract inspector candidate trainings and coaching and providing feedback. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should develop continuing education requirements for contract and quality assurance inspectors. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should develop and implement a plan for meeting REAC's management targets for the timeliness and frequency of collaborative quality assurance reviews and quality control inspections. The plan should include consideration of resources of and demands on quality assurance inspectors, including the effect of natural disasters and other special assignments. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should ensure that Quality Control's policies and procedures for overseeing quality assurance inspectors are implemented. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Real Estate Assessment Center should review quality assurance inspector performance standards and revise them to better reflect the skills and supporting behaviors that quality assurance inspectors need to effectively contribute to REAC's mission. (Recommendation 13)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing should report to Congress on why the agency has not complied with the 2017 and 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Acts requirement to issue notices to properties when the REAC score is 60 or below, including seeking any statutory flexibilities or exceptions believed appropriate. (Recommendation 14)

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the department's guidance that addresses software development provides specific, required direction on when and how often to involve users so that such involvement is early and continues through the development of the software and related program components. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation and issued an interim Software Acquisition Pathway policy in January 2020 that addresses software development, including direction on user involvement. As of August 2020, this interim policy has not yet been finalized. According to DOD officials, a final policy is currently under development and is expected to be issued by the end of December 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the department's guidance that addresses software development provides specific, required direction on documenting and communicating user feedback to stakeholders during software system development. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of August 2020, DOD has issued an interim Software Acquisition Pathway that addresses software development, including direction on user involvement. According to DOD officials, this interim pathway is planned to be replaced by a final policy that is currently under development and is expected to be issued by the end of December 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should collaborate with the Secretary of Transportation to continue to convene key groups of stakeholders to gather information on potential workforce changes that may result from automated trucking as the technology evolves, including analyzing needed skills and identifying any information or data gaps, to allow the agencies to fully consider how to respond to any changes. These stakeholders could include, for example, representatives of other relevant federal agencies, technology developers, the trucking industry, organizations that represent truck drivers, truck driver training schools, state workforce agencies, and local workforce development boards. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. The agency noted several efforts that it said will help the agency assess and provide information on the potential workforce effects of evolving technologies, such as automated trucking. For example, DOL noted that the agency's employment projections incorporate expert interviews and other information to identify shifts in industry employment. DOL is also currently consulting with DOT to study these workforce effects, and agreed to consider what other information and stakeholder meetings remain necessary after that study-due in March 2019-is completed. Likewise, DOL agreed to share related information as the technology evolves, and the agency noted it currently publishes employment projections and other occupational information. While useful, these efforts alone will not allow DOL to sufficiently anticipate the future workforce effects of automated trucking. For instance, the broad employment projections do not provide estimates specifically for the long-haul truck drivers who could be affected by automated trucking first. Further, DOL's occupational information is based on surveys of current workers, so it does not include the skills future drivers will need as automated trucking evolves. Therefore, we continue to believe that convening stakeholders and sharing information about potential workforce effects in the future will position DOL to better understand and inform key stakeholders of these changes.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should collaborate with the Secretary of Labor to continue to convene key groups of stakeholders to gather information on potential workforce changes that may result from automated trucking as the technology evolves, including analyzing needed skills and identifying any information or data gaps, to allow the agencies to fully consider how to respond to any changes. These stakeholders could include, for example, representatives of other relevant federal agencies, technology developers, the trucking industry, organizations that represent truck drivers, truck driver training schools, state workforce agencies, and local workforce development boards. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT agreed with this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's progress to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should consult with the Secretary of Labor to further analyze the potential effects of automated trucking technology on drivers to inform potential workforce-related regulatory changes, such as the requirements to obtain a commercial driver's license or hours of service requirements (e.g., the maximum hours commercial truck drivers are permitted to work). This could include leveraging the analysis described by the Explanatory Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 once it is complete, as well as information the department obtains from stakeholders as the technology evolves. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT agreed with this recommendation. The agency noted two of its current efforts related to automated trucking technology, namely its October 2018 automated vehicles voluntary guidance, Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0, and its Congressionally-directed research on the impact of automated vehicle technologies on the workforce.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should consult with the Secretary of Transportation to share information with key stakeholders on the potential effects of automated trucking on the workforce as the technology evolves. These stakeholders could include, for example, representatives of other relevant federal agencies, technology developers, the trucking industry, organizations that represent truck drivers, truck driver training schools, state workforce agencies, and local workforce development boards. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. The agency noted several efforts that it said will help the agency assess and provide information on the potential workforce effects of evolving technologies, such as automated trucking. For example, DOL noted that the agency's employment projections incorporate expert interviews and other information to identify shifts in industry employment. DOL is also currently consulting with DOT to study these workforce effects, and agreed to consider what other information and stakeholder meetings remain necessary after that study-due in March 2019-is completed. Likewise, DOL agreed to share related information as the technology evolves, and the agency noted it currently publishes employment projections and other occupational information. While useful, these efforts alone will not allow DOL to sufficiently anticipate the future workforce effects of automated trucking. For instance, the broad employment projections do not provide estimates specifically for the long-haul truck drivers who could be affected by automated trucking first. Further, DOL's occupational information is based on surveys of current workers, so it does not include the skills future drivers will need as automated trucking evolves. Therefore, we continue to believe that convening stakeholders and sharing information about potential workforce effects in the future will position DOL to better understand and inform key stakeholders of these changes.

Recommendation: We recommend that the Secretary of the Navy categorize and report the Navy's software sustainment costs, in accordance with DOD policy on the Depot Maintenance Core Capabilities Determination Process. [Recommendation 1]

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy
Status: Open

Comments: The PAO reported that OSD has established a cross-Service team to develop a framework for accounting and reporting core requirements and capabilities specific to weapon system software that recognizes Service-unique attributes, and is applicable across all of DoD. When developed, the framework will clarify how to identify software sustainment costs, and data sources in accordance with DOD policy. When we confirm what additional actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: We recommend that the Secretary of Defense ensure that the Director for Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation complete its evaluation and select the most effective system to obtain cost and software data from DOD software centers, and develop an implementation plan that includes time frames for key milestones to execute and monitor the centers' submission of required data. [Recommendation 2]

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: PAO reported contacting the office of the Director for Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation and provided a template for reporting progress implementing recommendations 2 and 4 with a suspense of 31 July 2020. When we confirm what actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: We recommend that the Secretary of Defense ensure that the Director for Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation takes steps to prioritize the respective military departments' obtaining and reporting of complete operating and support costs for software sustainment through its Visibility and Management of Operating and Support Costs systems. [Recommendation 3]

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: PAO reported contacting the office of the Director for Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation and provided a template for reporting progress implementing this recommendation with a suspense of 31 July 2020. When we confirm what actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: Once VA's new software for managing authorizations has been fully implemented, the Undersecretary for Health should monitor data on secondary authorization requests approval decision time frames to ensure VA medical facilities are in adherence with VA policy, assess the reasons for nonadherence with the policy, and take corrective actions as necessary. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: VA agreed with our recommendation and stated that it has already taken steps to improve compliance with secondary authorization request approval timeframes.by identifying challenges, agreeing on improvement actions, and providing training. According to VA, its new Health Share Referral Manager system, which VA expects will be fully implemented across all medical facilities by December 2019, will automate secondary authorization request reporting and tracking. According to VA, it will utilize this new system to ensure compliance with secondary authorization request approval time frames.

Recommendation: The Undersecretary for Health should collect data and monitor compliance with the Choice Program contractual requirements pertaining to customer service for community providers, and take corrective actions as necessary. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: VA agreed with our recommendation and stated that it currently does not have the ability to monitor and assess the performance of customer service operations under the Choice Program contracts. VA has included additional requirements for customer service in the Veterans Community Care Network request for proposals and plans to monitor compliance with these requirements under the Veterans Community Care Program. VA expects to implement this recommendation by December 2019.

Recommendation: The DHS Under Secretary for Management should develop and implement effective processes and improve guidance to reasonably assure that future AAs fully follow AOA process best practices and reflect the four characteristics of a reliable, high-quality AOA process. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS stated that it remains committed to its financial system modernization program and agrees that effective processes and guidance are necessary to assure best practices. In September 2020, DHS officials informed us that they did not have any updates to report on efforts to address this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up with DHS on actions to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The DHS Under Secretary for Management should improve the Risk Management Planning Handbook and other relevant guidance for managing risks associated with financial management system modernization projects to fully incorporate risk management best practices, including (1) defining thresholds to facilitate review of performance metrics to determine when risks become unacceptable; (2) identifying and analyzing risks to include periodically reconsidering risk sources, documenting risks specifically related to the lack of sufficient, reliable cost and schedule information needed to help properly manage and oversee the project, and timely disposition of IV&V contractor-identified risks; (3) developing risk mitigation plans with specific risk-handling activities, the costs and benefits of implementing them, and contingency plans for selected critical risks; and (4) implementing risk mitigation plans to include establishing periods of performance for risk-handling activities and defining time intervals for updating and certifying the accuracy and completeness of information on risks in DHS's risk register. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS stated that it is committed to its financial system modernization program and agrees that effective processes and guidance are necessary to assure best practices. In September 2019, DHS provided documentation that cross walked DHS' Risk Management Training Aide to the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for acquisition risk management best practices. However, the optional nature of the language used in the Training Aide does not reasonably assure that program offices will follow the suggested guidance. Also, the Training Aide does not specifically require the linking of thresholds to cost, schedule, and performance elements of identified risks. Based on our review of the information provided, DHS's corrective actions were not sufficient for addressing the intent of our recommendation. We will continue to evaluate DHS actions to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: To determine whether CSA interventions influence motor carrier safety performance, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the FMCSA Administrator to identify and implement, as appropriate, methods to evaluate the effectiveness of individual intervention types or common intervention patterns to obtain more complete, appropriate, and accurate information on the effectiveness of interventions in improving motor carrier safety performance. In identifying and implementing appropriate methods, FMCSA should incorporate accepted practices for designing program effectiveness evaluations, including practices that would enable FMCSA to more confidently attribute changes in carriers' safety behavior to CSA interventions.

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: FMCSA has reviewed the methodology for its effectiveness model and identified many of the same limitations GAO discussed in its report. FMCSA also identified several approaches to address these limitations, including modifying its model to measure individual intervention types. However, as of July 2020, FMCSA had not implemented any of its proposed approaches.

Recommendation: To enable FMCSA management to monitor the agency's progress in achieving its effectiveness and efficiency outcomes for CSA interventions and balance priorities, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the FMCSA Administrator to establish and use performance measures to regularly monitor progress toward both FMCSA's effectiveness outcome and its efficiency outcome.

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) plans to establish an inventory of effectiveness and efficiency measures and monitor performance on an ongoing basis. FMCSA is working to modify its model to measure the effectiveness of individual intervention types. However, as of July 2020, it had not implemented any of its proposed modifications.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Department of Commerce
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Department of Commerce did not meet the following software application inventory practice: regularly updates the inventory with quality controls to ensure reliability. Specifically, the department did not provide evidence of a process to regularly update its inventory or quality controls to ensure the reliability of the data collected. In October 2017, the department reported that application inventory information will be captured through the Department of Commerce Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) system, as part of its regular updating of investment information. Further, the department stated that it will update its CPIC handbook to provide guidance on quality control to ensure reliability of the data collected. In November 2018 and November 2019 we followed-up with Commerce on the status of their efforts; however, as of January 2020, we had not received an update. We plan to continue to follow up with Commerce to monitor the status of these planned actions.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Department of Energy partially met the following three software application inventory practices, (1) includes systems from all organizational components, (2) specifies basic application attributes, and (3) is regularly updated with quality controls to ensure reliability. In May 2017, the department reported that it plans to implement automated monitoring and inventory tools by the end of fiscal year 2020, which it expects will address the key practices. In December 2019, the department reported that it anticipates completing a refresh of its application inventory by the end of February 2020. We plan to monitor the department's efforts to implement the tools and to develop a complete application inventory.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) partially met the following three software application inventory practices, (1) includes systems from all organizational components, (2) specifies basic application attributes, and (3) is regularly updated with quality controls to ensure reliability. In June 2017, the department reported that it is working to identify applications in field offices, and planned for this effort to be completed in fiscal year 2018. In addition, the department stated it planned to update the inventory to include business functions for each system by the end of fiscal year 2017. Further, department officials stated that to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the application inventory, the department planned to conduct quarterly portfolio reviews starting in fiscal year 2018. In October 2018, HUD officials reported that CTO performed a technical assessment of HUD's IT assets, which resulted in identifying systems in the inventory that had been decommissioned and will be decommissioned. In addition, the department provided its strategy for performing the assessment. In August 2019, HUD reported that it completed an assessment of its legacy applications and the current inventory system is outdated. However, as of January 2020, HUD had not yet provided an updated inventory. We plan to continue to monitor the department's efforts to address the recommendation.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Social Security Administration (SSA) partially met the following two software application inventory practices, (1) includes systems from all organizational components, and (2) regularly updates the inventory with quality controls to ensure reliability. In March 2017, SSA officials reported that the agency's Office of Systems and Office of Operations continue to collaborate on integrating application information into the Enterprise Application Inventory. The officials reported that regionally developed applications that have been granted authority to operate have been imported into the enterprise application inventory. In addition, the officials stated that the Office of Operations was in the process of redesigning their repository to accommodate requirements to support the Enterprise Application Inventory, including the ability to update and maintain application information in the enterprise repository. Lastly, SSA officials reported that its Office of Information Security and Office of Systems were continuing to work to identify additional headquarters applications and develop process and automation to include applications in the inventory. In June 2019, SSA officials reported that they were continuing to make progress to update the inventory to include systems from all organizational components. However, as of January 2020, we had not received an updated inventory. We will continue to monitor SSA's efforts to develop a complete application inventory.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Department of Labor did not meet one software application inventory practice, and partially met three practices. Specifically, we reported that the department did not meet the practice to ensure that the inventory is regularly updated with quality controls to ensure reliability, and partially met the practices to (1) include business and enterprise IT systems, (2) include systems from all organizational components, and (3) specify basic application attributes. In March 2018, department officials provided an updated inventory, which included business and enterprise IT systems from all organizational components, and specified basic attributes, including the name, owner, and business function. In addition, officials stated that they plan to update the inventory on a periodic basis as necessary, at minimum annually, as part of the department's IT budgeting process. Further, in June 2019, officials reported that the department performs biannual reviews of all IT investments and associated systems and applications to verify reported data. The officials also reported that the department uses quality control processes and procedures to ensure consistent, standard, and complete reporting to align with all investment artifacts. However, the department did not provide evidence of these data quality efforts. In June 2019, officials also reported that the department is implementing a new system in order to maintain an ongoing comprehensive inventory of all IT assets, including applications, which it expects to have fully operational by the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2020. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Department of the Treasury had partially met the following two practices for establishing a complete software application inventory, (1) specifies basic application attributes, and (2) is regularly updated with quality controls to ensure reliability. In September 2017, the department provided evidence showing that it had taken steps to address these practices. Specifically, the department provided an export of its inventory, which showed that most of the systems listed contained a system description. According to department officials, some systems do not have a system description because the department's inventory policy allows bureaus to attach documents to the inventory, which include the system description, instead of populating the system description field. Further, the policy does not require a system description for systems in the disposal state. Moreover, the inventory did not include the business segment or function that the system supports. According to Treasury officials, the Bureau and Functional Unit fields within the inventory allow the department to map the systems to the business segments that they support. We followed up with the department to obtain this mapping. However, as of January 2020, the department had not provided it. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to ensure that the inventory is regularly updated with quality controls to ensure its reliability.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Department of State partially met the following software application inventory practices: (1) specifies basic application attributes; and (2) is regularly updated with quality controls to ensure reliability. Specifically, we reported that while the inventory included basic application attributes (e.g. name, description), it did not include the business function for the majority of inventory entries. Further, we reported that the agency did not provide evidence that quality control processes were in place to ensure the reliability of the data in the inventory. In July 2017, department officials stated that the department recently began a department-wide data call to obtain information on all IT assets and applications from each bureau, including aligning the assets and applications to a business function. Further, officials stated that they plan to analyze the results against their current data to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the IT asset inventory. In June 2019, the department provided evidence demonstrating that its inventory includes the business function for IT assets. In addition, State officials stated that the IT asset inventory that is posted internally for review is a high-level summary to facilitate monthly validation. However, as of January 2020, the department has not provided documentation showing that it has implemented the quality control processes to ensure the reliability of the data. We plan to continue to monitor the department's efforts to address the recommendation.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Environmental Protection Agency had fully met three of the four practices to establish a complete application inventory, and partially met one. Specifically, the agency partially met the practice for including application attributes in the inventory, as although EPA did not identify the business function for every application. In December 2019, Environmental Protection Agency officials stated that the inventory now requires the business function to be included, and provided inventory update instructions that show the business function is to be included. In addition, agency officials provided instructions for senior information managers to update the inventory in fiscal year 2019. However, as of January 2020, agency officials had not provided an updated inventory, and thus we were not able to verify that the business function was added for all applications. We will follow up with the agency to obtain the updated inventory.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Office of Personnel Management
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) partially met the software application inventory practice to regularly update the inventory with quality controls to ensure reliability. In November 2016, OPM officials stated that they were validating the data in the application inventory. In addition, officials stated that they were making progress in using automated scanning tools to update the inventory, including coordinating with the General Services Administration's Software Management Group which is working to standardize the use of automated inventory tools across the government. In June 2017, November 2018, and November 2019, we followed up with OPM to obtain documentation of these reported actions; however, as of January 2020, the agency had not yet provided supporting documentation. We are continuing to follow up with OPM to obtain documentation of its reported actions.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, the Interior, and Labor; and the Director of the National Science Foundation should direct the CIOs and other responsible officials to modify existing investment management processes to address applications more completely. Specifically, the Secretary of Defense should direct the responsible official to modify the department's existing processes to collect and review cost, technical, and business information for the enterprise and business IT systems within the Enterprise Information Environment Mission Area applications which are currently not reviewed as part of the department's process for business systems.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense did not concur with our recommendation, noting, among other things, in its written response to our draft report, that a majority of the Enterprise Information Environment Mission Area systems are IT infrastructure, and not applications. However, we reported that the mission area nevertheless included a large number of enterprise and business IT applications which could benefit from rationalization, and we therefore believed our recommendation was still warranted. In March 2020, the department stated that it is formalizing a guide to assist components with implementing an application rationalization process, that will be used to rationalize the Enterprise Information Environment Mission Area systems. The department stated that it plans to perform annual reviews, and expects to start by the end of fiscal year 2020.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, the Interior, and Labor; and the Director of the National Science Foundation should direct the CIOs and other responsible officials to modify existing investment management processes to address applications more completely. Specifically, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the department's CIO to identify one high-cost function it could collect detailed cost, technical, and business information for and modify existing processes to collect and review this information.

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: In April 2018, DHS officials stated that they identified FOIA systems as a high cost function, and will modify existing processes to collect and review the cost, technical, and business information. In November 2019, DHS reported that it is continuing to make progress in acquiring a new enterprise-wide FOIA system by reviewing current capabilities. We plan to continue to monitor the department's efforts.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, the Interior, and Labor; and the Director of the National Science Foundation should direct the CIOs and other responsible officials to modify existing investment management processes to address applications more completely. Specifically, the Secretary of Labor should direct the department's CIO to consider a segmented approach to further rationalize and identify a function for which it would modify existing processes to collect and review application-specific cost, technical, and business value information.

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2017, department officials stated that the department's portfolio of IT investments, which includes the systems, sub-systems, and applications in the IT asset inventory, are rationalized bi-annually as part of the Office of the Chief Information Officer's IT Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) review processes. Further, officials stated that the systems and applications were also being rationalized as part of the process for updating the IT asset inventory. Officials stated that the department plans to review and update the department's CPIC guide to describe the IT asset inventory management process including the basic quality controls. In July 2019, officials reported that the department plans to have the updated guide completed by the end of fiscal year 2019. However, as of January 2020, the department had not provided documentation supporting these efforts. We plan to follow-up with the department to obtain documentation of its efforts to address the recommendation.

Recommendation: In the event that operational test results for PDB-8 and PDB-8.1 reveal performance shortfalls that require additional development of the near and mid-term upgrades tested, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to establish mechanisms for overseeing those upgrades commensurate with other major defense acquisition programs, to include an initial report--similar to a Selected Acquisition Report--as soon as practical following operational testing for both PDB-8 and PDB-8.1, on the near and mid-term upgrades evaluated during these tests, including: (1) cost, schedule, and performance estimates for any additional development that is needed; and (2) an estimate of the amount of development costs it has incurred since 2013 for near- and mid-term Patriot upgrades operationally tested along with PDB-8 and PDB-8.1.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. In 2017, operational testing for PDB-8 was completed and results show some performance shortfalls although DOD asserts that there is no additional development required. DOD plans to reassess the need for any additional action after operational testing for PDB-8.1 is completed as planned in the first quarter of fiscal year 2022.

Recommendation: In the event that operational test results for PDB-8 and PDB-8.1 reveal performance shortfalls that require additional development of the near and mid-term upgrades tested, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to establish mechanisms for overseeing those upgrades commensurate with other major defense acquisition programs, to include annual updates to Congress comparing the latest cost and schedule estimates against the initial estimates and providing explanations for any major deviations until development is complete.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. In 2017, operational testing for PDB-8 was completed and results show some performance shortfalls although DOD asserts that there is no additional development required. DOD plans to reassess the need for any additional action after operational testing for PDB-8.1 is completed as planned in the first quarter of fiscal year 2022.

Recommendation: To improve the certification of adequate incremental development, the Secretaries of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury should direct their CIOs to establish a department policy and process for the certification of major IT investments' adequate use of incremental development, in accordance with OMB's guidance on the implementation of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act.

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concurred with our recommendation and has taken steps to establish a department policy and process for the certification of major IT investments' use of incremental development. Specifically, in September 2020, HHS officials reported that they have established a draft policy and anticipate publishing the finalized guidance by March 2021. We will continue to evaluate HHS's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: To improve the certification of adequate incremental development, the Secretaries of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury should direct their CIOs to establish a department policy and process for the certification of major IT investments' adequate use of incremental development, in accordance with OMB's guidance on the implementation of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act.

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: In September 2020, an official from the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) reported that the department had developed draft guidance to address our recommendation, but did not provide time frames for when the guidance would be finalized. Until the department establishes a CIO certification policy, Treasury will not be able to fully ensure adequate implement of, or benefit from, incremental development practices. We will continue to evaluate Treasury's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: To effectively measure 18F's performance, the Administrator of GSA should direct the Commissioner for the Technology Transformation Service to assess actual results for each performance measure.

Agency: General Services Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The General Services Administration (GSA) agreed with, and has begun to take steps to implement, this recommendation. Specifically, in a March 2020 written response, GSA stated that Technology Transformation Service (TTS) leadership will be briefed on the program's performance measures on a quarterly basis. We are following up with GSA to confirm that its TTS leadership has been briefed on the results on these performance measures. We will continue to evaluate GSA's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: To effectively measure performance, prioritize USDS's resources, and ensure that CIOs play an integral role in agency digital service teams, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget should direct the Federal Chief Information Officer to ensure that all goals and associated performance measures are outcome-oriented and that performance measures have targets.

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open

Comments: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) generally agreed with, and has begun to take steps to implement, this recommendation. Specifically, in its December 2016 report to Congress, OMB developed three goals for U.S. Digital Service (USDS): (1) rethink how the federal government builds and buys digital services; (2) expand the use of common, platforms, services, and tools; and (3) bring top technical talent into public service. In addition, OMB established performance measures with targets for its third goal and for each of the program's major projects. However, OMB has not established performance measures for the first two USDS goals. Further, the program's third goal is not outcome-oriented. In May 2018, an USDS staff member stated that USDS established goals for and measured performance on each of the projects the program supports in its fall 2017 report to Congress. Although measuring performance on projects can provide USDS with valuable information, this effort does not address goals and performance measurement on the overall USDS program. In May 2020, OMB stated that they would provide an update on the agency's efforts to address the recommendation by June 2020. We will continue to evaluate OMB's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: To effectively measure performance, prioritize USDS's resources, and ensure that CIOs play an integral role in agency digital service teams, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget should direct the Federal Chief Information Officer to assess actual results for each performance measure.

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open

Comments: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) generally agreed with, and has begun to take steps to implement, this recommendation. Specifically, in its December 2016 report to Congress, OMB assessed the results of performance measures for one of the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) program's goals--bring top technical talent into public service--and for each of the program's major projects. However, OMB has not established performance measures for the other two USDS goals--rethink how the federal government builds and buys digital services; and expand the use of common, platforms, services, and tools. In May 2018, an USDS staff member stated that USDS established goals for and measured performance on each of the projects the program supports in its fall 2017 report to Congress. As of July 2019, USDS has not publicly released any subsequent reports to Congress or additional information on its goals and performance measures. Although measuring performance on projects can provide USDS with valuable information, this effort does not address performance measurement on the overall USDS program. In May 2020, OMB stated that they would provide an update on the agency's efforts to address the recommendation by June 2020. We will continue to evaluate OMB's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: To effectively measure performance, prioritize USDS's resources, and ensure that CIOs play an integral role in agency digital service teams, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget should direct the Federal Chief Information Officer to update USDS policy to clearly define the responsibilities and authorities governing the relationships between CIOs and the digital service teams and require existing agency digital service teams to address this policy. In doing so, the Federal Chief Information Officer should ensure that this policy is aligned with relevant federal law and OMB guidance on CIO responsibilities and authorities.

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open

Comments: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) generally agreed with, and has begun to take steps to implement, this recommendation. In particular, OMB updated its digital service team policy to require that teams appropriately inform their chief information officers (CIO) regarding U.S. Digital Service (USDS) projects. However, the policy does not describe the responsibilities or authorities governing the relationships between CIOs and digital service teams. In May 2018, an USDS staff member stated that the program updated digital service team charters to address the role of agency CIOs. As of May 2020, USDS has yet to provide us with the updated digital service team charters. In May 2020, OMB stated that they would provide an update on the agency's efforts to address the recommendation by June 2020. We will continue to evaluate OMB's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: To provide reasonable assurance that the property, equipment, and software transactions are properly tracked and capitalized or expensed as appropriate, the Director of CFPB should direct the program offices to require vendors to provide detailed invoices with costs broken out by project.

Agency: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Status: Open

Comments: During our fiscal year 2019 audit, we continued to find control deficiencies over CFPB's accounting for its property, equipment, and software. CFPB was still in the process of working with its Office of Procurement and program offices to require more detailed invoices with costs broken out by project. We will continue to evaluate CFPB's actions to address this recommendation during our fiscal year 2020 financial statement audit.

Recommendation: To ensure that risks associated with ALIS are addressed expediently and holistically, the Secretary of Defense should direct the F-35 Program Executive Officer to improve the reliability of its cost estimates, conduct uncertainty and sensitivity analyses consistent with cost-estimating best practices identified in GAO's Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. According to DOD officials, as of July 2018, this recommendation conflicts with established Office of the Under Secretary of Defense/Cost Estimation and Program Evaluation guidance for cost estimation and uncertainty analysis. Absent a change in policy at that level, the Joint Program Office will continue to follow Office of the Under Secretary of Defense/Cost Estimation and Program Evaluation policy on this issue. We continue to believe that in order for any risks associated with ALIS to be addressed expediently and holistically, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis must be used on the F-35s cost estimates to improve its overall reliability. Thus, this recommendation will remain open.

Recommendation: To ensure that risks associated with ALIS are addressed expediently and holistically, the Secretary of Defense should direct the F-35 Program Executive Officer to improve the reliability of its cost estimates, ensure that future estimates of ALIS costs use historical data as available and reflect significant program changes consistent with cost-estimating best practices identified in GAO's Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. According to DOD officials, since April 2016, the F-35 program has continued to update the ALIS estimate with the latest available cost data, based on recent contracts. Until more reliable actual costs become available, the program utilizes negotiated contract costs, incorporates program initiatives, and ensures the estimate reflects the latest technical baseline and requirements. Until actual costs associated with ALIS historical data are incorporated in the F-35 cost estimate, we believe that the estimate will not be as reliable as it could be. For this reason, this recommendation will remain open.

Recommendation: In addition to implementing our previous recommendations, to more effectively implement security-related policies and plans, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should update system and application audit plans based on the current version of referenced policies and guidelines and when significant changes are made to a system or application.

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: During GAO's audit of IRS' FY 2019 financial statements, IRS indicated that it had not yet implemented this recommendation. When the agency indicates that it has implemented this recommendation, we will review its actions.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of IRS should direct the appropriate IRS officials to establish procedures to monitor whether non-IRS contractors with unescorted physical access to IRS facilities are receiving unauthorized access awareness training.

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: During fiscal year 2018, Facilities Management and Security Services (FMSS) established training requirements for non-IRS contractors with unescorted physical access to IRS facilities and communicated these requirements to its employees. However, FMSS did not establish procedures to monitor whether these non-IRS contractors receive the required unauthorized access awareness training. In addition, during our fiscal year 2019 audit, we found instances in which non-IRS contractors with unescorted physical access to an IRS facility did not complete the required training.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of IRS should direct the appropriate IRS officials to determine why staff did not consistently comply with IRS's existing requirements for the final candling of receipts at service center campuses and lockbox banks, including logging remittances found during final candling on the final candling log at the time of discovery, safeguarding the remittances at the time of discovery, transferring the remittances to the deposit unit promptly, and passing one envelope at a time over the light source, and based on this determination, establish a process to better enforce compliance with these requirements.

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS's actions to address this recommendation are ongoing. During fiscal year 2017, IRS held a meeting with Submission Processing executives, staff, and the Receipt and Control Operation managers from all five service center campuses (SCC), and as a result of the meeting, IRS developed an action plan to resolve the residual risks associated with candling at the SCCs. IRS officials stated that during fiscal year 2020, it will complete the developed action plan.

Recommendation: To effectively plan and manage its acquisitions of IT systems and increase the likelihood of delivering promised system capabilities on time and within budget, the Librarian should establish and implement an organization-wide policy for developing cost estimates that includes key practices as discussed in this report.

Agency: Library of Congress
Status: Open

Comments: The Library of Congress generally agreed with, and has begun to take steps to implement, this recommendation. Specifically, in January 2017 the Library established a centralized Library-wide Project Management Office, located within the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). Additionally, in June 2017 the Library updated its regulations to give the Project Management Office the authority to establish organization-wide policy for developing cost estimates. Further, in August 2017 the Project Management Office finalized guidance for developing cost estimates that generally includes the key practices discussed in our report. However, none of the cost estimates for three key investments fully met the practices associated with a comprehensive estimate. In October 2019, the Library provided evidence of its Monte-Carlo risk assessment process. We are currently assessing whether this process is consistent with the practices found in our Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide. We will continue to evaluate the Library's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: To effectively plan and manage its acquisitions of IT systems and increase the likelihood of delivering promised system capabilities on time and within budget, the Librarian should establish a time frame for finalizing and implementing an organization-wide policy for developing and maintaining project schedules that includes key practices as discussed in this report, and finalize and implement the policy within the established time frame.

Agency: Library of Congress
Status: Open

Comments: The Library of Congress generally agreed with, and has begun to take steps to implement, this recommendation. Specifically, in January 2017 the Library established a Project Management Office within the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and tasked the office with communicating and enforcing Library requirements for project management and systems development. Additionally, in June 2017 the Library updated its regulations to give the Project Management Office the authority to establish organization-wide policy for developing and maintaining schedules. Further, in August 2017 the Project Management Offices finalized guidance for developing schedules that generally includes the key practices discussed in our report. However, none of the schedules for three key investments fully met the practices associated with a well-constructed schedule. In October 2019, the Library provided the schedules that it uses to manage select projects. We are currently reviewing this scheduling documentation to determine the extent to which the Library is implementing its scheduling guidance.

Recommendation: To help DOD address key risks to F-35 affordability and operational readiness, and to improve the reliability of its O&S cost estimates for the life cycle of the program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the F-35 Program Executive Officer, to enable DOD to better identify, address, and mitigate performance issues with the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) that could have an effect on affordability, as well as readiness, to establish a performance-measurement process for ALIS that includes, but is not limited to, performance metrics and targets that (1) are based on intended behavior of the system in actual operations and (2) tie system performance to user requirements.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: DOD concurred with our recommendation. According to DOD officials, as of July 2018, plans are emerging between the services and the Joint Program Office on a path forward for ALIS, focusing on both the current iteration of ALIS and the future state. Going forward, the services and the Joint Program Office are developing plans for the necessary re-architecture of ALIS. Once these current improvements and future requirements are finalized, appropriate performance metrics, tying system performance in operations environments to user requirements, will be incorporated. As of January 2020, DOD officials stated that there was no update to this status. Although DOD has a way ahead as it relates to developing performance metrics for ALIS, DOD has yet to develop any metrics that are based on intended behavior of the system and tie system performance to user requirements. Until DOD takes this action, our recommendation will remain open.

Recommendation: To help DOD address key risks to F-35 affordability and operational readiness, and to improve the reliability of its O&S cost estimates for the life cycle of the program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the F-35 Program Executive Officer, to develop a high level of confidence that the aircraft will achieve its R+M goals, to develop a software reliability and maintainability (R+M) assessment process, with metrics, by which the program can monitor and determine the effect that software issues may have on overall F-35 R+M issues.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with our recommendation. According to DOD officials, as of July 2018, the department and the Joint Program Office, as part of their focus on agile software development, are working to incorporate software reliability and maintainability metrics into future software development and sustainment contracts. Some of the proposed metrics under consideration include: change failure rate; number of errors in developmental/user/operational testing; time to fix on critical errors; and mean time to restore. As of September 2019, DOD officials stated that there was no update to this status. Although attention is being paid to software Reliability & Maintainability, until DOD develops a process focused on software and its effects on overall Reliability & Maintainability issues, this recommendation will remain open.

Recommendation: To help DOD address key risks to F-35 affordability and operational readiness, and to improve the reliability of its O&S cost estimates for the life cycle of the program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the F-35 Program Executive Officer, to promote competition, address affordability, and inform its overarching sustainment strategy, to develop a long-term Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy to include, but not be limited to, the identification of (1) current levels of technical data rights ownership by the federal government and (2) all critical technical data needs and their associated costs.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: DOD concurred with our recommendation. According to DOD officials, as of January 2020, in the updated F-35 Life Cycle Sustainment Plan (LCSP) issued in January 2019, "Secure Use of Appropriate Technical Data" was one of the identified elements of success necessary to improve F-35 readiness and reduce sustainment costs. As part of the ongoing Plans of Action & Milestones (POAM) implementation process for the LCSP success elements, the F-35 Joint Program Office is working with the OEMs to determine the data rights the government already has, and to determine the specific technical data the government needs, and what it needs that data to accomplish. Significant progress has been made on both fronts with the prime contractor. We acknowledge that progress surrounding technical data rights is being made; however, until an Intellectual Property strategy is developed and released, this recommendation will remain open.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue should take the following action outline a strategy that defines appropriate levels of telephone and correspondence service and wait time and lists specific steps to manage service based on an assessment of time frames, demand, capabilities, and resources.

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: IRS neither agreed nor disagreed with GAO's recommendation from December 2012, but has made progress in developing a customer service strategy that defines appropriate levels of telephone service; however, as of February 2020, IRS had not finalized its strategy nor determined the appropriate levels of service for correspondence and wait time. In January 2017, IRS shared results of a benchmarking study that compared its telephone service, measures, and goals to comparable agencies and companies. The team that conducted the study recommended options for additional measures to indicate the level of access taxpayers have to service across service channels. In September 2019, IRS provided GAO its revised customer service strategy; however, it did not include correspondence service. In July 2019, the Taxpayer First Act (Public Law 116-25) was enacted which requires IRS to develop a comprehensive customer service strategy. As of February 2020, IRS had established an internal office to implement this requirement. Completion of a comprehensive customer service strategy that defines appropriate levels of service and wait time as well as specific steps to manage services based on an assessment of time frames, demand, capabilities, and resource requirements would enable IRS to make a more informed request to Congress about resources needed to deliver specific levels of service. Further, finalizing a long-term comprehensive strategy will help ensure IRS is maximizing the benefit to taxpayers and possibly reduce costs in other areas.