A main sponsor of the DATA Act–Digital Accountability and Transparency Act–has asked three dozen agencies to report on what they are doing to implement it, two years after its passage and following up a recent Senate hearing.
“When fully implemented, the DATA Act will set government-wide financial reporting standards, and will make information about federal spending much more accessible and searchable, which is a great tool for both taxpayers and policymakers to identify duplication and waste and help prevent fraud,” Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., said.
In letters to the agencies, he said that by now they should be adhering to the steps outlined in guidance issued by Treasury and OMB and “should also have designated a senior accountable official responsible for planning and implementing changes to systems and business processes, determining how best to map data elements from existing systems to the DATA Act Schema, and overseeing the testing and submission of data.”
The letters ask questions including: What resources has your agency spent on implementation of the DATA Act? Does your agency have any existing contracts aimed at facilitating implementation? Has your agency issued a DATA Act implementation plan in line with the DATA Act Playbook? How has implementation to date varied from your expectations, and what challenges have you encountered? What resources does your agency anticipate needing in order to fully implement the DATA Act moving forward?
