GAO found an improvement in reporting in 2023 over 2022, although six agencies did not submit reports. Image: dencg/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffReports from federal agencies on their compliance with the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act have gotten more thorough but they lack information on whether many requirements of that law are being met, the GAO has said.
The 21st Century IDEA law, enacted in late 2018, was intended to improve public-facing federal digital services by setting requirements that they be accessible, consistent, not duplicative, searchable, encrypted, designed around user needs, customizable, and mobile-friendly. It meanwhile ordered the 24 Cabinet departments and largest independent agencies to submit a series of reports through 2023 on their implementation of eight specific requirements.
In reviewing those reports, GAO found an improvement in reporting in 2023 over 2022. However, even in 2023 six agencies did not submit reports and “consequently, their progress was unknown.” They were Agriculture, HHS, State, Transportation, VA and SSA.
Of the other 18, seven addressed all eight requirements—Commerce, Education, DHS, Interior, EPA, NRC, and USAID—while the rest were incomplete, including one agency that did not address any, one agency that addressed only three, and two agencies that addressed four.
“Further, the contents of the reports, including the extent to which they addressed the eight modernization requirements, varied significantly. The lack of detailed guidance contributed to the varied reporting, and the reporting requirement ended without producing consistent reports that could be used to reliably determine agency performance and government-wide progress,” it said.
The GAO noted that OMB last fall issued additional guidance to clarify agency responsibilities under the law and recommended oversight of compliance with that guidance to provide a better “assessment of the extent of progress towards delivering better digital services to the public.”
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