GAO has released its fourth annual report citing opportunities to reduce program overlap, fragmentation and duplication.
The report presents 64 actions that the executive branch and Congress could take to improve efficiency and effectiveness across 26 areas that span a broad range of government missions and functions.
It suggests actions to address areas in which GAO found evidence of fragmentation (more than one federal agency is involved in the same broad area of national need), overlap, or duplication in government missions such as defense, health, income security, IT, and international affairs.
For example, fragmentation exists with contracting for defense health care professionals, according to GAO-14-343SP.It said DoD needs a consolidated agency-wide strategy to contract for health care professionals, and that joint-use contracts only accounted for approximately 8 percent of the $1.14 billion in obligations for health care professionals in fiscal 2011.
A more coordinated approach is also needed to improve interoperability of radio communications systems, as another example. The Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Treasury have decided to independently modernize their own wireless communications systems rather than pursuing a joint development project. They are investing hundreds of millions of dollars but the systems may not be interoperable and may not enable the most effective response to natural disasters, criminal activities, and domestic terrorism, GAO found.