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GAO-04-295R 1 (2003-12-30)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaamjy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 December 30, 2003 The Honorable Joshua B. Bolten Director, Office of Management and Budget Subject: Reliability of Federal Procurement Data Dear Mr. Bolten: The purpose of this letter is to convey our serious and continuing concerns with the reliability of the data contained in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) and to recommend steps to help improve data reliability as the successor system, FPDS- Next Generation (FPDS-NG), is implemented. Reliable information is critical to informed decision making and to oversight of the procurement system. FPDS has been the federal government's central database of information on federal procurement actions since 1978. Congress and executive branch agencies rely on FPDS to assess the impact that governmentwide acquisition policies and processes are having on the system generally, as well as with respect to specific geographical areas, markets, and socio-economic goals. Yet despite the importance of the data, we continue to find that FPDS data are inaccurate and incomplete. Although we have not fully assessed the extent of reporting errors, we have found sufficient problems to warrant concern about the current reliability of FPDS information. We are pleased that the administration is moving forward with plans to modernize that system through FPDS-NG. The examples following reflect a few of the many instances in which we either have been unable to assess fully the implementation of procurement programs or have had to limit our reliance on FPDS data: In our 2003 review' of the simplified acquisition procedures test program, we found gross errors in the FPDS data. For example, use of the test program by the reported three largest users in fiscal year 2001 was either overstated or understated by millions of dollars. We found similar inaccuracies with the Department of Defense's data system,2 which feeds information into FPDS. 'U.S. General Accounting Office, Contract Management: No Reliable Data to Measure Benefits of the Simplified Acquisition Test Program, GAO-03-1068 (Washington D.C.: Sept. 30, 2003). 2 The Department of Defense uses the Defense Contract Action Data System (DCADS) to supply data to FPDS. GAO-04-295R Reliability of Federal Procurement Data PagelI

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