This article originally appeared on June 21st, 2018 by ABC 7.
The report highlights perspectives of 30 grant management leaders from across the executive branch, federal agencies, and the private sector.
Today the Data Foundation and MorganFranklin Consulting released Transforming Federal Grant Reporting: Current Challenge, Future Vision. The report reviews technical and cultural challenges facing grant management communities in the context of data quality improvements in the federal government and presents potential solutions.
Drawing from interviews and research, the report concludes that the federal grant reporting system is on the cusp of a major transformation. Both the White House and Congress are in agreement that federal grant reporting must be modernized. Technology solutions already exist that will help the government and grantees move away from the document-based system to a data-centric one. The potential benefits range from improving grantees’ bottom lines, allowing grantor agencies the ability to manage programs with a data-driven approach, and provide for tax-funded grant programs to be managed more efficiently to the benefit of the American people.
In early 2018, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5) and Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34) introduced the GREAT Act, bipartisan legislation to require a government-wide data structure, to Congress alongside the President’s Management Agenda, CAP goal 8, to compile and standardize data elements to inform a comprehensive taxonomy for core grants management data standards. This transformation towards a data-centric grant reporting system would both improve the experience for recipients, as well as increase government electronic transparency.
A simplified, less burdensome reporting system could make it easy for grantees to hire and retain staff with the necessary skills to manage grants while lowering the barrier to entry for potential new grantees. At the same time, grant recipients would save time spent complying with outdated requirements and processes, which they could allocate towards accomplishing the goals the grant funding set out to achieve.
MorganFranklin Consulting (http://morganfranklin.com) is a management and technology consulting firm that works with leading businesses and government to address critical finance, technology, and business objectives. The company is headquartered in the Washington D.C. area with regional offices in Atlanta, San Francisco, and San Diego.