State Has Established a Process for Collecting and Publishing ForeignAssistance.gov Data

		State Is Collecting and Publishing ForeignAssistance.gov Data for 10 Agencies

Since 2013, State has collected and published data from 10 of the 22  agencies identified in the bulletin. Most of the 10 agencies reporting data for  ForeignAssistance.gov identified limitations in their information  technology (IT) systems as a key impediment in collecting and reporting  data, while most of the 12 agencies not yet reporting data identified lack  of staff time as a key impediment that they anticipate facing. In addition, although  ForeignAssistance.gov discloses that published data are incomplete, we  found that the website is not fully transparent about these data limitations. Our comparison of funding data on ForeignAssistance.gov to  funding data published on the Foreign Aid Explorer website showed that  ForeignAssistance.gov did not reflect more than $10 billion in  disbursements and about $6 billion in obligations provided by the 10  agencies in fiscal year 2014. The memorandum indicates steps to improve  transparency in publishing information, which include identifying high- value information not yet available for online publication. State officials told us that they rely on agencies to report data limitations. However, if State does not provide agencies with guidance to identify  data limitations that State can clearly disclose on ForeignAssistance.gov,  it may undermine the website’s goal of improving public knowledge and  accountability of U.S. foreign assistance. ForeignAssistance.gov Data Are Not Updated Annually with Verified Foreign Assistance Data

As of May 2016, State had not updated ForeignAssistance.gov data with  verified—complete and accurate—annual foreign assistance data to  improve the quality and ensure consistency in the reporting of U.S.  foreign assistance. Since the majority of the agencies’  data were not yet of sufficient quality, OMB officials noted that a review to  graduate agencies from USAID’s verification process was premature. State and USAID officials told us that they are unable to update  ForeignAssistance.gov with USAID’s verified data because of differences  between the two datasets. Since State, USAID, and OMB recognize that a key step outlined in the  bulletin to ensure data quality may not be feasible, and in the absence of  the 2-year review on data verification or guidance on how to address the  quality of the data on ForeignAssistance.gov, data will likely remain  inconsistent across the range of U.S. foreign assistance reporting. To improve the quality of the data published on ForeignAssistance.gov  and help ensure consistency in published information, we recommend  that the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Director of OMB and  the USAID Administrator, take the following two actions: undertake a review of the efforts to date on ensuring data quality and develop additional guidance that takes into consideration current  challenges to updating ForeignAssistance.gov with verified data. As noted in the report,  OMB Bulletin No. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

To review the collection and reporting of data for ForeignAssistance.gov,  this report examines (1) the Department of State’s (State) data collection  and publishing process for ForeignAssistance.gov; (2) key impediments, if  any, that agencies face in collecting and reporting data for  ForeignAssistance.gov; and (3) the data published on  ForeignAssistance.gov. To conduct this work, we analyzed key guidance documents relating to  the data collection process: the 2012 Office of Management and Budget  (OMB) Bulletin No. To examine State’s data collection process for ForeignAssistance.gov, we  conducted semistructured interviews with officials of 22 U.S. agencies— the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and  Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, the Interior, Labor, State,  Transportation, and the Treasury; the Environmental Protection Agency;  the Export-Import Bank of the United States; the Federal Trade  Commission; the Inter-American Foundation; the Millennium Challenge  Corporation; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation; the Peace  Corps; the U.S. African Development Foundation; the U.S. Agency for  International Development; and the U.S. Trade and Development  Agency—concerning four areas of the data collection process, including  (1) data collection and validation processes; (2) guidance provided by  State on the data collection process; (3) resource needs to collect data,  such as infrastructure, staff, and training; and (4) impediments that  agencies may face in collecting and reporting data for  ForeignAssistance.gov. We also interviewed OMB on its monitoring role  for ForeignAssistance.gov.
Why GAO Did This Study

The overarching goal of ForeignAssistance.gov is to enable a variety of stakeholders—including U.S. citizens, civil society organizations, the U.S. Congress, federal agencies, partner countries, and other donors—to research and track U.S. government foreign assistance investments in an accessible and easily understood format.
GAO was asked to review the collection and reporting of ForeignAssistance.gov data. GAO examined (1) State's data collection and publishing process; (2) key impediments, if any, that agencies face in collecting and reporting data to State; and (3) the data published on ForeignAssistance.gov. GAO reviewed agency documents, assessed ForeignAssistance.gov data for completeness by comparing them to USAID's Foreign Aid Explorer data on U.S. foreign assistance for fiscal year 2014, and conducted semistructured interviews with the 22 agencies on their data collection and verification processes. GAO also interviewed OMB officials.

What GAO Found

Since 2013, the Department of State (State) has collected and published quarterly data on ForeignAssistance.gov from 10 agencies that provide the majority of U.S. foreign assistance and more recently has initiated a process to prepare the12 remaining agencies to collect and report data. The 2012 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 12-01 outlined requirements for collecting and publishing data from 22 agencies and designated State as the lead agency for implementing ForeignAssistance.gov.
GAO's survey showed that most of the 10 agencies reporting data for ForeignAssistance.gov identified limitations in their information technology systems and data availability as key impediments in collecting and reporting data, while most of the 12 agencies not yet reporting data identified lack of staff time as a potential key impediment.
GAO found that the data on ForeignAssistance.gov were incomplete and that State was not fully transparent about such limitations on the website. In addition, State has not updated ForeignAssistance.gov with verified annual data to ensure quality. GAO's analysis of fiscal year 2014 data showed that ForeignAssistance.gov did not report over $10 billion in disbursements and about $6 billion in obligations provided by the 10 reporting agencies, compared to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-verified data (see fig.). A 2009 OMB memorandum requires agencies to improve transparency in published information, which includes identifying high-value information not yet available online. However, State, as the publisher of this information, does not provide agencies with guidance to identify data limitations that it can clearly disclose on the website and noted that it relies on agencies to report these. The absence of clear information on data limitations may undermine the goal of ForeignAssistance.gov to improve public knowledge and accountability of U.S. foreign assistance. Moreover, State, as the lead agency, has not updated ForeignAssistance.gov with verified data even though OMB Bulletin No. 12-01 indicates that these data should be updated annually using USAID-verified data. State and USAID officials told GAO that they are unable to update ForeignAssistance.gov with verified data because of differences in their datasets. OMB also noted that a review to assess whether agencies had sufficient internal data quality controls did not take place, although it was required by the bulletin. In the absence of a review or additional guidance to address the quality of the data on ForeignAssistance.gov, data will likely remain incomplete.

What GAO Recommends

To improve the transparency and quality of the data on ForeignAssistance.gov, State (1) should provide guidance to agencies on identifying data limitations and clearly disclose those limitations on the website; and (2) in consultation with the OMB Director and the USAID Administrator, undertake a review of efforts to ensure data quality and develop guidance on improving the quality of ForeignAssistance.gov data. State, OMB, and USAID concurred with the recommendations.