Overall, DOE’s laboratory supercomputers accounted for about 17 percent of the total supercomputer capacity in the world. Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

As requested by the Chairman, House Committee on the Budget, we (1) identified the number and cost of the supercomputers DOE acquired in fiscal years 1994 through 1997 and the number and proposed funding for planned major supercomputer acquisitions in fiscal years 1998 through 2000; (2) determined the stated need for DOE’s supercomputers, the utilization rates for them, and the potential for facilities to share these resources; and (3) identified and described the process DOE and its contractors employ to validate the need for additional supercomputers and compared that process with the technology investment process set forth in the Clinger-Cohen Act. The costs of operating supercomputers are also substantial. Planned Major Supercomputer Acquisitions

DOE expects that its planned major supercomputer acquisitions for fiscal years 1998 through 2000 will cost about $257 million. DOE Has Unused Supercomputer Capacity That Can Be Shared

DOE is underutilizing its supercomputing resources and is missing opportunities to share them. With respect to utilization, we found that DOE’s laboratories are utilizing, on average, only about 59 percent of their available supercomputer capability. Research is under way as part of the ASCI program to address this issue. DOE’s Proposed Changes May Not Improve Oversight of Supercomputers

DOE has not effectively overseen the acquisition and use of supercomputers, and its proposed implementation of the Clinger-Cohen Act will not improve its oversight. The Department does not have a process in place to ensure that supercomputer acquisitions are fully justified and represent the best use of funds among competing priorities. As a result, new systems are planned and acquired without DOE oversight, while substantial unused and underutilized capacity already exists within DOE. As envisioned, this approach may allow DOE’s program offices to continue acquiring supercomputers outside the Department’s normal process for implementing the Clinger-Cohen Act. This approach, contrary to what is envisioned in the Clinger-Cohen Act, effectively places the vast majority of DOE’s information technology resources outside the purview of the Department’s chief information officer. However, the program has not been designated as a strategic system. The executive committe and chief information officer oversee major information technology investments, and the chief information officer has the specific responsibility of overseeing the Department’s information technology process. DOE’s Proposed Implementation of the Clinger-Cohen Act May Not Follow Its Criteria

In April 1998, the Department decided to implement an investment planning and oversight process for major administrative and scientific information technologies. GAO’s Comments

1. We disagree with DOE’s position on the percent of overall capacity available for sharing, and with the Department’s view that sharing of ASCI supercomputers is difficult. 5. The process DOE is implementing in response to the act would allow the same program office that has a vested interest in acquiring the supercomputer to be the Department’s oversight body for the acquisition of that supercomputer.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) acquisition and use of supercomputers, focusing on the: (1) number and cost of the supercomputers DOE acquired in fiscal years (FY) 1994 through 1997 and the number and proposed funding for planned major supercomputer acquisitions in FY 1998 through FY 2000; (2) stated need for DOE's supercomputers, the utilization rates for them, and the potential for facilities to share these resources; and (3) process DOE and its contractors employ to validate the need for additional supercomputers and how that process contrasts with the technology investment process set forth in the Clinger-Cohen Act.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) DOE has about 17 percent of the world's supercomputing capacity and is planning to almost triple its capacity over the next 3 years; (2) during FY 1998 through FY 2000, the Department plans to acquire five major supercomputers at an estimated cost of $257 million; (3) overall, DOE's national laboratories used only about 59 percent of their available supercomputing capacity in 1997 and are missing opportunities to share these resources; (4) the sharing of supercomputers among DOE's laboratories and with DOE-funded off-site users is not generally considered as a way to better use existing resources and to forgo the need to acquire more supercomputers; (5) DOE has not effectively overseen the acquisition and use of supercomputers; (6) the Department lacks an investment strategy and a defined process to ensure that supercomputer acquisitions are fully justified and represent the best use of funds among competing priorities; (7) instead, the Department's existing management processes separate supercomputer acquisitions from the projects they support, and the Department's chief information officer does not oversee the acquisition or use of supercomputers; (8) as a result, new supercomputers are planned and acquired with little departmental oversight, while underutilized capacity already exists within the Department; (9) DOE's proposed implementation of the Clinger-Cohen Act will not improve departmental oversight; (10) in April 1998, the Department outlined its plan to implement a new investment planning and oversight process for information technology in response to the Clinger-Cohen Act; (11) this proposed approach reflects the view of the Department's program offices that supercomputers are research tools rather than information technology investments; (12) this approach may also allow DOE's program offices to continue acquiring supercomputers outside the Department's normal process for complying with the Clinger-Cohen Act; (13) contrary to what is envisioned in the Clinger-Cohen Act, this approach effectively places the vast majority of DOE's information technology resources outside the purview of the Department's chief information officer; (14) in addition, the cost and significance of the supercomputers being developed under the Department's Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) warrants that program's being designated as a strategic system subject to the highest level of departmental oversight; and (15) the ASCI program is estimated to cost about $4 billion from FY 1996 through FY 2010.