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Open Recommendations

IT Modernization: Census Bureau Needs Reliable Cost and Schedule Estimates
GAO-24-105979
Apr 29, 2024
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5 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the CEDSCI program consistently documents user stories to ensure bidirectional traceability with requirements. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the CEDSCI program develops reliable cost estimates using best practices described in GAO's Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, in particular those practices related to the comprehensive and credible characteristics. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the CEDSCI program develops its schedule using the best practices described in GAO's Schedule Assessment Guide. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the OCIO incorporates key elements, such as time frames, into its DevSecOps strategy and finalizes it in a timely manner. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the American Community Survey program develops a plan, including time frames, for the steps they intend to take to determine the most appropriate methods to protect respondent privacy in the publicly available data releases. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Information Technology: IRS Needs to Complete Planning and Improve Reporting for Its Modernization Programs
GAO-24-106566
Mar 19, 2024
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of the IRS should complete the enterprise roadmap and ensure it addresses the strategic operating plan's technology objective. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In its March 2024 letter responding to our draft report, IRS noted plans to address this recommendation to complete its enterprise roadmap and stated that the work to complete the roadmap was well underway. However, the agency did not provide a time frame for when it plans to complete the roadmap. GAO will continue to monitor IRS actions to implement this recommendation.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of the IRS should complete plans for its modernization programs that include (1) milestones to complete the modernization, (2) a description of the work necessary to complete the modernization, and (3) details regarding the disposition of the legacy system, if applicable. (Recommendation 2)
Open
IRS agreed with this recommendation. In its March 2024 letter responding to our draft report, IRS stated that, for each program, it will document the milestones to complete the modernization, describe the work necessary to develop the new system or to modernize the legacy system, and detail the disposition of the legacy system, if applicable. GAO will continue to monitor IRS actions to implement this recommendation.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of the IRS should include information including a history of programs' cost and schedule goals and showing how the quarterly cost and schedule performance aligns with fiscal year and overall goals for the programs in its quarterly reports to Congress. (Recommendation 3)
Open
IRS agreed with this recommendation. In its March 2024 letter responding to our draft report, IRS stated that the performance history of cost and schedule goals is readily available upon request. However, in our report, we do not state that IRS does not have this information. Rather, GAO is recommending that IRS proactively include this information in its quarterly reports to Congress. This would provide additional background and clarity on IRS's efforts to modernize the agency's information technology.

Federal Software Licenses: Agencies Need to Take Action to Achieve Additional Savings
GAO-24-105717
Jan 29, 2024
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18 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of State The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency consistently tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 9)
Open
The Department of State concurred with this recommendation and stated that it is in process of implementing a software solution that will consistently track software licenses currently in use. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency consistently compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 10)
Open
The Department of State concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the department stated that it has implemented a software solution to consistently compare the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses. When we confirm the actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the agency tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 11)
Open
The Department of Veterans Affairs agreed with this recommendation and stated that it will provide the detailed actions planned to address this recommendation by July 2024. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the agency tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, consistently implementing its procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of Agriculture generally concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 12)
Open
The Department of Veterans Affairs agreed with this recommendation and stated that it will provide the detailed actions planned to address this recommendation by July 2024. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should consistently implement its procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of Agriculture generally concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the department statement that it is in the process of developing a new enterprise-wide process to consistently reconcile purchased licenses with active usage. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.

DOD Software Licenses: Better Guidance and Plans Needed to Ensure Restrictive Practices Are Mitigated
GAO-23-106290
Sep 12, 2023
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the DOD CIO, in coordination with ESI, to update and implement guidance and plans to fully address identifying, analyzing, and mitigating the impacts of restrictive software licensing practices on cloud computing efforts. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. As of November 2023, DOD has not yet implemented guidance and plans to fully address identifying, analyzing, and mitigating the impacts of restrictive software licensing practices on cloud computing efforts. DOD officials stated that the Office of the Chief Information Officer plans to issue guidance, including a clear restrictive software licenses definition and addressing remaining gaps identified in this report, by the end of fiscal year 2024. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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