GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS: Inconsistent Definitions and Information Limit the Usefulness of Federal Program Inventories, GAO-15-83: Published: Oct 31, 2014. Publicly Released: Oct 31, 2014.

“GAO’s reports over the past 4 years have found more than 90 areas where opportunities exist for the executive branch or Congress to better manage, reduce, or eliminate fragmentation, overlap, and duplication. [The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010] (GPRAMA) calls for the creation of a list (inventory) of all federal programs, along with related budget and performance information, which could make it easier to determine the scope of the federal government’s involvement in particular areas and, therefore, where action is needed to address crosscutting issues, including instances of fragmentation, overlap, or duplication. GPRAMA requires GAO to periodically review its implementation. This report is part of GAO’s response to that mandate and examines (1) how OMB and agencies defined programs, (2) the extent to which inventories provide useful information for decision makers, and (3) the extent to which inventories provide a coherent picture of the scope of federal involvement in particular areas. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed the 24 inventories using GPRAMA requirements, OMB guidance, and related leading practices from GAO’s past work, and interviewed OMB staff and agency officials. For the first objective, GAO also selected two areas of fragmentation, overlap, and duplication identified in past GAO work—STEM education and nuclear nonproliferation—and compared the lists of programs developed in its past work to those contained in agency inventories. The two areas were selected based on various factors, including the number of agencies involved and whether those agencies published an inventory.”