DATA Act: Initial Observations on Technical Implementation, GAO-16-824R: Published: Aug 3, 2016. Publicly Released: Aug 3, 2016.

“This is the latest work in response to a mandate for GAO to assess DATA Act implementation efforts to improve the transparency and accuracy of data on the approximately $3.7 trillion spent annually by the federal government. A key component of ensuring the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of federal spending data is Treasury’s development of technical guidance and OMB’s release of related policy guidance for submission and publication of the data. Treasury has issued technical implementation guidance which establishes the technical format and supporting systems to facilitate agency reporting. With less than a year before agencies will be required to report data in accordance with the act, there is limited time to complete technical changes and adjustments to facilitate effective implementation. This report provides an update and initial observations on the status of efforts by Treasury and OMB regarding technical implementation of the DATA Act. This report describes (1) the development of a DATA Act Broker system and (2) the components of the technical guidance for agencies’ data submissions, known as the DATA Act Information Model Schema (DAIMS) version 1.0. GAO will provide additional information on the technical implementation of the act including the extent to which the broker addresses data quality issues and the role the DAIMS version 1.0 is expected to play in agencies’ implementation efforts in a forthcoming report planned for later this year.”