Reliability of Federal Procurement Data Page: 1 of 4
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AGAO
Accountability * Integrity * Reliability
United States General Accounting Office
Washington, DC 20548
December 30, 2003
The Honorable Joshua B. Bolten
Director, Office of Management and Budget
Subject: Reliability of Federal Procurement Data
Dear Mr. Bolten:
The purpose of this letter is to convey our serious and continuing concerns with the
reliability of the data contained in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) and
to recommend steps to help improve data reliability as the successor system, FPDS-
Next Generation (FPDS-NG), is implemented.
Reliable information is critical to informed decision making and to oversight of the
procurement system. FPDS has been the federal government's central database of
information on federal procurement actions since 1978. Congress and executive
branch agencies rely on FPDS to assess the impact that governmentwide acquisition
policies and processes are having on the system generally, as well as with respect to
specific geographical areas, markets, and socio-economic goals.
Yet despite the importance of the data, we continue to find that FPDS data are
inaccurate and incomplete. Although we have not fully assessed the extent of
reporting errors, we have found sufficient problems to warrant concern about the
current reliability of FPDS information. We are pleased that the administration is
moving forward with plans to modernize that system through FPDS-NG.
The examples following reflect a few of the many instances in which we either have
been unable to assess fully the implementation of procurement programs or have had
to limit our reliance on FPDS data:
In our 2003 review' of the simplified acquisition procedures test program, we
found gross errors in the FPDS data. For example, use of the test program by
the reported three largest users in fiscal year 2001 was either overstated or
understated by millions of dollars. We found similar inaccuracies with the
Department of Defense's data system,2 which feeds information into FPDS.
' U.S. General Accounting Office, Contract Management: No Reliable Data to Measure Benefits of the
Simplified Acquisition Test Program, GAO-03-1068 (Washington D.C.: Sept. 30, 2003).
2 The Department of Defense uses the Defense Contract Action Data System (DCADS) to supply data
to FPDS.GAO-04-295R Reliability of Federal Procurement Data
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United States. General Accounting Office. Reliability of Federal Procurement Data, text, December 30, 2003; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc301239/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.