Issues in Evaluation - Evaluation and Auditing: Lessons from Oversight of DATA Act Implementation

Nearly a decade ago, Congress passed legislation to significantly improve federal reporting of spending information and provide greater transparency to the American public about how taxpayer dollars are used. The law—the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, or DATA Act—included provisions for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Inspectors General (IG) to evaluate how well agencies complied with the law’s requirements, including the extent to which agencies adhered to data standards and submitted quality data over time.