USAID shines with an ‘A’ in otherwise stagnant FITARA scorecard
The U.S. Agency for International Development appears to have dramatically transformed its compliance with the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, receiving an “A” grade in a congressional scorecard released Tuesday after getting a “D” last September.
The FITARA scorecard, issued by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on a biannual basis, measures agencies’ adherence to the 2014 law, which enhances federal CIOs’ budget authority and increases their accountability for that spending. The law also mandates other requirements, such as the Data Center Optimization Initiative and governmentwide software license usage.
USAID’s score — the only A of the 24 agencies graded — is a composite of high marks for its agency CIO authority enhancements, transparency and risk management, IT portfolio review, data center optimization, and strategic software licensing.
It’s the first agency to receive an “A” grade on a FITARA scorecard, now in its fourth iteration.
The rest of the class stayed roughly the same as they were in December, with the majority receiving “Bs” and “Cs.” Last time around, the Transportation Department got the only failing grade; this time, the Defense Department, for which certain parts of the law are not applicable, got the lone “F.”
The IT Subcommittee will convene Tuesday afternoon for a hearing around its latest findings. Department of Health and Human Services CIO Beth Killoran and Deputy CFO Sheila Conley will testify. Their agency received has received a “D” score on each of the four FITARA scorecards.
