Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumFederal agencies are stewards of billions in taxpayer funds. Given the scale of federal financial transactions, maintaining reliable, high-quality financial data can be challenging. The use of emerging technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA) and natural language processing can reduce manual work for agency employees and improve the consistency of financial data. These technologies are key to success on financial audits and maintaining public confidence in the reliability of procurement and nonprocurement financial information.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Gill, David I.

Ibrahim, Avram

Jolly, Sonia

Miller, Alicia M.

Umer, Chaudry

English

Symposium PresentationApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Calhoun, Institutional Archive of the Naval Postgraduate School

Calhoun: The NPS Institutional ArchiveDSpace RepositoryAcquisition Research Program Acquisition Research Symposium2022-05-06Making Federal Financial Data More ReliableWith Emerging TechGill, David I.; Ibrahim, Avram; Umer, Chaudry; Jolly, Sonia;Miller, Alicia M.http://hdl.handle.net/10945/70222Downloaded from NPS Archive: CalhounMaking Federal Financial Data More Reliable with Emerging TechDavid Gill, Avram Ibrahim, Umer Chaudry, Sonia Jolly, Alicia M MillerMay 2022IRS Office of the Chief Procurement OfficerAnalytics, Research, & Technology DivisionDepartment of the Treasury  Internal Revenue Service  publish.no.irs.govThe content of this presentation is the opinion of the writers and does not necessarily represent the position of the Internal Revenue Service.Providing Consistent, Reliable Federal Spending Data to the PublicThe Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) was enacted to:- “[E]xpand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) by disclosing direct Federal agency expenditures and linking Federal contract, loan, and grant spending information to programs of Federal agencies to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track Federal spending more effectively”;- “[E]stablish Government-wide data standards for financial data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable Governmentwide spending data that is displayed accurately for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov’;- [I]mprove the quality of data submitted to USASpending.gov by holding Federal agencies accountable for the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted.Making Federal Financial Data More Reliable with Emerging Tech2Data Quality Challenges and AuditsAgency Inspector Generals perform an annual validation of and verification audits of procurement data. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s (TIGTA) Fiscal Year 2020 DATA Act Audit identified IRS procurement data elements with a relatively high error rate.Making Federal Financial Data More Reliable with Emerging Tech3Data Element Name FY 2020 FY 2019 ChangePrimary Place of Performance Address 44% 52% - 8%Potential Total Value of Award 29% 35% - 6%Primary Place of Performance Congressional District 26% 21% 5%Action Date 25% 28% - 3%Legal Entity Address 23% 19% 4%Current Total Value of Award 23% 35% - 12%Period of Performance Current End Date 22% 24% - 2%Period of Performance Potential End Date 21% 28% - 7%Ultimate Parent Legal Entity Name 21% 52% - 31%Ultimate Parent Unique Identifier 21% 23% - 2%Locating Unstructured Information in Contract DocumentsSome information is not found in consistent locations across contract documents.Artificial intelligence is used to locate these data elements within documents.Making Federal Financial Data More Reliable with Emerging Tech4Where is the Place of Performance in this contract document?Key information on modifications is captured in a free form description box on the Standard Form 30.Emerging Technology SolutionsGiven the scale of federal financial transactions – maintaining reliable, high quality financial data can be challenging.- Use of emerging technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA) and natural language processing can reduce manual work for agency employees and improve the consistency of financial data- RPA bots emulate humans in performing computer tasks (e.g. bot clicks with mouse and types information in systems). Further intelligent automation adds complex, artificial intelligence reasoning capabilities (e.g. locate specific information in varying locations within contract documents). - These technologies are key to success on financial audits and maintaining public confidence in the reliability of contract and non-contract financial information. Making Federal Financial Data More Reliable with Emerging Tech5Bot SolutionThe DATA Act Bot extracts information from contract documents and then compares with Federal Procurement Data System reporting.Making Federal Financial Data More Reliable with Emerging Tech6ResultsThe DATA Act bot has brought demonstratable improvement to agency performance on DATA Act audits.- The bot automates the tedious work of verifying the consistency of contract s, dollar amounts, addresses, and other information. - The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s FY 2020 DATA Act audit states the “IRS received a score of 97.7 based on our sample and therefore has an overall quality rating of “Excellent.””Making Federal Financial Data More Reliable with Emerging Tech7Use of Open Federal Spending DataExamples search benefiting from the availability of high-quality spending data:Making Federal Financial Data More Reliable with Emerging Tech8Professional Field Organization StudyGlobal Development Columbia University US Spending in HaitiPublic Affairs University of Missouri Federal contracting trends in MissouriBusiness Innovation Hoover Institution Supporting Advanced Manufacturing in AlabamaDisaster Medicine and Public Health PreparednessCambridge University Press US Governmental Spending for Disaster-Related ResearchSustainability Environmental Research: Infrastructure and SustainabilityUnited States federal contracting and pollution preventionNonprofit Sector Syracuse University What Big Data Can Tell Us About Government Awards to the Nonprofit SectorEducation Heritage Foundation Pandemic Education SpendingPublic Health BMJ Medicine Use of private management consultants in public health | The BMJPolitical Science Cambridge University Press Implementing presidential particularism: bureaucracy and the distribution of federal grants | Political Science Research and Methods | Cambridge Core

Making Federal Financial Data More Reliable With Emerging Tech

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Making Federal Financial Data More Reliable With Emerging Tech

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Calhoun, Institutional Archive of the Naval Postgraduate School

Calhoun, Institutional Archive of the Naval Postgraduate School