IRM-RCED Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Years 1994-96 (Letter Report, 08/01/95,
GAO/IAP-95-17).

GAO provided information on its Information Resources Management
(IRM)-Resources, Community, and Economic Development issue area plan for
fiscal years 1994 through 1996.

GAO plans to: (1) evaluate the Federal Aviation Agency's Standard
Terminal Automation Replacement System and Oceanic Automation System;
(2) assess the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) implementation of its
Modernization of Administrative Processes Program and analyze USDA
component agencies' development of financial information systems; (3)
assess the Department of Commerce's restructuring of the Advanced
Weather Interactive Processing System; (4) analyze the potential
duplication of technology developments supporting environmental data
collection; (5) assess the Department of Housing and Urban Development's
efforts to strengthen its IRM program to support its evolving
information needs; (6) assess the Department of Energy's oversight of
contractors' IRM activities and expenditures; and (7) evaluate the
testing of the Department of the Interior's Automated Land Management
System.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  IAP-95-17
     TITLE:  IRM-RCED Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Years 1994-96
      DATE:  08/01/95
   SUBJECT:  Computerized information systems
             Air traffic control systems
             Financial management systems
             Data collection operations
             Information resources management
             Land management
             Meteorological research
             Environmental research
             Environmental monitoring
IDENTIFIER:  FAA Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System
             FAA Oceanic Automation System
             NWS Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System
             Dept. of the Interior Automated Land Management System
             USDA Modernization of Administrative Processes Initiative
             FAA Air Traffic Control Modernization Program
             USDA Info Share Program
             Superfund Program
             
******************************************************************
** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a  **
** GAO report.  Delineations within the text indicating chapter **
** titles, headings, and bullets are preserved.  Major          **
** divisions and subdivisions of the text, such as Chapters,    **
** Sections, and Appendixes, are identified by double and       **
** single lines.  The numbers on the right end of these lines   **
** indicate the position of each of the subsections in the      **
** document outline.  These numbers do NOT correspond with the  **
** page numbers of the printed product.                         **
**                                                              **
** No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although **
** figure captions are reproduced.  Tables are included, but    **
** may not resemble those in the printed version.               **
**                                                              **
** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when     **
** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed     **
** document's contents.                                         **
**                                                              **
** A printed copy of this report may be obtained from the GAO   **
** Document Distribution Center.  For further details, please   **
** send an e-mail message to:                                   **
**                                                              **
**                                            **
**                                                              **
** with the message 'info' in the body.                         **
******************************************************************


Cover
================================================================ COVER


Accounting and Information Management Division

August 1995

IRM-RCED ISSUE AREA PLAN - FISCAL
YEARS 1994-96

GAO/IAP-95-17



Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV


FOREWORD
============================================================ Chapter 0

As the investigative arm of Congress and the nation's auditor, the
General Accounting Office is charged with following the federal
dollar wherever it goes.  Reflecting stringent standards of
objectivity and independence, GAO's audits, evaluations, and
investigations promote a more efficient and cost-effective
government; expose fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in federal
programs; help Congress target budget reductions; assess financial
and information management; and alert Congress to developing trends
that may have significant fiscal or budgetary consequences.  In
fulfilling its responsibilities, GAO performs original research and
uses hundreds of databases, or creates its own to compile and analyze
information. 

To ensure that GAO's resources are directed toward the most important
issues facing Congress, each of GAO's 35 issue areas develops a
strategic plan that describes its key issues and their significance,
how those issues influence audit objectives, the focus of its work,
and the planned major job starts.  Each issue area relies heavily on
input from congressional committees, agency officials, and
subject-matter experts in developing its strategic plan. 

The IRM-RCED issue area covers information resources management of
the key agencies covered by GAO's Resources, Community, and Economic
Development (RCED) Division--the Departments of Agriculture,
Commerce, Energy, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Interior, and
Transportation; and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

Information resources in the IRM-RCED area support over $160 billion
in annual program expenditures.  These information resources are
vital to agencies achieving critical missions ranging from ensuring
the safety of millions of air travelers to overseeing loan portfolios
valued at over $1 trillion. 

GAO's IRM-RCED work assists Congress in determining how effectively
and efficiently key agencies use the billions of dollars they invest
annually in information technology.  The principal issues in this
area are

  -- acquiring cost-effective Transportation computer
     andcommunication systems;

  -- developing Agriculture computer and communication systems that
     support revised business strategies;

  -- improving the development and operation of National Weather
     Service systems;

  -- strengthening environmental systems to help recover cleanup
     costs, help achieve missions, and reduce potential technological
     duplications;

  -- resolving problems with HUD systems supporting high- risk
     programs; and

  -- using information technology at Energy to effectively and
     efficiently support missions. 

In the pages that follow, we describe our objectives and planned work
on these issues. 

Because events may affect this plan, GAO's planning process allows
the flexibility to update the plan and respond quickly to emerging
issues.  If you have any questions or suggestions, please call me at
(202) 512-6253. 

Joel Willemssen
Director, Information Resources Management/Resources,
Community, and Economic Development Issues


CONTENTS
============================================================ Chapter 1


   FOREWORD
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:1

1


   TABLE I:  KEY ISSUES
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:2

4


   TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:3

8


TABLE I:  KEY ISSUES
============================================================ Chapter 2

Issue                          Significance
-----------------------------  -------------------------------------------------
Transportation: Is the         The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air
Department of Transportation   Traffic Control System Modernization Program is a
effectively acquiring          $38-billion effort that encompasses almost 200
computer and communications    individual projects. In 1995, GAO designated this
systems, providing reliable    as a high-risk information technology program
safety data, and using         because it had experienced past failures,
innovative technologies?       involves complex technology, and is critical to
                               FAA's mission.








Agriculture: Is the            In its effort to consolidate and streamline
Department of Agriculture      operations, Agriculture plans to spend billions
effectively developing         of dollars on information and communications
computer and communications    technologies to support new reengineered business
systems to support its         processes. To be successful, it must carefully
revised business strategies?   select enabling technologies that will serve
                               business needs in the most cost-effective manner
                               possible.








National Weather Service: Are  The National Weather Service is undertaking one
the systems supporting the     of the largest system modernization programs in
National Weather Service's     the federal government to streamline and improve
$4.5-billion modernization     its aging weather service capabilities and
program being effectively and  downsize its organization. In 1995, GAO
efficiently managed and        designated the modernization as a high-risk
operated?                      information technology program because of its
                               size and use of complex technologies.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives                     Focus of work
-----------------------------  -------------------------------------------------
ï¿½Enhance the cost-             ï¿½Review of high-risk air traffic control
effectiveness of computer and  modernization program
communications systems
supporting the $38-billion
air traffic control            ï¿½Assessment of adequacy of airway safety systems
modernization program.         and data

ï¿½Recommend needed
enhancements in safety
systems and data.




ï¿½Identify unnecessary system   ï¿½Reviews of $2.6-billion Info Share initiative,
development projects and       Agriculture's management of its
redundant and inefficient      telecommunications networks, and financial
telecommunications services.   systems development efforts

ï¿½Recommend streamlining of     ï¿½Assessment of information systems to support
agency business processes via  revised missions
information technology.







ï¿½Recommend improvements in     ï¿½Evaluation of systems architecture needed to
the development, operation,    guide the Weather Service's effort
and integration of key system
components leading to          ï¿½Review of development and operation of systems
strengthened weather           such as surface observing systems, doppler radar,
forecasting.                   and the advanced weather interactive processing
                               system







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issue                          Significance
-----------------------------  -------------------------------------------------
Environment: Can               With annual environmental compliance costs
environmental systems be       reaching $115 billion, federal facility cleanup
strengthened to obtain         costs projected at $1 trillion, and environmental
additional recoverable costs,  issues permeating almost every facet of our
help achieve missions, and     lives, interest in environmental protection
reduce potential               programs remains at the forefront of the public
technological duplications?    and congressional agendas. To address these
                               issues and carry out its various environmental
                               missions, EPA needs effective and efficient
                               systems to provide critical information to
                               decisionmakers.









Housing: Can HUD effectively   Information system weaknesses are a major reason
resolve problems with the      why GAO designated HUD a high-risk agency. To
systems supporting its high-   address these and other program problems, HUD has
risk programs and reengineer   proposed a major reinvention initiative to
its business processes?        consolidate programs and streamline operations.
                               System improvements are key to successfully
                               transition from a high-risk agency to one that is
                               efficient and responsive to customers.


Energy: Is Energy effectively  The Department of Energy spends about $2 billion
using information technology   annually on information technology--the third
to support its missions and    highest among civilian agencies. Concerns are
providing effective oversight  escalating about whether these expenditures (1)
of contractors' IRM            are helping the Department achieve its missions
activities?                    and (2) may be unnecessarily duplicative among
                               contractors.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives                     Focus of work
-----------------------------  -------------------------------------------------
ï¿½Enhance the information       ï¿½Review of information systems supporting
systems supporting EPA's       Superfund cost recovery
Superfund program to enable
the recovery of additional     ï¿½Reviews of systems supporting missions such as
costs.                         hazardous and solid waste and air quality

ï¿½Improve EPA information       ï¿½Assessment of potential duplication of
systems to help support        technology developments supporting environmental
environmental missions such    data collection
as monitoring solid and
hazardous waste, and air
quality.

ï¿½Recommend reducing
duplications in the federal
government's technological
approaches to collecting
environmental data.

ï¿½Recommend system              ï¿½Reviews of systems supporting HUD's high-risk
enhancements necessary to      programs
provide managers with better
information to control high-   ï¿½Evaluation of HUD's management of information
risk programs.                 resources

ï¿½Recommend improvements in
information resources
management and opportunities
to streamline business
processes.

ï¿½Recommend improvements in     ï¿½Evaluations of whether information systems are
information systems and data   adequately supporting key missions, such as
so that Energy can more        nuclear tracking
effectively carry out its
missions.                      ï¿½Reviews of Energy's oversight of contractor IRM
                               activities
ï¿½Strengthen Energy's
oversight of its contractors'
IRM activities and identify
possible reductions in
contractor expenditures.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
============================================================ Chapter 3

Issue                    Planned major job starts
-----------------------  ---------------------------------------------
Transportation           --Perform investment portfolio analysis of
                         air traffic control modernization systems.

                         --Evaluate FAA's Standard Terminal Automation
                         Replacement System.

                         --Evaluate FAA's Oceanic Automation System.

                         --Analyze FAA software acquisition
                         capability.

Agriculture              --Analyze Agriculture's component agencies'
                         development of financial information
                         systems.

                         --Evaluate opportunities to achieve
                         telecommunications savings by extending USDA
                         approach governmentwide.

                         --Assess Agriculture's implementation of its
                         Modernization of Administrative Processes
                         Program.

                         --Evaluate the consolidation and integration
                         of systems within Agriulture's new natural
                         resources and environment mission area.

Weather Service          --Assess Commerce restructuring of the
                         Advanced Weather Interactive Processing
                         System.

                         --Evaluate operational testing of integrated
                         weather systems.


Environment              --Analyze potential duplication of technology
                         developments supporting environmental data
                         collection.


Housing and Urban        --Assess HUD's efforts to strengthen its IRM
Development              program to support evolving information
                         needs.

Energy                   --Assess DOE's oversight of contractors' IRM
                         activities and expenditures.

                         --Evaluate information systems supporting
                         DOE's environmental management program.

Other congressional      --Evaluate the testing of Interior's
requests                 Automated Land Management System.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

*** End of document. ***