The U.S. Department of the Interior Is Making Progress in Its Management of Geospatial Data but Improvements Are Needed

Submitting OIG:

Report Description:

DOI made progress in complying with 9 of the 13 responsibilities in the Geospatial Data Act. We found deficiencies impacting 4 responsibilities.

Short / Alternative Report Title:

DOI Is Making Progress in Its Management of Geospatial Data but Improvements Are Needed

Date Issued:

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Agency Reviewed / Investigated:

Department of the Interior

Submitting OIG-Specific Report Number:

2024-ER-003

Location(s):

Agency-Wide

Type of Report:

Audit

Questioned Costs:

Funds for Better Use:

Number of Recommendations:

Report updated under NDAA 5274:

View Document:

Attachment	Size
FinalAuditReportImprovements-Needed-DOI-Management-Geospatial-Data.pdf	3.28 MB

Additional Details Link:

https://www.doioig.gov/reports/audit/us-department-interior-making-progress-its-…

Recommendation Number	Recommendation Status	Significant Recommendation
2024-ER-003-01	Open	Yes
We recommend that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, as the delegated Federal Geographic Data Committee Chair, conduct an analysis to identify the root cause(s) of the geospatial dataset unavailability on GeoPlatform.
2024-ER-003-02	Open	Yes
We recommend that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, as the delegated Federal Geographic Data Committee Chair, conduct an analysis to determine the costs, benefits, and feasibility of resolving the root causes identified with GeoPlatform.
2024-ER-003-03	Open	Yes
We recommend that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, as the delegated Federal Geographic Data Committee Chair, implement appropriate changes based on the root cause and cost benefit analyses to address dataset availability issues.
2024-ER-003-04	Open	Yes
We recommend that the Office of the Chief Information Officer develop and implement a methodology for the bureaus to identify all DOI geospatial-related costs to ensure consistency.
2024-ER-003-05	Open	Yes
We recommend that the Office of the Chief Information Officer direct the bureaus to track all geospatial-related costs using the methodology developed in recommendation 4 and report these costs to the Office of the Chief Information Officer annually.
2024-ER-003-06	Open	No
We recommend that the Office of the Chief Information Officer, in the absence of Federal Geographic Data Committee standards, identify relevant best practices and develop requirements for specific data fields for National Geospatial Data Assets in alignment with best practices.

Recommendation Number

Recommendation Status

Significant Recommendation

Additional Details

2024-ER-003-01

Open

Yes

We recommend that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, as the delegated Federal Geographic Data Committee Chair, conduct an analysis to identify the root cause(s) of the geospatial dataset unavailability on GeoPlatform.

2024-ER-003-02

Open

Yes

We recommend that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, as the delegated Federal Geographic Data Committee Chair, conduct an analysis to determine the costs, benefits, and feasibility of resolving the root causes identified with GeoPlatform.