The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to provide annual progress reports on the agency’s implementation of the 2020 strategic plan, which succeeded the 2016 National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI) road map.
GAO indicated in its report published Thursday that the OSTP and other agencies did not consistently communicate their progress on NSCI’s 2016 strategic plan implementation, offering the academic and industry partners limited data on their respective accomplishments.
The NSCI is a whole-of-nation approach aimed at sustaining the country’s edge in high-performance computing.
As part of its five 2016 strategic objectives, the effort sought to advance exascale computing technologies and holistically advance the capabilities of an HPC ecosystem.
Officials from ten agencies that presented to execute the initiative reported that they “generally did not receive funding to implement the 2016 strategic plan.”
They added that they shouldered the efforts under existing projects and researches that matched with the plan’s objectives.
The congressional watchdog further recommended the OSTP and other offices to address the valuable qualities of a national strategy in the impending implementation road map or by other means.
“By more fully addressing the desirable characteristics of a national strategy through the implementation plan or other means … OSTP and agencies could improve efforts to sustain and enhance U.S. leadership in high-performance computing,” GAO said.