The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and lead federal agencies come up with a government-wide communications strategy and implementation plan and establish a leadership team to implement the administration’s reform proposals.
GAO made the recommendation after reviewing five of the 32 proposals in the administration’s government-wide reform plan, including the transfer of background investigations from the Office of Personnel Management to the Department of Defense, efforts to address the shortage of cybersecurity professionals and establishment of the Government Effectiveness Advanced Research Center, according to a report published Thursday.
The congressional watchdog found that OMB and the Department of Homeland Security have not followed key reform practices, such as forming a dedicated leadership team and an implementation plan to solve the cyber workforce shortage.
“Without these practices in place, OMB and DHS may not be able to monitor implementation activities and determine whether progress is being made toward solving the cybersecurity workforce shortage,” GAO said in the report.