Agencies score record number of A's on latest FITARA scorecard

Federal agencies received the highest grades ever awarded on the latest version of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act scorecard that was released on Friday, with more than half of the reviewed entities given an A for their IT modernization and acquisition efforts. 

The 18th iteration of the scorecard was unveiled by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., during a roundtable event with representatives from the Government Accountability Office, NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Departments of Energy and Veterans Affairs.

The biannual scorecard first began in 2015 and serves as an oversight mechanism for 24 reviewed agencies. The subcommittee works with the Government Accountability Office to release the scorecard, in which the federal entities are graded on their adherence to federal guidance regarding their management of IT systems. 

Connolly — one of the original sponsors of FITARA and the ranking member of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation — noted that the most recent review includes “the highest number of A's by far ever recorded on a single scorecard,” with 13 agencies receiving the top grade. 

An additional 10 agencies received B grades, while only one entity — the Department of Energy — received a C. Every agency either saw its grade increase or stay the same since the last scorecard was issued on Feb. 1.

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of State showed the greatest improvement since the release of the 17th scorecard, with both agencies improving their grades from D’s to A's. 

GAO Information Technology and Cybersecurity Director Carol Harris — who estimated FITARA’s total cost savings at approximately $31.4 billion — said the overall improved grades are “mostly due to very marked improvement in two categories, which is a [chief information officer] investment evaluation category and the cloud category.”

The cloud computing category was a new addition to the previous version of the scorecard and resulted in a number of the reviewed agencies’ overall scores dropping. Harris noted that only one agency received an A in this specific category during the last review, but that the number rose to eight A's in the most recent scorecard. 

Connolly said the scorecard “has been one of constant evolution as we receive feedback on how better to use the scorecard and improve it.” 

He added that lawmakers are looking at adding additional categories to future FITARA scorecards, including one reviewing Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program — or FedRAMP — compliance and another beginning to explore agencies’ early adoption of artificial intelligence tools. 

“I think the first concern maybe that Congress might want to monitor — and that may be reflected in the scorecard — is, ‘Okay, what about AI workforce recruitment, training, retention?” Connolly posited. “Where do we get the workforce at the federal level to make sure we're managing AI and we understand how to regulate and everything else? And I think that may be a good place for us to start.”

As with the previous two versions of the FITARA scorecard, the latest rankings were unveiled during a roundtable discussion rather than as part of a congressional hearing. Connolly claimed that Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. — the chair of the subcommittee — “has turned her back on the FITARA scorecard” and pledged that, if Democrats regain control of the House in the upcoming November elections, “we will return for a hearing scheduled on the scorecard.”

A representative for Mace did not respond to a request for comment, but the congresswoman’s office told Nextgov/FCW in February that she had held numerous hearings related to federal IT management and acquisition issues.