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Open Recommendations (70 total)

IT Modernization: Census Bureau Needs Reliable Cost and Schedule Estimates

GAO-24-105979
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the American Community Survey program develops a plan, including time frames, for the steps they intend to take to determine the most appropriate methods to protect respondent privacy in the publicly available data releases. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the CEDSCI program develops its schedule using the best practices described in GAO's Schedule Assessment Guide. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the CEDSCI program consistently documents user stories to ensure bidirectional traceability with requirements. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the OCIO incorporates key elements, such as time frames, into its DevSecOps strategy and finalizes it in a timely manner. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

IT Modernization: Census Bureau Needs Reliable Cost and Schedule Estimates

GAO-24-105979
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Census Bureau to ensure that the CEDSCI program develops reliable cost estimates using best practices described in GAO's Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, in particular those practices related to the comprehensive and credible characteristics. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Artificial Intelligence: Agencies Have Begun Implementation but Need to Complete Key Requirements

GAO-24-105980
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the department updates its AI use case inventory to include all the required information, at minimum, and takes steps to ensure that the data in the inventory aligns with provided instructions. (Recommendation 11)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Artificial Intelligence: Agencies Have Begun Implementation but Need to Complete Key Requirements

GAO-24-105980
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the department develops a plan to either achieve consistency with EO 13960 section 5 for each AI application or retires AI applications found to be developed or used in a manner that is not consistent with the order. (Recommendation 10)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Cybersecurity: Federal Agencies Made Progress, but Need to Fully Implement Incident Response Requirements

GAO-24-105658
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the agency fully implements all event logging requirements as directed by OMB guidance. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: Agencies Should Ensure Section 232 Exclusion Requests Are Needed and Duties Are Paid

GAO-23-105148
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the Under Secretary for Industry and Security fully assesses the effectiveness of the quantity certification requirement BIS put in place and takes further actions, as needed, to improve the Section 232 exclusion request process. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In commenting on the report, Commerce concurred with this recommendation. The comments noted the known challenges in administering the Section 232 Exclusions Portal and stated that Commerce had proactively begun to take steps to limit the amount of unutilized and underutilized exclusions prior to the release of the report. In January 2024, Commerce stated that it would conduct an internal analysis of unutilized or underutilized quantities since mid-2019 in order to understand the impact of the quantity certification and volume certification reviews. This analysis will review the number of exclusions and quantities requested to determine whether the reviews have had an impact on requestor behavior. Finally, Commerce will also incorporate regular tracking of exclusion quantities and volume certification reviews into its existing weekly Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) so trends can be better monitored in real-time. Commerce expects to complete this by June 30, 2024. GAO continues to monitor Commerce's actions in response to this recommendation.

Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: Agencies Should Ensure Section 232 Exclusion Requests Are Needed and Duties Are Paid

GAO-23-105148
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should ensure that the Under Secretary for Industry and Security, in consultation with CBP, explores the development of a data transfer process that reduces the potential for inconsistencies between the two respective agency systems. (Recommendation 2)
Open
In commenting on the report, Commerce concurred with this recommendation. The comments noted the known challenges in administering the Section 232 Exclusions Portal, and said that Commerce had proactively begun to take steps to improve the transfer of information with U.S. Customs and Border Protection prior to the release of the report. In January 2024, Commerce stated that it would establish a staff-level working group with members of CBP's Trade Remedy Branch to further improve the transfer of exclusion data between the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and CBP. This group is expected to meet monthly, and additionally on an ad hoc basis as needed. Commerce proposed several other potential steps, including: (1) making process refinements to ensure accurate Importer of Record information; (2) considering regulatory changes that would facilitate data transfer between the agencies; (3) drafting public guidance to clarify Importer of Record requirements; and (4) creating a shared formal log of changes made to granted exclusions. Commerce reported that it expects to establish the BIS-Trade Remedy Branch working group by March 31, 2024, but did not provide dates for other proposed actions. GAO continues to monitor Commerce's actions in response to this recommendation.
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