Information Technology
Training Can Be Enhanced by Greater Use of Leading Practices
Gao ID: GAO-04-791 June 24, 2004
Effective training of information technology (IT) staff, as called for in the E-Government (E-Gov) Act of 2002, is essential to developing and retaining a qualified workforce. In an earlier report (GAO-03-390), we identified 22 leading practices, grouped into 5 key training management processes, used by private-sector companies to implement effective IT training. These practices suggest approaches that government agencies could consider. To assess IT training in the federal government, including its use of leading practices, we were asked to determine, among other things, to what extent federal agencies use our leading practices, the major obstacles in providing effective IT training and how agencies address them, and the progress the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is making in issuing policies and performing evaluations to encourage agencies to provide effective IT training.
Although federal agencies differ widely in how much IT training they provide, their use of the 22 leading IT training practices that we identified was generally not extensive. Of these practices, only 5 were in use to a great or very great extent in a majority of agencies. In particular, of the three practices we identified in the area of evaluating training, none was widely used. For example, for the practice of collecting information on how job performance is affected by training, only three agencies reported use to a great or very great extent. The most commonly cited obstacles to effective IT training were funding and the time training takes away from work. To address these obstacles, agencies are looking at ways to reduce training time and costs--for example, by greater use of e-learning. OPM has made limited progress in issuing policies or performing evaluations regarding IT training. The E-Gov Act sets requirements for agency IT training programs. To provide oversight, it requires OPM to issue policies to promote the development of performance standards for training, and to evaluate agency implementation of the act's IT training provisions. These policies are particularly important in view of the lack of extensive agency use of the evaluation practices we identified. OPM has begun drafting guidance, but it has not issued policies or evaluated agency implementation of the act. Until policies are issued and progress is measured, oversight of federal IT training will continue to fall short of what the act calls for.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
GAO-04-791, Information Technology: Training Can Be Enhanced by Greater Use of Leading Practices
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Report to Congressional Requesters:
June 2004:
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:
Training Can Be Enhanced by Greater Use of Leading Practices:
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-791]:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-04-791, a report to congressional requesters
Why GAO Did This Study:
Effective training of information technology (IT) staff, as called for
in the E-Government (E-Gov) Act of 2002, is essential to developing and
retaining a qualified workforce. In an earlier report (GAO-03-390), we
identified 22 leading practices, grouped into 5 key training management
processes, used by private-sector companies to implement effective IT
training. These practices suggest approaches that government agencies
could consider.
To assess IT training in the federal government, including its use of
leading practices, we were asked to determine, among other things, to
what extent federal agencies use our leading practices, the major
obstacles in providing effective IT training and how agencies address
them, and the progress the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is
making in issuing policies and performing evaluations to encourage
agencies to provide effective IT training.
What GAO Found:
Although federal agencies differ widely in how much IT training they
provide, their use of the 22 leading IT training practices that we
identified was generally not extensive. Of these practices, only 5 were
in use to a great or very great extent in a majority of agencies (see
figure below). In particular, of the three practices we identified in
the area of evaluating training, none was widely used. For example, for
the practice of collecting information on how job performance is
affected by training, only three agencies reported use to a great or
very great extent.
The most commonly cited obstacles to effective IT training were funding
and the time training takes away from work. To address these obstacles,
agencies are looking at ways to reduce training time and costs”for
example, by greater use of e-learning.
OPM has made limited progress in issuing policies or performing
evaluations regarding IT training. The E-Gov Act sets requirements for
agency IT training programs. To provide oversight, it requires OPM to
issue policies to promote the development of performance standards for
training, and to evaluate agency implementation of the act‘s IT
training provisions. These policies are particularly important in view
of the lack of extensive agency use of the evaluation practices we
identified. OPM has begun drafting guidance, but it has not issued
policies or evaluated agency implementation of the act. Until policies
are issued and progress is measured, oversight of federal IT training
will continue to fall short of what the act calls for.
Percentage of Agencies Using Leading Practices Extensively:
[See PDF for image]
[End of figure]
What GAO Recommends:
GAO is making recommendations to OPM, including that it issue IT
training policies and evaluate implementation of the training
provisions of the E-Gov Act.
In response to a draft of this report, OPM disagreed with the
conclusions on its role and efforts with respect to federal IT
training. Most other agencies generally agreed with the report or had
no comment.
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-791.
To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
the link above. For more information, contact Dave Powner at (202)
512-9286 or pownerd@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
Appendixes:
Appendix I: Information Technology: Federal IT Training:
Appendix II: Comments from the Office of Personnel Management:
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Health and Human Services:
Abbreviations:
APPL: Academy of Program and Project Leadership:
BLM NTC: Bureau of Land Management National Training Center:
CIO: Chief Information Officer:
DHS: Department of Homeland Security:
E-Gov Act: E-Government Act of 2002:
GoLearn: Gov Online Learning Center:
GSA: General Services Administration:
HHS: Department of Health and Human Services:
IDP: Individual Development Plan:
IRMC: National Defense University Information Resources Management
College:
IT: Information Technology:
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration:
NIH: National Institutes of Health:
OMB: Office of Management and Budget:
OPM: Office of Personnel Management:
PMDP: Project Management Development Process:
STAR: Strategic and Tactical Advocates for Results:
USDA: U.S. Department of Agriculture:
VA: Department of Veterans Affairs:
Letter June 24, 2004:
The Honorable Tom Davis:
Chairman:
Committee on Government Reform:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Jim Turner:
House of Representatives:
The rapid pace of technological change, with its potential to transform
the way the government delivers services, makes information technology
(IT) human capital a critical issue for federal agencies.[Footnote 1]
To ensure that the federal government meets its human capital needs,
effective training of IT staff, as called for in the E-Government (E-
Gov) Act of 2002,[Footnote 2] is essential to developing and retaining
a qualified workforce. At your request, in an earlier report, we
examined IT training practices of leading private-sector companies. We
found 22 existing and emerging practices (see attachment 1 in app. I)
that are used to implement effective IT training. The practices and
associated case studies that we presented suggest approaches that
government agencies could consider. In addition, we noted several
critical issues (e.g., funding constraints and demonstrating return on
investment) that should be considered in implementing these practices.
More recently, we issued a final version of a guide for assessing
strategic training efforts that provides a framework that federal
agencies can use to ensure that their training investments are targeted
strategically.[Footnote 3]
To assess IT training in the federal government including its use of
leading practices, you asked us to determine (1) how federal agencies
provide IT-related training and to what extent they use the leading
practices that we identified, (2) the major obstacles in providing
effective IT training and how agencies address them, (3) the factors
agencies should consider in preparing for future IT training, and (4)
the progress the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is making in
issuing policies and performing evaluations to encourage agencies to
provide effective IT training. To accomplish these objectives, we
conducted about 100 structured interviews with executives, training
managers, and training recipients at 26 agencies and departments. We
administered a survey to agencies and asked them to provide basic
statistics and to self-assess the extent to which they were using the
leading practices we had identified. We followed up with agencies to
verify or correct data, but we did not independently verify survey
responses. We researched existing reports, including previous reports
by us and other agencies; reviewed related training legislation and
guidance; and conducted interviews with experts on federal IT training.
To evaluate OPM's progress in implementing provisions of the E-
Government Act, we analyzed OPM's responses to written questions and
held discussions with OPM training officials.
Earlier this year, we provided briefing slides to your staff on the
results of our study. These results, updated to include additional
information requested, are included as an appendix to this letter. The
purpose of this letter is to officially transmit the information to
you.
In brief, federal agencies provide IT training in a variety of ways.
They use multiple delivery methods, acquire training from multiple
sources, and differ widely in the amount of training they provide and
the amount they spend. Agencies reported using leading IT training
practices, but most were not used to a great or very great extent. Of
the 22 practices we identified, only 5 were in use to a great or very
great extent in a majority of agencies. Increased use of these
practices can result in more effective training management. We also
noted that several federal agencies and other entities have programs or
initiatives to provide IT training or training resources to employees
governmentwide.
Agencies reported that the most common obstacles to effective training
are funding and the time that training takes away from normal work
hours. To address these obstacles, agencies are looking at ways to
reduce the time and costs associated with training--for example, by
increasing the use of e-learning.
Major factors in preparing for future IT training cited by agencies
included rapidly changing technologies and the loss of skills and
expertise as the aging workforce retires. Further, federal officials
emphasized the need for training to be focused on areas such as
contract management, project management, and information security.
OPM has made limited progress in issuing policies or performing
evaluations regarding IT training. The E-Gov Act requires agencies to
have IT training programs that are developed and applied according to
rigorous standards. To provide oversight, the act requires OPM, in
coordination with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to issue
policies to promote the development of performance standards for
training, and to evaluate agency implementation of the act's IT
training provisions. Such policies are particularly important in view
of the lack of extensive agency use of the leading training evaluation
practices that we described. In May, OPM told us that it plans to
consider incorporating our leading practices in future guidance. OPM
has begun drafting guidance and is in the final stages of issuing a
report on governmentwide IT training, but it has not issued policies or
evaluated agency implementation of the act. Until policies are
established that promote the development of performance standards for
training, and progress is measured against these standards, agency and
OPM oversight of federal IT training programs will continue to fall
short of the expectations established in the act with respect to
standards.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
We recommend that, as part of OPM's oversight responsibilities under
the E-Gov Act, the Director of OPM:
* issue governmentwide IT training policies, consistent with our
strategic training guide, that promote development of performance
standards for training and encourage agencies to use the leading
practices that we identified; and:
* set specific milestones for evaluating agency implementation of the
provisions cited above.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
We sent a draft of this report to all 24 agencies[Footnote 4] that
provided information and to OMB. We received written, oral, or e-mail
comments from 9 agencies; 11 agencies responded that they did not have
comments; 5 agencies did not respond.
In a written response, OPM disagreed with our conclusions about its
role and efforts with respect to federal IT training. OPM stated that
it has not fallen short of the expectations established by the E-Gov
Act, noting that the draft report focuses on only one of six statutory
responsibilities under the act and that we fail to acknowledge that OPM
is to work with the CIO Council and OMB in addressing federal IT
personnel needs. Our report focuses on policies because we believe
these are a foundation for exercising oversight of the other areas of
responsibility mentioned. We cite OPM's plans to coordinate with OMB
and the CIO Council on slide 37 (p. 43), and we note that OMB generally
agreed with the findings and conclusions in our report. We adjusted our
report to clarify that OPM oversight will fall short of the
expectations of the E-Gov Act with respect to standards.
With respect to issuing policies, OPM states that the report does not
fully and fairly inform the reader as to the status of the policies. In
its response, OPM refers to an unpublished report in final clearance
that will recommend a governmentwide IT training framework and
announces that it has developed milestones for issuing policies. We
mention the unpublished report on slide 37, but it has not been
provided to us, so we are unable to comment on it. We have modified our
report to reflect OPM's announcement of milestones. Setting milestones
is a positive step toward issuing policies.
OPM also took exception to our report's statement that it has made
little progress in evaluating agency implementation of the E-Gov Act
provisions. The response states that OPM will incorporate a review of
agency use of the Governmentwide IT Training Framework and standards in
its regular review of agencies' mandated training carried out under its
Human Capital Assessment and Accountability Framework. Since the IT
Training Framework is to be set forth in the unpublished report
referred to in the previous paragraph, it is clear that no specific
evaluation of IT training has yet been done.
OPM also objected to "the use of GAO's 22 standards as a mandatory
benchmark." We believe this is a misreading of our recommendation. We
cite 22 leading practices, not standards, and we recommend that OPM
encourage their use. We believe, and experts agree, that greater use of
these practices could result in better IT training management.
OPM's comments are reproduced in appendix II.
Eight other agencies submitted comments:
* In oral comments, representatives of the Office of Management and
Budget Personnel Policy Branch and Office of E-Government and
Information Technology generally agreed with the findings and
conclusions in the report and also provided some technical comments,
which were addressed as appropriate.
* In written comments, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
generally agreed with our conclusions and provided additional
information about its training programs. VA's comments are reproduced
in appendix III.
* The GAO Liaison for the Department of Transportation indicated via e-
mail that Transportation generally concurred with our report.
* The Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General of the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) characterized our report as "generally
on the mark" but had some concerns about how our leading practices--
particularly those on identifying training needs and evaluating
training--would apply to professional researchers at the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). The response states that because our
practices represent conventional wisdom in training theory, they might
not apply to creative programs that meet unique training needs, such as
those at NIH. We agree that medical researchers at NIH are not typical
of the federal IT workforce. However, the leading practices are general
in nature, are widely accepted, and allow for flexibility in
application. HHS's comments are reproduced in appendix IV.
* The GAO Review Liaison of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicated
via e-mail that the commission supports the effort to encourage greater
use of leading practices across federal agencies.
* The Deputy Associate CIO for Business and Information Management of
the Department of Energy, commenting via e-mail, agreed with the need
for policies. She also recommended that we list all reported obstacles
to effective training and that agencies' successes in dealing with
obstacles should be shared across the government. In appendix I, slide
43, we list methods of addressing the two most important obstacles--
time and funding, which were cited by almost all agencies. To promote
sharing of successes, we include case studies of effective agency
training programs in appendix I, attachment 4. Accordingly, we did not
modify the report.
* The Department of Defense GAO Liaison sent technical comments via e-
mail, which were addressed as appropriate.
* The Department of Justice GAO Liaison sent technical comments via e-
mail, which were addressed as appropriate.
Unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier, we
plan no further distribution until 30 days from the report date. At
that time, we will send copies of this report to interested
congressional committees. In addition, copies will be made available to
others upon request. Copies of this report will also be available at no
charge on GAO's Web site at [Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your offices should have any questions concerning this
report, please contact me at (202) 512-9286. I can also be reached by
e-mail at [Hyperlink, pownerd@gao.gov]. Key contributors to this report
were Barbara Collier, Megen Davis, Pam Greenleaf, Kush Malhotra, David
Noone, John Ortiz, Tomás Ramirez Jr., Jamie Pressman, Glenn Spiegel,
and Angela Watson.
Signed by:
David A. Powner:
Director, Information Technology Management Issues:
[End of section]
Appendixes:
Appendix I: Information Technology: Federal IT Training:
[See PDF for images]
[End of slide presentation]
[End of section]
Appendix II: Comments from the Office of Personnel Management:
UNITED STATES OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT:
WASHINGTON, DC 20415-1000:
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR:
JUN 17 2004:
Mr. J. Christopher Mihm:
Director, Strategic Issues:
United States General Accounting Office:
441 G Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Mihm:
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) welcomes the opportunity
to comment on the General Accounting Office (GAO) draft report of May
28, 2004, Information Technology: Training Can be Enhanced try Greater
Use of Leading Practices (GAO-04-791). While the report provides useful
case studies, we must take issue with your conclusions about our role
and efforts with respect to IT training in the Government.
OPM has not fallen short of the expectations established in the E-
Government Act of 2002. The draft report focuses on only one of six
statutory responsibilities - issuing policies to promote the
development of performance standards for training and evaluating their
implementation. That Act also calls for OPM to analyze. on an ongoing
basis, personnel needs. to identify training shortfalls, to oversee
training administration, and to assess training as these activities
relate to information technology and information resources management.
Those responsibilities are being carried out by this Agency. In
addition, the report fails to acknowledge that the E-Government Act of
2002 calls for OPM to work with the Chief Information Officers Council
and the Office of Management and Budget to address personnel needs of
the Government related to information resources management.
With respect to issuing policies, the report does not fully and fairly
inform the reader as to the status of the policy. The OPM report,
"Report on Existing Governmentwide Information Technology Training
Programs," recommending a Governmentwide IT training framework based
upon the IT Workforce Development Roadmap of the GOLEARN system, is in
final clearance. With respect to milestones for issuing policy, OPM has
not failed to set milestones as alleged by the draft report. The
following are the milestones:
* Approval of OPM's Report on Existing Government-wide Information
Technology Training Programs (July 2004):
* Meet with CIO Council Workforce and Human Capital for IT Committee to
define Committee's role in implementing the Governmentwide IT Training
Framework (August 2004):
* Draft guidance to promote IT training performance standards
(September 2004):
Finalize guidance to promote IT training performance standards (October
2004):
* Communicate Governmentwide IT Training Framework and guidance to
agencies via briefing to CIO Council and dissemination by OPM's human
capital officers (November 2004):
We also must take exception with the report's comment that OPM has made
little progress in evaluating agency implementation of the E-Government
Act provisions. The report fails to acknowledge that an effective
program of evaluation, particularly in the area of information
technology, is ongoing through the Human Capital Leadership and Merit
Systems Accountability division in OPM. OPM's human capital officers,
responsible for working with the human capital offices of Federal
agencies, will incorporate review of agency use of the Governmentwide
IT Training Framework and standards in their regular review of
agencies' mandated training programs through the Human Capital
Assessment and Accountability Framework (HCAAF), specifically through
the Talent Standard and the Leadership and Knowledge Management
Standard. The Continuous Learning and Improvement critical success
factor under the HCAAF Knowledge Management Standard addresses
agencies' training and development programs and strategies. The GAO
draft report fails to provide any of this information or context.
Finally, we take exception to the use of GAO's 22 standards as a
mandatory benchmark for success or failure of agency IT training
programs. Those standards are simply an expansion, and not necessarily
a comprehensive expansion, of five traditional activities engaged in by
training administrators - mission alignment, needs assessment, resource
allocation, design and delivery, and evaluation. Not all of the 22
standards should be considered mandatory, such as enlisting executive-
level champions, providing just-in-time training, combining different
teaching methods, and building courses using reusable modules. Those
are useful strategies and there are alternative approaches to them, but
they should not be considered mandatory standards.
Thank you again for the opportunity to comment:
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Kay Coles James:
Director:
[End of section]
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS:
WASHINGTON:
June 18, 2004:
Mr, David A, Powner:
Director, Information Technology Management Issues:
U. S. General Accounting Office:
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Powner:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reviewed your draft report,
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Training Can Be Enhanced by Greater Use of
Leading Practices (GAO-04-791) and agrees with your conclusions as they
pertain to VA.
The focus of this report is on information technology (IT) training for
IT professionals. As GAO states, many Federal agencies send their
staffs to external training. In addition to using external training
courses, VA provides training to IT professionals through its annual
Information Security, Information Technology, and the Veterans Health
Administration's (VHA) e-Health University conferences. Additionally,
VA has embarked on a rigorous effort to ensure that its project and
assistant project managers have the necessary project management
training and certification. Currently, this effort is focused on
managers of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 300 level projects.
VA also provides access to on-line training for IT staff via VA
Learning Online (VALO). Contracted by the VA Learning University. VALO
is a web-based campus, which brings training right to an employee's
desktop. Whether at home or at work, an employee is able to access the
courses he or she desires for training and personal development. VALO
currently offers 2,000 courses, many of which are targeted toward the
IT technical professional. The target audience for VALO is all VA
employees, With VALO, employees can get free quality training in one
central place, at their own pace and convenience.
The report does not detail agency efforts to provide training for IT
end-users. VA provides significant training to end-users on how to use
the various IT applications key to their line of business. For example,
training to clinical staffs on how to use Veterans Health Information
Technology Architecture (VistA) applications is provided though CD-Rom,
web content, conference calls, train-the-trainer, and an in-depth
annual hands-on conference, VHA e-Health University.
IT training is an important goal of the Department. This critical
training cuts across all VA elements to reach employees and assist them
in performing their duties.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on your draft report.
Sincerely yours,
Signed by:
Anthony J. Principi:
[End of section]
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Health and Human Services:
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES:
Office of Inspector General:
Washington, D.C. 20201:
JUN 18 2004:
Mr. David A. Powner:
Director, Information Technology Management Issues:
United States General Accounting Office:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
Dear Mr. Powner:
Enclosed are the Department's comments on your draft report entitled,
"Information Technology: Training Can Be Enhanced By Greater Use of
Leading Practices" (GAO-04-791). The comments represent the tentative
position of the Department and are subject to reevaluation when the
final version of this report is received.
The Department provided several technical comments directly to your
staff.
The Department appreciates the opportunity to comment on this draft
report before its publication.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Dara Corrigan:
Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General:
Enclosure:
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is transmitting the Department's
response to this draft report in our capacity as the Department's
designated focal point and coordinator for General Accounting Office
reports. OIG has not conducted an independent assessment of these
comments and therefore expresses no opinion on them.
Comments of the Department of Health and Human Services on the General
Accounting Office's Draft Report "Information Technology, Training Can
Be Enhanced by Greater Use of Leading Practices" (GAO-04-791):
While the Draft Report GAO-04-791, "Information Technology, Training
Can Be Enhanced by Greater Use of Leading Practices" is found to be
generally on the mark, we have concerns with several points contained
in the draft report and offer the following comments.
It is difficult to assess the extent of the report's findings relative
to the situation at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
as there was no specific information regarding HHS included in the
report.
We had provided extensive information to GAO about the National
Institutes of Health's (NIH) IT training program; however, none of this
information was referenced in the report. Therefore, we would like to
restate that NIH offers a large and varied selection of IT training
courses tailored to the needs of its research staff, far beyond the
routine commercially available products. In 2003, the NIH's Center for
Information Technology alone offered over 300 different computer
courses with more than 10,000 attendees. We believe inclusion of the
NIH program, as an illustrative example of a highly successful Federal
IT training program would enhance the report's findings.
In a January 2003 report from data gathered in 2001-2002 on IT
technology training practices of 12 leading private-sector companies,
GAO had identified 22 leading IT training practices. The practices
chosen reflect conventional wisdom in training theory such as "enlist
executive-level champions" and "document competencies/skills required
for each job description." In this report, IT training at Federal
agencies was judged by how closely those practices were being followed
agency wide. Because GAO used only conventional traits as their
criteria, creative programs that effectively meet unique training
needs, such as those at NIH, were overlooked in the draft report.
Again, we would recommend inclusion of creative programs that meet
unique mission needs, such as research, that are not met through
routine IT training.
The report criticized that Federal "agency officials frequently
reported that the identification of training needs was employee
driven." We note this criticism does not take into account that some
training needs are appropriately identified at the individual or
supervisor level; for example, a researcher or immediate lab chief
would best know whether a staff member would benefit from such
technical courses as "MATLAB for Image Processing" or "Evaluation
Methods in Biomedical Informatics."
When discussing collection of performance data, the report references
criteria levels similar to those used in the Kirkpatrick model of
training evaluation. It assumes that Level One, "participant
reaction,""is less valid than higher levels such as "changes in
students' work behavior," "achieving organizational goals," and "return
on investment (ROI)." However, training researchers have come to
realize that participant reaction is the most valid measure of the
value of a specific training experience. This is particularly true for
highly educated professionals who have self-directed their educational
paths since undergraduate days. ROI and alignment with Enterprise
Architecture can be measured and established for broad areas of IT
training.
Because of its study design, the report does not provide best practices
to meet IT training needs of research professionals and IT
practitioners. Thus, implementing the recommendation that OPM should
"set milestones for issuing government-wide IT training policies ... to
use the leading practices that we identified," would ignore the unique
training needs of the research environment and adversely impact
programs already in place to meet those needs.
[End of section]
(310462):
FOOTNOTES
[1] We have identified strategic human capital management as a high-
risk area. See U.S. General Accounting Office, High Risk Series:
Strategic Human Capital Management, GAO-03-120 (Washington, D.C.:
January 2003).
[2] Pub. L. 107-347 (Dec. 17, 2002).
[3] U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: A Guide for
Assessing Strategic Training and Development Efforts in the Federal
Government, GAO-04-546G (Washington, D.C.: March 2004).
[4] Although we counted Department of Defense components separately in
our data, Defense handled agency comments centrally as a single
response.
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