GAO Finds Shortcomings in NTIA’s IT Modernization Plan

As the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) undertakes an ambitious project to modernize its spectrum management systems, a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) underscores several deficiencies.

“GAO’s analysis of NTIA’s modernization planning found that its efforts aligned with several leading practices but did not align for practices on developing cost estimates, developing a project schedule, communicating with stakeholders, and establishing performance measures,” the report states.

The watchdog has put forth four recommendations to the NTIA, including:

1. The development of a dependable cost estimate

2. An integrated project schedule

3. A finalized stakeholder management plan

4. Establishment of performance measures

NTIA has agreed with these recommendations and outlined the actions it will take to implement them.

Last year, NTIA announced its plans for a substantial overhaul of its spectrum management systems and software.

As the government and global reliance on emerging spectrum use such as 5G grows, NTIA, a component of the U.S. Department of Commerce emphasized in a request for information (RFI) that one of its primary mandates is to regulate radio frequency spectrum usage among federal agencies.

However, this task is increasingly difficult due to outdated IT systems, necessitating urgent modernization efforts.

“The current systems are inadequate to execute NTIA’s spectrum functions in a timely manner and limit NTIA’s ability to accommodate the demands of advanced technologies, such as deploying 5G, advancing space commerce, and securing government missions dependent on spectrum,” NTIA said in the RFI.