The following audit report has been posted to the NASA Office of
Inspector General web site: Audit of Validation and Verification of
Selected NASA FY 2000 Performance Data (IG-01-020, March 30, 2001)

To access the entire report, please go to:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oig/hq/issuedaudits.html

Synopsis: The NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed an
audit of the accuracy and reliability of performance data for selected
Government and Performance Results Act performance targets (measures or
metrics that NASA established to accomplish and measure goals and
objectives) that will be in the Agency’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2000
Performance Report. The audit is a continuation of our oversight of
NASA’s implementation of GPRA as described in our Results Act Review
Plan.

The annual Performance Report is a document that the Congress and the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will use to assess NASA’s overall
performance and may use to make decisions on Agency programs and
funding levels. NASA’s FY 2000 Performance Report will contain the
Agency’s assessment of its actual performance against 211 performance
targets.

We reviewed 23 targets that related to 6 critical areas: Procurement,
Financial Management, Information Technology, International Space
Station, Program and Project Management, and Safety and Mission
Assurance. The supporting data and information on 19 of 23 performance
targets we reviewed were adequate, and we did not identify any
significant problems with reported actual performance for those
targets. However, the performance reported on four targets was not
fully reliable because the supporting data did not accurately support
the results described. Reported performance for some of the 188
targets not reviewed may also not be fully reliable for the same
reasons. Reporting performance results that are not fully reliable
limits the usefulness of the Performance Report to NASA, OMB, and the
Congress. Although NASA had taken steps to validate performance
information that will go into the annual Performance Report, NASA could
further improve the process.

Management’s Response: NASA concurred with the recommendations.
Management reviewed the performance statements for the four performance
targets and made the necessary corrections or clarifications in the FY
2000 Performance Report. In addition, for each performance target,
NASA included a description of the methods used to verify and validate
supporting data and identified the data source. These actions help to
substantiate reported actual performance and improve the usefulness of
the Performance Report. In addition, NASA’s Chief Financial Officer
emphasized the need to develop clear and measurable performance targets
in the FY 2002 Performance Plan data call letter and the FY 2003
performance metric development guidance. The guidance on the FY 2003
performance metrics also summarized the characteristics of good
performance metrics. NASA will continue to emphasize the need to
disclose data limitations in future performance reporting.

To comment on this report, please send an e-mail to
igrelease@hq.nasa.gov