Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Coast Guard's: (1) management of major automated systems; and (2) development of information resource management (IRM) policies and procedures.
GAO found that: (1) the Coast Guard had difficulty getting basic information that it needed to carry out its mission, since information was not readily available or easily transferable among Coast Guard units; (2) the Coast Guard spent over $500 million on the development, purchase, operation, and maintenance of its information systems, but automated systems continued to impede program operations and management; (3) the lack of top-level leadership and a strategic IRM plan made it difficult to ensure that current and proposed system development would support Coast Guard missions and goals; (4) inadequate policies, standards, and procedures jeopardized the development, evaluation, implementation, and review of information systems; and (5) the Coast Guard focused its system modernization efforts on correcting technology problems without reassessing the basic purposes and uses of its information systems.
