GAO:
US Postal Service Must Better Manage IT Investments to
Fully Leverage Technological Capabilities
Wednesday,
October 16, 2002
WASHINGTON - The U.S.
Postal Service invests hundreds of millions of dollars in
information technology (IT) each year, but can not fully
utilize its technological capabilities until it begins to
better manage these investments, according to a new report by
the General Accounting Office (GAO), Congress’ watchdog arm.
Senate Governmental
Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Ranking
Member Fred Thompson (R-TN), Subcommittee Chairman Daniel
Akaka (D-HI) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Thad Cochran
(R-MS), requested the report last year after the Postal
Service’s startling revelation that it might face a $2.5
billion deficit during that fiscal year.
In light of the growing operating expenses and
reductions in revenue, there is a great need for the Postal
Service to use its IT funding wisely.
“While the Postal
Service is the subject of this report, effective IT management
is a government-wide problem.
We spend billions on information technology for
government agencies and what we too often find is that systems
are not being utilized to their potential, if at all.
Every dollar, every asset, every resource counts, and
sound financial management is more important now than ever,”
said Ranking Member Thompson.
“We know that the Postal
Service is in desperate financial straits, which the Service
is doing its best to ameliorate. Information technology,
however, is one of the most important investments any business
can make. GAO correctly points out that the Postal Service
must take care to spend its money wisely on these projects to
maximize value and minimize risks,” Chairman Lieberman said.
“Adapting modern
technology offers tremendous potential for the Postal Service
as it expands its delivery network.
It is imperative that this be done in an efficient and
effective manner. As
the Postal Service moves forward with its Information
Technology program, it must take steps to ensure that its
limited resources are expended in the best interest of the
American public,” said Senator Akaka.
The GAO found that while
the Postal Service evaluates proposed IT projects before
investing in them, it could better manage these investments by
assessing their performance, evaluating the lessons learned
from those assessments, and using that information to select
investments that best meets its mission needs.
Until these steps are implemented, the GAO concludes
that the Postal Service will not be able to fully leverage its
IT capabilities for strategic outcomes.
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US
Postal Service Report |