Washington (July 28, 2004) -- The two most frequently cited obstacles to effective information technology training within federal agencies are adequate funding and time constraints, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office.
In addition to money and time, the auditor general said that although the degree of IT training differs widely among federal offices, many of the 22 leading IT training practices as identified by the GAO in an earlier study were not deployed to any extent.
In fact, of the 22 identified by the agency, just five were used to any great extent. The GAO subsequently issued a series of recommendations to the Office of Personnel Management to slash cost and training times, such as an increased use of e-learning techniques. It also advised the OPM to issue IT training policies and evaluate the training provisions under the E-Government Act of 2002 -- a measure that called for extensive IT training for federal personnel.
The E-Government Act mandates that the OPM issue policies to promote the development of performance standards for training and to evaluate the implementation of the act’s IT training provisions.
-- WebCPA staff
