GAO Introduces Technology Assessment Handbook for Agencies

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is interested in assisting agencies in determining if technology is right for them. The GAO’s new Science, Technology, Assessment and Analytics Office has created a guide to walk agencies through determining the risks and benefits associated with implementing new technologies. The GAO also provides information on how implementation can be done properly.

The Technology Assessment Design Handbook, published this month, guides agencies through the production of technology assessments (TA). The guide explains, “GAO has defined TA as the thorough and balanced analysis of significant primary, secondary, indirect, and delayed interactions of a technological innovation with society, the environment, and the economy and the present and foreseen consequences and impacts of those interactions.”

The handbook is divided into three chapters outlining the importance of TA designs, TA scope and designs, and approaches to TA designs and implementation challenges.

The first chapter notes that TA enhances knowledge and awareness to assist in decision making in a variety of ways. However, collecting the data necessary for a TA can be costly and time consuming. Therefore, considering which TA design option works best for an agency’s mission is necessary to prevent collecting “unnecessary evidence and incurring additional costs.”

Chapter two of the handbook walks agencies through developing the TA design with considerations and examples of sound designs. The chapter provides key questions to consider and three phases for construction. Those stages are (1) determining the scope, (2) developing the initial design and (3) implementing the design.

In the first phase, TA teams will learn the importance of identifying policy goal(s) and developing policy goal statements based on congressional requests. In the second, teams will learn about validating the planned scope, preparing documents, and reaching an agreement on an initial design. In the final phase, teams will implement, review and modify the design as needed.

The final chapter outlines four frequently found challenges to TA design and implementation. These challenges include: ensuring TA products are useful for Congress and others; determining policy goals and measuring impact; researching and communicating complicated issues; and engaging all relevant stakeholders. The handbook provides potential pathways for working through each of these challenges.