Spending watchdog tells National Science Foundation CIO to up game on tech procurement
(2026/02/19)
- Reference: 1771528034
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/02/19/gao_nsf_cio/
- Source link:
The US Congress’ spending watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, has pressed the National Science Foundation’s CIO to improve how the agency plans, manages, and procures technology.
The “open recommendations” were outlined in a letter dated February 12 and sent to NSF CIO Clyde Richards before being [1]published on Thursday .
It said: "We identified recommendations that relate to the CIO’s roles and responsibilities in effectively managing IT.” Paying attention to them “will help ensure the effective use of IT at the agency."
[2]
Put bluntly, "NSF needs to improve its acquisition of cloud services and its reviews of the agency’s IT portfolio."
[3]
[4]
This includes developing guidance "regarding standardizing cloud service-level agreements."
The GAO believes that the NSF should "consistently" hold cloud service providers accountable for performance, with clear SLAs and remediation plans for non-compliance. The GAO wants to see an SLA with every cloud vendor, and recommends the CIO develop guidance standardizing such SLAs.
[5]
It also wants an overhaul of contracts for "high value assets that are managed and operated in the cloud." And recommends that the agency complete "annual reviews of its IT portfolio consistent with federal requirements" to identify areas of duplication and ways of streamlining operations and optimizing resource allocation.
The letter also mentions "multiple open recommendations in the area of cybersecurity," referring to the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014.
The letter was cc’d to the Federal CIO, Gregory Barbaccia of the OMB, who is on a mission to drive down costs and standardize procurement across the government.
[6]
Richards was named CIO at the foundation seven months ago, after serving in the role on an "acting" basis for five months. He originally joined as deputy CIO in March 2024, having previously worked at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, following various roles in and around the military.
The NSF manages a budget of around $9 billion – it just [7]dodged a massive 60 percent round of cuts proposed by the Trump administration – which is directed to a range of scientific disciplines.
Needless to say, it has a sprawling IT infrastructure, and an ongoing transformation program.
It is currently transferring management of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center to a third-party operator. Other projects include a plan for a [8]National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Operations Center .
[9]DOGE bites taxman
[10]All the world's a stage – except this deputy federal CIO job
[11]CIOs told: Prove your AI pays off – or pay the price
[12]CIO made a dangerous mistake and ordered his security team to implement it
[13]CIO wants to grow tech team by cloning staff as digital twins and AI agents
Last year, it awarded a $20 million grant to expand its CloudBank initiative, designed to give researchers, especially at smaller institutions, access to commercial cloud computing.
According to GAO, CIO open recommendations are "outstanding" ones requiring CIO attention that, if implemented, could significantly improve government IT operations, including strengthening security, cutting costs, and ensuring compliance.
Last year, the GAO delivered over a dozen recommendations on the Department of Veterans Affairs' health records upgrade program.
Some dated back to 2020, but it's worth remembering that the current upgrade program only began in 2017 – and was the [14]fourth attempt to modernize the 30-year-old system . ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108707
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aZeWDHq8HkUz349Gi516JgAAAQo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aZeWDHq8HkUz349Gi516JgAAAQo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aZeWDHq8HkUz349Gi516JgAAAQo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/19/court_lets_nsf_keep_swinging/
[8] https://www.nsf.gov/news/nsf-announces-funding-establish-national-ai-research
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/19/irs_job_cuts/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/17/us_deputy_cio/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/17/no_roi_no_ai/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/25/who_me/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/12/cio_wants_to_grow_tech/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/15/gao_report_details_faltering_veterans/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The “open recommendations” were outlined in a letter dated February 12 and sent to NSF CIO Clyde Richards before being [1]published on Thursday .
It said: "We identified recommendations that relate to the CIO’s roles and responsibilities in effectively managing IT.” Paying attention to them “will help ensure the effective use of IT at the agency."
[2]
Put bluntly, "NSF needs to improve its acquisition of cloud services and its reviews of the agency’s IT portfolio."
[3]
[4]
This includes developing guidance "regarding standardizing cloud service-level agreements."
The GAO believes that the NSF should "consistently" hold cloud service providers accountable for performance, with clear SLAs and remediation plans for non-compliance. The GAO wants to see an SLA with every cloud vendor, and recommends the CIO develop guidance standardizing such SLAs.
[5]
It also wants an overhaul of contracts for "high value assets that are managed and operated in the cloud." And recommends that the agency complete "annual reviews of its IT portfolio consistent with federal requirements" to identify areas of duplication and ways of streamlining operations and optimizing resource allocation.
The letter also mentions "multiple open recommendations in the area of cybersecurity," referring to the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014.
The letter was cc’d to the Federal CIO, Gregory Barbaccia of the OMB, who is on a mission to drive down costs and standardize procurement across the government.
[6]
Richards was named CIO at the foundation seven months ago, after serving in the role on an "acting" basis for five months. He originally joined as deputy CIO in March 2024, having previously worked at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, following various roles in and around the military.
The NSF manages a budget of around $9 billion – it just [7]dodged a massive 60 percent round of cuts proposed by the Trump administration – which is directed to a range of scientific disciplines.
Needless to say, it has a sprawling IT infrastructure, and an ongoing transformation program.
It is currently transferring management of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center to a third-party operator. Other projects include a plan for a [8]National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Operations Center .
[9]DOGE bites taxman
[10]All the world's a stage – except this deputy federal CIO job
[11]CIOs told: Prove your AI pays off – or pay the price
[12]CIO made a dangerous mistake and ordered his security team to implement it
[13]CIO wants to grow tech team by cloning staff as digital twins and AI agents
Last year, it awarded a $20 million grant to expand its CloudBank initiative, designed to give researchers, especially at smaller institutions, access to commercial cloud computing.
According to GAO, CIO open recommendations are "outstanding" ones requiring CIO attention that, if implemented, could significantly improve government IT operations, including strengthening security, cutting costs, and ensuring compliance.
Last year, the GAO delivered over a dozen recommendations on the Department of Veterans Affairs' health records upgrade program.
Some dated back to 2020, but it's worth remembering that the current upgrade program only began in 2017 – and was the [14]fourth attempt to modernize the 30-year-old system . ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108707
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aZeWDHq8HkUz349Gi516JgAAAQo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aZeWDHq8HkUz349Gi516JgAAAQo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/19/court_lets_nsf_keep_swinging/
[8] https://www.nsf.gov/news/nsf-announces-funding-establish-national-ai-research
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/19/irs_job_cuts/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/17/us_deputy_cio/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/17/no_roi_no_ai/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/25/who_me/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/12/cio_wants_to_grow_tech/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/15/gao_report_details_faltering_veterans/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/