In January 2013, GAO co-hosted a forum alongside the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to explore using data analytics—which involve a variety of techniques to analyze and interpret data—to help identify fraud, waste, and abuse in government. Forum participants included representatives from federal, state, and local government agencies as well as the private sector. A summary of the key themes from the forum is published here.

Through facilitated discussion, forum participants identified a variety of challenges that hinder their abilities to share and use data. For example, throughout the forum, participants cited the need for greater coordination and incentives for federal, state, and local government agencies to share information among themselves and with each other. To address these and other issues related to coordination and data sharing, GAO formed the Government Data Sharing Community of Practice. After hosting several events, the Community of Pratice ended in 2016.