On September 16, 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled “FCC Should Take Action to Better Manage Persistent Fraud Risks in the Schools and Libraries Program.” The report addresses “(1) the E-rate program’s key fraud risks; (2) the extent to which FCC and USAC are managing fraud risks in accordance with leading practices; and (3) the extent to which FCC and USAC face challenges in effectively employing data analytics to support fraud risk management activities.”
The report contains three recommendations for executive action, including coordination between USAC and the FCC “to comprehensively assess fraud risks to the E-rate program,” adherence to the “GAO's Fraud Risk Framework when designing and implementing data-analytics activities,” and calling on USAC to “clearly define and fully document the data fields in all relevant E-rate program computer systems to help improve FCC's ability to understand and use data to manage fraud risks.”
The GAO report and summary may be accessed here
