Inspector General Identifies Persistent Data Quality Problems at General Services Administration
An Office of Inspector General audit found that the General Services Administration continues to fail compliance with the 2018 Geospatial Data Act, with significant accuracy problems in its public property datasets affecting over 100,000 records. The report identified missing and erroneous geographic coordinates in GSA's real property inventories, with some datasets showing inaccurate information for roughly one-quarter of properties listed. GSA's chief information officer accepted all five watchdog recommendations to address the data governance deficiencies.
The GSA maintains two public databases documenting federal real property holdings that serve as official records for government asset management. A significant portion of these records contain incomplete or incorrect geographic information—roughly one-quarter of entries lack precise coordinates or contain inaccurate data that fails to align with known property locations. The audit reveals this is not a new problem; previous inspections in 2022 and 2024 documented similar compliance failures with the 2018 law establishing geospatial data standards.
The root causes identified by auditors include inadequate internal procedures for tracking data assets, insufficient staffing levels, and the absence of systematic processes to search existing databases before purchasing new data. GSA management has committed to implementing corrective measures, though timeline specifics remain uncertain as the agency evaluates resource requirements.
Inaccurate federal property records could affect multiple stakeholders including agency planners relying on asset information for facility decisions, private contractors bidding on government projects, and researchers analyzing federal real estate portfolios. The data gaps may also complicate government efficiency efforts and transparency initiatives dependent on accurate property inventories. The recurring nature of these audit findings suggests that recommendations alone may be insufficient without sustained resource allocation and accountability mechanisms to ensure lasting compliance with federal data standards.