Federal agencies often award funds to foreign organizations or individuals to encourage scientific advancements, but a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) warns that agencies need to improve their information sharing to better protect U.S.-funded research.
While there are some safeguards around these funds, GAO said that agencies have different methods to vet applicants. The government watchdog said that agencies could also use more guidance on determining whether an organization is foreign-owned.
“GAO found that determining whether Federal research and development (R&D) funds were provided to a foreign entity of concern is challenging,” the report says. “Such entities include foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated nationals, among others. Awarding agencies are generally prohibited from doing business with foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated nationals.”
According to GAO, government-wide databases that report on some of these entities lack common identifying information, such as personally identifiable information (PII) or a unique identifier.
For example, a physical address is typically not available for entities on the foreign terrorist organization list as they often try to conceal their identity or location. When PII isn’t available in government-wide databases, GAO said similar information is also not available in the public Federal funding data source, USAspending.gov.
“Specifically, although awarding agencies collect other identifying information, such as phone numbers of entities seeking an award, not all such information is reported in USAspending.gov,” the report explains. “Together, these challenges limit the ability to match foreign entities on certain lists with those receiving government-wide funding.”
Federal agencies that GAO interviewed reported “challenges in identifying foreign ownership, control, or influence.” However, recent guidance from the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) – the lead for interagency coordination on science and technology policies – does not address the issue of foreign ownership, control, or influence.
GAO made one recommendation for OSTP. As part of OSTP’s ongoing efforts to address research security risks, GAO is recommending that OSTP facilitate information sharing among agencies on identifying foreign ownership, control, or influence.
OSTP agreed with the recommendation.
