The Government Accountability Office has established an innovation lab to advance the use of analytics capabilities and emerging technologies to help improve the work of auditors and other government personnel.
GAO said Tuesday the formation of the lab is one of the tasks of the agency’s science, technology assessment and analytics team, which was created in January.
“Data analytics is the tradecraft of distilling hidden insights and enabling people to rapidly act on those insights,†said Taka Ariga, GAO’s first chief data scientist and director of the innovation lab. “In the user-centric environment of the Innovation Lab, by applying data science at scale and exploring emerging technologies such as machine learning and digital ledger, we will help the audit community address grand challenges.â€
GAO said the innovation lab plans to leverage distributed ledger technology, AI and other emerging technologies to conduct audits of federal programs and save taxpayer dollars.
“Innovation Lab will help us collectively move the needle of the federal government, creating a space where we de-risk the use of innovative solutions and people can think about tackling challenges differently, allowing them to make better-informed decisions,†Ariga said.
