Government agencies and contractors have experienced positive changes due to the Trusted Workforce 2.0, or TW 2.0, implementation, but pointed out several challenges, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Federal agencies lauded the program for providing personnel with real-time access to information while contractors highlighted the improvements in personnel vetting processes, according to a GAO survey published Friday. The report also found that the initiative’s continuous vetting helped to mitigate risks, save costs and improve efficiency.
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TW 2.0 Program Benefits and Challenges
However, government agencies complained that technology and resources pose problems, with around 98 percent of agencies admitting that adapting their personnel vetting information systems to the program was challenging. The issue was attributed to the delayed development of an IT system called National Background Investigation Services by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.
The GAO survey showed that around 51 percent of the agencies improved their ability to manage risk while onboarding new personnel due to TW 2.0, while about 27 percent reported that there was no improvement and around nine percent claimed their risk management ability was reduced.
Meanwhile, contractors reported that the program led to enhanced efficiency, with 40 percent saying they experienced improvements in the process for requesting a security clearance and another 45 percent acknowledging faster processing for receiving an interim clearance. Nonetheless, 52 percent of the contractors said securing information about background investigations was still challenging, and another 35 percent cited difficulties in obtaining information for a continuous-vetting alert on an employee.
What Is TW 2.0’s History?
The White House’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Personnel Management implemented TW 2.0 to modernize how government agencies and the industry carry out security clearance checks and other personnel vetting processes.
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