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Deloitte Study Provides Insight For Effective, Efficient Implementation of Stimulus Projects

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 June 2009, 08:59 CDT

Study Provides Strategies for Effectively Managing Stimulus Funds Today, While Creating Lasting Business Value for Government Agencies Tomorrow

WASHINGTON, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Deloitte released Going Beyond Compliance, a guide for local, state and federal agencies responsible for implementing projects and distributing stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The 2009 stimulus package provides a significant level of spending on infrastructure and mandates both speed and an unprecedented degree of transparency and accountability. According to the Deloitte study, these seemingly competing priorities can be addressed with proper management, monitoring and the use of new technology tools.

"The stakes for stimulus projects are high, and these projects are being watched very closely to make sure that funds are being spent appropriately," said William D. Eggers, global director, public sector for Deloitte Research, a subsidiary of Deloitte Services LP. "To prevent large amounts of fraud, waste and abuse from derailing stimulus projects, it is critical for every organization receiving substantial ARRA funds to understand all the risks, put the basic controls in place -- from planning all the way through to closeout audits -- and then to effectively execute them."

Stimulus projects can be derailed in a number of ways, from insufficient planning and inaccurate cost projections to outright fraud. According to the study, the potential for each of those damaging situations can be reduced through proper planning and execution on the front end.

"By clearly defining program goals, keeping projects simple and establishing accountability early on, agencies can lay the foundation for successful project implementation," said Eric Friedman, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Only after the basics are in place can program management and anti-fraud program controls be further strengthened by utilizing more innovative management and technology practices. Even in planning, it's important to be innovative and creative."

In addition to scenario planning, Going Beyond Compliance details a range of innovative management and technology practices -- from using crowdsourcing to help oversee ARRA spending to utilizing social networking tools to respond to the hundreds of thousands of inquiries that are likely to come in from citizens responding to President Obama's request for public input on ARRA -- that can help to curtail the amount of fraud, waste and abuse in the ARRA program. Moreover, diffusing these innovations throughout the broader organization can enhance overall agency performance long after ARRA funds run out.

"Huge amounts of time and effort are going into building the capability to administer and comply with ARRA. If this capability is not utilized properly and sustained beyond ARRA, a big opportunity will be wasted to create more lasting value for government agencies at the state, local and federal levels," added Eggers.

For a copy of the Deloitte study, please visit www.deloitte.com/us/ARRArelease.

About Deloitte

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.

SOURCE Deloitte

Source: PR Newswire

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