Followup Audit on Recommendations Included in the Audit of Selected USAID Bureaus' Training, Use and Accountability of Cognizant Technical Officers

摘要

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) uses the term cognizant technical officer (CTO) to denote the individual who may be responsible for certain defined actions involving grants and cooperative agreements, as well as contracts. When acting within the scope of the delegated authority, the CTO binds the U.S. Government as surely as the contracting officer. The CTO's primary responsibility is to ensure, through liaison with contractors and grant recipients, that the technical and financial aspects of the acquisition or assistance instrument are realized. For that reason, contracting officers have been instructed to designate a properly trained individual to serve as the CTO for each contract or assistance award. On September 22, 2003, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued audit report No. 9-000-03-009-P, Audit of Selected USAID Bureau's Training, Use and Accountability of Cognizant Technical Officers. The audit report concluded that the USAID bureaus had not provided CTOs enough training to acquire core competencies or to understand and perform the full range of tasks assigned to them. Moreover, the bureaus lacked a mechanism to identify the training needed.