Case Study: USASpending.gov achieves government-wide spending transparency with REI Systems

Paving the way for increased transparency in Federal spending

USASpending.gov, operated by the Office of Management and Budget, needed a single searchable website to meet the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act and provide true visibility into federal grants, loans and contracts. To build and continuously evolve that site, OMB engaged REI Systems to design, implement and maintain USASpending.gov, drawing on REI’s prior Data.gov experience and a citizen-focused, Web 2.0 approach under a very tight timeline.

REI Systems implemented automated ETL/data-refresh routines, online submission and validation tools, an open-source, visualization-driven UI, integration of sub-award data, and a hybrid hosting strategy (NASA Nebula cloud plus bare metal) to handle over 1 million rows per month. The site launched two weeks early, reached OMB’s 100% data completion goal so 40+ agencies could meet 30-day reporting, now accounts for $24 trillion in spending across 44 agencies, and earned REI CTO Shyam Salona two Fed 100 awards.

USASpending.gov

Tom Davis

USASpending.gov