Press Releases
Washington, D.C. – The Data Coalition is pleased to announce that our panel discussion, "'In the Know' with Open Government Data," co-submitted with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has been selected to be a part of South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, on March 16, 2020. The session is part of the Government & Politics track and will explore how public data innovators are using open data to promote government accountability while solving important issues facing society. Speakers include:
“The federal government collects and manages data relevant for understanding the greatest challenges faced across our society; the value of this information is maximized when data are accessible and usable,” said Nick Hart, CEO of the Data Coalition. “Better using government data as an asset will transform society’s capabilities to generate insights to hold government accountable, improve the efficiency of how tax dollars are spent, and prioritize investments that best meet consumers’ needs. I am excited to discuss these topics alongside federal government leaders and represent the Data Coalition’s growing membership at SXSW 2020.”
For more information on this session, visit the SXSW website.
About the Data Coalition: The Data Coalition is America’s premier voice on data policy. We advocate on behalf of the private sector and the public interest for government data to be accessible, high-quality, and used to enhance accountability, improve government effectiveness, reduce compliance costs, and stimulate innovation. Our members represent a cross-section of the technology, data analytics, and data management industry. For more information, visit datacoalition.org.
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Washington, D.C. – The Data Coalition is pleased to announce the recipients of the GovDATAx Datum Awards. Awards recipients are championing data policy and use of data for evidence-based decision-making, transparency, and accountability. Each of the recipients demonstrates an ongoing commitment to making government more efficient and effective by applying insights from data.
Datum Award Categories and Recipients:
“The Data Coalition is pleased to recognize the tremendous contributions of leaders working to make government more innovative and effective by applying data to generate new insights,” said Nick Hart, CEO of the Data Coalition. “Senator Patty Murray, Ed Kearns, and Naomi Goldstein are each exemplary in their respective efforts to promote responsible data use. These data champions deserve public recognition for their on-going efforts and dedication. The Data Coalition is honored to recognize each with a Datum Award.”
Award recipients were selected and nominated by Data Coalition members and selected by the Board of Directors. The award ceremony will take place on October 30 following the GovDATAx summit from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Programming will commence with a keynote address from Suzette Kent, Federal Chief Information Officer, Office of Management and Budget.
About GovDATAx: GovDATAx is happening on October 30, 2019. The all-day event will unite the diverse members of the data community to increasingly work together and collaborate on the strategies for unleashing data for the public good. Our summit offers a unique opportunity to discuss policies for making high-quality government data more accessible and useful. As the country’s premier event about government data policy, it will bridge the traditional organizational and disciplinary silos across the data community to focus on shared goals of producing government data that can be responsibly used to improve society. To learn more, visit govdatax.com.
Washington, D.C.– The Data Coalition acquired documents through a Freedom of Information Act request that suggest the U.S. Labor Department continues to suppress resources for studying whether and how well the country’s labor policies work.
The documents provided to the Data Coalition were originally submitted by the Labor Department to Congress. They show that after resources for evaluation were quietly cut in 2018, the department continued to underfund evaluation activities relative to historic norms. Last year, the department transferred $2 million to the agency chief evaluation officer and in 2019 that amount was increased to $3 million. Historically the agency prioritized resources for evaluation, up to $27 million annually.
“The Labor Department’s continued underfunding of evaluation activities is extremely disappointing. Congress provided the Labor Department with the ability to allocate substantial resources to study what works in advancing employment opportunities and job training across the country. The department’s reluctance to fully use this capability will have long-term consequences for policymakers’ access to reliable information on important and costly national programs,” said Nick Hart, CEO of the Data Coalition. “The Data Coalition calls on the Labor Department’s new leadership and the Trump Administration to fully support implementation of the bipartisan Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. Prioritizing resources for implementing this new law will ensure the agency is responsibly using data to study the programs funded in the department’s $12 billion annual budget.”
In early 2019, the president signed the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (P.L. 115-435), which directs federal departments to establish evaluation officers and produce annual evaluation plans, with the intent of encouraging federal agencies to use data for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of government policies. That bipartisan law was based on unanimous recommendations from the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, which featured the Labor Department’s chief evaluation office and staff as a model for other agencies to emulate.
The annual appropriations bills authorize the Labor Department to allocate more than $75 million from certain programs in the department to support evaluation activities. The department has never used the full amount authorized by law for evaluation, the last two years have been the lowest since the authority was added by Congress.
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Washington, D.C. – In 2020 the U.S. Census Bureau will launch the most important data collection activity in government in a decade: the decennial census. Today, the Data Coalition announced a formal partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau to promote a reliable count of U.S. households.
“Virtually every decision that uses data in government and the private sector for the next 10 years will be affected by the upcoming census count,” said Data Coalition CEO Nick Hart, Ph.D. “The business community should embrace the opportunity to support informed decision-making in our society by promoting an accurate census. The census is simply too important to our society for anyone to sit on the sidelines.”
The Data Coalition’s partnership with the Census Bureau will support activities to encourage the American public to respond to the census, including a public event in fall 2019.
“We are excited the Data Coalition is joining our effort to support a high-quality 2020 census count,” said Census Bureau Director Steve Dillingham. “Our country’s business community relies on good information for economic planning and we need the business community to help us ensure that information is available.”
Information collected for the census is used as a benchmark in household surveys for government agencies—including the American Community Survey—as well as surveys conducted for private firms. Businesses use this information to determine how to allocate resources, where to site new stores, and how to best serve customers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Data Coalition and Data Foundation Boards of Directors are delighted to announce Nick Hart, Ph.D., as the organizations’ new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Interim President respectively. He will take up his posts effective immediately.
Hart comes to the organizations with 10 years of experience working with and in the federal government. He is well-positioned to drive the Data Coalition’s policy agenda and build on previous policy achievements, including the Data Act of 2014, the OPEN Government Data Act, and the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018. As Interim President of the Data Foundation, Hart will direct thought leadership, programming, and hands-on education that illuminate the long-term value of open data for government and society.
“Nick combines extensive federal government and private sector experience having worked on a wide range of bipartisan policies related to data, privacy, and program evaluation,” said John Runyan, Founding Board Member and Co-Chair of the Coalition’s Search Committee. “His expertise and leadership from the Office of Management and Budget to the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Evidence-Based Policymaking Initiative, make him an ideal candidate to lead the Data Coalition and Data Foundation.”
“I am excited about the opportunity to lead both the Data Coalition and Data Foundation, to advance issues that are important to the success of our government,” said Hart. “Ensuring policies are effectively designed to encourage responsible data use offers great benefits for the American people. Through the combined efforts of our staff, members, supporters, and Boards of Directors, we will continue advocating to make government more transparent, effective, and efficient.”
Prior to joining the Data Coalition and Data Foundation, Hart was Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Evidence Project, where he remains as a Fellow. In that capacity, he championed implementation of the bipartisan recommendations issued by the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. Hart previously served as the policy and research director for the commission, leading the development of the commission’s final report, The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking, for Congress and the President in 2017. Read Hart’s full bio here.
About The Data Coalition:
The Data Coalition is the world’s first, and only, open data trade association. We advocate on behalf of the private sector and the public interest for the publication of government information as standardized, open data. Open data enhances accountability, improves government management, reduces compliance costs, and stimulates innovation. Our members represent a cross-section of the technology industry and implementers. For more information, visit datacoalition.org.
About The Data Foundation:
The Data Foundation is the nation’s first industry-focused open data research organization. Through research, education, and programming, the Data Foundation supports the publication of government information as standardized, open data.
Washington, D.C. – Today, President Trump signed into law the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking (FEBP) Act (H.R. 4174, S. 2046), which includes the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act (Title II). The package passed Congress on Monday, December 31, 2018.
The OPEN Government Data Act requires all non-sensitive government data to be made available in open and machine-readable formats by default. It establishes Chief Data Officers (CDO) at federal agencies, as well as a CDO Council. The law’s mission is to improve operational efficiencies and government services, reduce costs, increase public access to government information, and spur innovation and entrepreneurship. This is a win for evidence-based decision-making within the government.
“Today is a historic day for the open data movement,” said Sarah Joy Hays, Acting Executive Director of the Data Coalition. “The Data Coalition applauds President Trump for signing into law the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (H.R. 4174). The government-wide law will transform the way the government collects, publishes, and uses non-sensitive public information. Title II, the OPEN Government Data Act, which our organization has been working on for over three and a half years, sets a presumption that all government information should be open data by default: machine-readable and freely-reusable. Our Coalition celebrates the congressional and Executive Branch allies, as well as the open data advocates, who made this possible.”
The passage of H.R. 4174 would not have been possible without the dedication and leadership of former Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-1-R), Senators Patty Murray (WA-D), Brian Schatz (HI-D), Ben Sasse (NE-R), and Rep. Derek Kilmer (WA-6-D). The bipartisan effort to improve access and availability of government data benefits citizens, institutions, and the private sector.
About the bill:
The federal government possesses an enormous amount of valuable public data, which should be used to improve government services and promote private sector innovation. The OPEN Government Data Act seeks to:
The full bill text can be found here.
Section-by-section of the bill can be found here.
About the Data Coalition: The Data Coalition is the world’s first, and only, open data trade association. We advocate on behalf of the private sector and the public interest for the publication of government information as standardized, open data. Open data enhances accountability, improves government management, reduces compliance costs, and stimulates innovation. Our members represent a cross-section of the technology industry and implementers. For more information, visit datacoalition.org.
Washington, D.C. – Following this afternoon’s Senate vote, Congress has passed the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking (FEBP) Act (H.R 4174, S. 2046). The package will now be sent to the President to be signed into law. Title II of the package is the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act, which requires all non-sensitive government data to be made available in open and machine-readable formats by default. This is a win for government efficiency, accountability, and transparency.
“The passage of the OPEN Government Data Act is a win for the open data community,” said Sarah Joy Hays, Acting Executive Director of the Data Coalition. “The Data Coalition has proudly supported this legislation for over three years, along with dozens of other organizations. The bill sets a presumption that all government information should be open data by default: machine-readable and freely-reusable. Ultimately, it will improve the way our government runs and serves its citizens. This would not have been possible without the support of Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-1-R), Senators Patty Murray (WA-D), Brian Schatz (HI-D), Ben Sasse (NE-R), and Rep. Derek Kilmer (WA-6-D). Our Coalition urges the President to promptly sign this open data bill into law.”
In 2017 the Data Coalition signed on to a support letter representing over eighty-five businesses, trade and library associations, civil society groups, and think tanks. The OPEN Government Data Act has had a long journey to this final vote; the bill passed the Senate in 2016 and 2017 before ultimately being included as Title II in Speaker Ryan’s Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking (FEBP) Act (H.R. 4174). The package then passed the House with Title II included for the first time in November 2017.
About the bill: The federal government possesses an enormous amount of valuable public data, which should be used to improve government services and promote private sector innovation. The OPEN Government Data Act seeks to:
Section-by-section can be found here.
The House Amending Resolution passed today by the Senate can be found here.
About the Data Coalition: The Data Coalition is the world’s first, and only, open data trade association. We advocate on behalf of the private sector and the public interest for the publication of government information as standardized, open data. Open data enhances accountability, improves government management, reduces compliance costs, and stimulates innovation. Our members represent a cross-section of the technology industry and implementers, employ over two hundred thousand Americans, and have a combined market capitalization exceeding $1.5 trillion. For more information, visit datacoalition.org.
Washington, D.C. – This evening, the House of Representatives passed the Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency (GREAT) Act (S. 3484, H.R. 4887). Additionally, earlier today, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously reported the legislative proposal by voice vote. The bill was marked-up one day after Senators James Lankford (OK-R) and Mike Enzi (WY-R) introduced a Senate version.
The Senate version of the GREAT Act text mirrors the House bill, which was approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in February 2018.
“The Data Coalition is thrilled to see both chambers of Congress act swiftly to advance the GREAT Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill, championed by Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5), Congressman Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34), and Senator James Lankford (R-OK),” said Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the Data Coalition. “The GREAT Act will modernize the way nearly $700 billion in federal grant funds are tracked and reported each year using open data. This legislative proposal will deliver transparency for grantmaking agencies and the public and allow grantees to ultimately automate their reporting processes, thus reducing compliance costs. We now urge the Senate to act and make the GREAT Act law.”
Read Senator Lankford’s press release here.
Read the full text of the bill here.
Read a summary of the bill here.
Washington, D.C. – The Data Coalition is pleased to see the Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by original DATA Act sponsors Chairman Rob Portman (OH-R) and Ranking Member Tom Carper (DE-D), issue their oversight report: “Federal Agency Compliance with the DATA Act.”
“The report brings to light the inherent complexities of standardizing agencies’ legacy financial management processes,” said Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the Data Coalition. “Treasury and OMB have centralized 98 agency account and spending data sets, totaling trillions of dollars annually. This is no easy undertaking. We urge the Committee to continue exploring legislative actions to help the Treasury Department enforce data quality requirements and ultimately collect more accurate information from agencies.”
The Data Coalition urges Congress to continue conducting regular oversight to proactively address known data quality issues and enable timely improvements. Our Coalition looks forward to working with the Subcommittee on future reform efforts.
About the report:
Key statement from the Committee report:
The DATA Act requires agencies to gather and link budget data, award data, and financial data to effectively track federal spending through this complex spending process. The resulting information is made publically available on USAspending.gov for review by taxpayers and Congress. This, however, is easier said than done. Government-wide and agency financial systems were developed separately over time and are inconsistent in defining and collect data. These inconsistencies complicate the crucial steps of linking agency data with data stored in government-wide systems to create a complete picture of federal spending.
About the Data Coalition: The Data Coalition is the world’s first, and only, open data trade association. We empower data companies to make our government more efficient and transparent through the standardization and publication of its information. Open data enhances accountability, improves government management, reduces compliance costs, and stimulates innovation. Our members represent a cross-section of the technology industry and implementers, employ over two hundred thousand Americans, and have a combined market capitalization exceeding $1.5 trillion. For more information, visit datacoalition.org.
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 4 to 1 to adopt Inline XBRL for corporate financial data disclosure (see the final rule). The move to Inline XBRL will end duplicative documents-plus-data financial reporting and transition to data-centric reporting. This initiative is a part of a broader modernization of the SEC’s entire disclosure system.
The Data Coalition and its member companies (see comments from Workiva, Deloitte, Morningstar, and Grant Thornton) have long been supporting the adoption of Inline XBRL. The Coalition’s comment letter further explains our support of the SEC’s decision to adopt the use of iXBRL (see our comment letter).
“The Data Coalition has been pushing for the SEC to adopt Inline XBRL for five years,” said Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the Data Coalition. “We first called on the agency to adopt inline XBRL in July 2013. In May 2015, and again in March 2017, we worked with structured data supporters in Congress to introduce the Financial Transparency Act, which would require the SEC to replace documents-plus-data reporting with a single format both human-and machine-readable. The Financial Transparency Act is now supported by 34 Members of Congress.” “The Data Coalition thanks Chairman Clayton and SEC Commissioners Piwowar, Stein, and Jackson for their supporting votes to adopt Inline XBRL. We are especially thankful to Congressional allies like Senators Mark Warner (VA-D) and Mike Crapo (ID-R) for their diligent oversight, and to Representatives Randy Hultgren (IL-14-R), Carolyn Maloney (NY-12-D), and Darrell Issa (CA-49-R) for their longstanding public support of these reforms.”
“The Data Coalition has been pushing for the SEC to adopt Inline XBRL for five years,” said Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the Data Coalition. “We first called on the agency to adopt inline XBRL in July 2013. In May 2015, and again in March 2017, we worked with structured data supporters in Congress to introduce the Financial Transparency Act, which would require the SEC to replace documents-plus-data reporting with a single format both human-and machine-readable. The Financial Transparency Act is now supported by 34 Members of Congress.”
“The Data Coalition thanks Chairman Clayton and SEC Commissioners Piwowar, Stein, and Jackson for their supporting votes to adopt Inline XBRL. We are especially thankful to Congressional allies like Senators Mark Warner (VA-D) and Mike Crapo (ID-R) for their diligent oversight, and to Representatives Randy Hultgren (IL-14-R), Carolyn Maloney (NY-12-D), and Darrell Issa (CA-49-R) for their longstanding public support of these reforms.”
Read the SEC’s press release here.
Read Senator Warner’s press release here.
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