Washington, D.C. – On June 28, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan National Science Foundation for the Future Act (H.R. 2225), including the Data Coalition-endorsed National Secure Data Service Act sponsored by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). On behalf of the Data Coalition members, Data Foundation President Nick Hart issued the following statement on House’s bipartisan call for the creation of a data service:

In modern society we must continually identify innovative and realistic strategies to ensure data and information are used responsibly and with sound privacy safeguards in place. The National Secure Data Service included in the bipartisan NSF for the Future Act will accelerate responsible and protected access to government data, supporting efforts to improve evidence-based policymaking in the United States. As a unanimous recommendation from the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking and based on research from the Data Foundation, the members of the Data Coalition applaud the swift and decisive action from the U.S. House to advance this practical, cost-effective, and much-needed resource for modernizing the country’s data infrastructure with a strong bipartisan vote. The Data Coalition calls on the Senate to support enactment of the National Secure Data Service Act and inclusion in a final NSF reauthorization bill.  

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The Data Coalition is an initiative of the non-profit Data Foundation. The membership-based initiative facilitates a strong national data community and advocates for responsible policies to make government data high-quality, accessible, and usable. The Data Coalition’s work unites the data communities that focus on data science, management, evaluation, statistics, and technology, including individuals in companies, nonprofit organizations, and academia.