data strategy
CNSTAT Releases Third Data Infrastructure Report in Series Intended to Modernize Data Collection
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) has released its third and final report in an ongoing series of data infrastructure reports intended to modernize and enhance data collection (previous COSSA coverage). This latest report, Toward a 21st Century National Data Infrastructure: Managing Privacy and Confidentiality Risks with Blended Data, builds off the previous two reports on mobilizing data and blending data from various sources by addressing concerns about mitigating privacy and confidentiality risks within the data infrastructure. The report provides potential policy approaches to protecting data privacy as well as a suggested framework…
CNSTAT Releases Second Data Infrastructure Report in Series Intended to Modernize Data Collection
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) has released its second in an ongoing series of data infrastructure reports intended to modernize and enhance data collection (previous COSSA coverage). This latest report, Toward a 21st Century National Data Infrastructure: Enhancing Survey Programs by Using Multiple Data Sources, builds off the first by discussing how using multiple data sources beyond sample surveys could improve the data collection for statistics and social and economic research, as well as data equity. The report acknowledges several data sources that could improve data collection, including probability samples, administrative…
COSSA Board Member Sara Curran Comments on U.S. Race & Ethnicity Standards
On March 16, The Seattle Times quoted Director of the University of Washington’s Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology and At-Large member of COSSA’s Board of Directors Sara Curran in an article on the need to update the U.S. standards of collecting race and ethnicity data. The recent push to revise the race and ethnicity data standards has been a priority of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which has led town halls to collect public feedback on the proposed changes to the standards (see previous COSSA coverage). In the article, Dr. Curran states that “these categories change…
OMB Requests Comments on Initial Proposals for Modernizing Race and Ethnicity Collection
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has requested comments on their initial proposal for modernizing the collection of race and ethnicity data across the Federal government. The request is a part of a series of ongoing revisions that were announced in June 2022, and were informed by OMB listening sessions to gain public input on the process (previously reported by COSSA). The comment request, coordinated by the Federal Interagency Technical Working Group on Race and Ethnicity Standards within OMB, is intended as a response to calls for expanding options within race and ethnicity data collection to account for diversity,…
Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis Request Comments on Data Collection Security
The U.S. Census Bureau and US Bureau of Economic Analysis have released a request for comments related to the collection of data from the public “to fulfill their data security requirements when providing access to restricted use microdata related to evidence building.” As part of the agencies’ ongoing implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (or Evidence Act), the White House of Office Management and Budget (OMB) established a Standard Application Process (SAP) for researchers to use when requesting access to confidential government data assets. The request for comment related data security requirements seek to understand if…
CNSTAT Celebrates 50 Years with Seminar and Data Infrastructure Report
The National Academies Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) is hosting a public seminar celebrating 50 years of CNSTAT on October 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. The event will be webcast for those unable to attend in person. The seminar will include a brief review of notable accomplishments and current efforts. CNSTAT will also be discussing their recent report, Toward a Vision for a New Data Infrastructure for Federal Statistics and Social and Economic Research in the 21st Century. This report details the importance of creating a new data infrastructure that both modernizes the processes and addresses the various challenges facing…
OSTP Requests Information on Data for LGBTQI+ Equity
On August 28, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a Request for Information to help develop a Federal Evidence Agenda on LBGTQI+ Equity. This request addresses the June 2022 executive order, “Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals” (E.O. 14075), which tasked a new subcommittee on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics (SOGI) within the Interagency Working Group on Equitable Data that will take the lead on developing and agenda to support data collection and aid in informing policy decisions to improve equity for the LGBTQI+ community (see previous coverage)….
Equitable Data Working Group Releases Report
On April 22, the Equitable Data Working Group (“Working Group”) released a report on advancing the use of equitable data in the government. The Working Group was established in response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (E.O. 13985). The Working Group consulted several outside organizations during their information collection, including several COSSA governing members such as the American Economic Association, the American Statistical Association, and the Population Association of America. Some of the major recommendations from the report include calling for making disaggregated data the norm, catalyzing existing…
Evidence Advisory Committee Recommends Establishment of a National Data Service
The Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building (ACDEB) released its first report on October 29. The Committee was created by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (“Evidence Act,” see previous coverage) and given two years to make recommendations for promoting evidence-building in the federal government, including evaluating the need for and value of a potential National Secure Data Service (NSDS) to facilitate linking data from across the federal government. The ACDEB report affirms the need for the establishment of a NSDS and outlines a broad vision for such a service as a “quasi- or non-governmental entity that is sponsored…
White House Releases 2021 Data Strategy Action Plan
The Federal Data Strategy, a government-wide plan to coordinate and accelerate the use of data in federal policymaking (see previous coverage), released its 2021 Action Plan in October. The plan lays out a set of aspirational milestones for data governance, planning, and infrastructure across federal agencies. Acknowledging the late-in-the-year release and the context of a presidential transition year, the document recognizes that agencies “may only begin” working towards the targets described in the plan by the end of the year. The Action Plan describes successes and lessons learned in 2020 and sets out a set of 11 actions for 2021,…
Search for U.S. Chief Statistician Reopened
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has reopened the vacancy announcement for the Chief Statistician of the United States. The post has been vacant since the retirement of former Chief Statistician Nancy Potok at the end of 2019. The Chief Statistician oversees OMB’s Statistical Policy and Science Branch and is responsible for implementing cross-agency data and statistics policies, including the Federal Data Strategy and the implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. The window for applications closes on November 4.
White House Launches Search for Chief Statistician
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has posted a vacancy announcement for the position of Chief Statistician of the United States, following the departure of former Chief Statistician Nancy Potok at the end of 2019. The Chief Statistician oversees OMB’s Statistical Policy and Science Branch and is responsible for implementing cross-agency data and statistics policies, including the Federal Data Strategy and the implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. The window for applications closes on June 29. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Data Strategy Releases Update on Implementation
The Federal Data Strategy has released an update for the first quarter of 2020 on the implementation of its 2020 Action Plan (see previous coverage). The update includes a list of the early milestones the strategy has met so far, such as the establishment of a Federal Chief Data Officers Council and Federal Data Policy Committee, as well as those that are in progress. More information is available on the Data Strategy website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
White House Finalizes 2020 Data Strategy Action Plan
The White House has released its final 2020 Action Plan for the Federal Data Strategy (see COSSA’s previous coverage). The Federal Data Strategy, which is being coordinated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is a “ten-year vision for how the Federal government will accelerate the use of data to support the foundations of democracy, deliver on mission, serve the public, and steward resources while protecting security, privacy and confidentiality.” The Strategy consists of 10 principles and 40 best practices to guide federal agencies on how to leverage the value of their data. The next phase in the Strategy’s implementation is its…
New Advisory Committee on Evidence Building Seeking Nominations
The Department of Commerce is accepting nominations for a new Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building, established by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (see COSSA’s coverage) and in accordance with the Federal Data Strategy.  The Committee is authorized for two years and is tasked with assisting the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in carrying out its statutorily-mandated responsibilities related to evidence-building, “evaluating and providing recommendations to the OMB Director on how to facilitate data sharing, enable data linkage, and develop privacy enhancing techniques;” and “reviewing the coordination of data sharing or availability for…
Comments Sought on Federal Data Strategy Action Plan
The White House is seeking public comment on its Draft 2019-2020 Federal Data Strategy Action Plan. The Federal Data Strategy, which is being coordinated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is a “ten-year vision for how the Federal government will accelerate the use of data to support the foundations of democracy, deliver on mission, serve the public, and steward resources while protecting security, privacy and confidentiality.” The Strategy consists of 10 principles, and 40 best practices to guide federal agencies on how to leverage the value of their data. The next phase in the Strategy’s implementation is the…
Comments Sought on Federal Data Strategy Best Practices
As recommended in the President’s Management Agenda released back in March, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been leading the development of a government-wide Federal Data Strategy to better manage the government’s data resources and improve the accessibility and usability of federal date for decision-making. The developers have finalized ten principles to guide the strategy across the themes of Ethical Governance, Conscious Design, and Learning Culture and are seeking comments on 47 aspirational best practices that are intended to “inform agency actions on a regular basis, to be continually relevant, and to be sufficiently general so…