Federal Data Strategy
2020 Action Plan
1. Identify Data Needs to Answer Priority Agency Questions
2. Constitute a Diverse Data Governance Body
3. Assess Data and Related Infrastructure Maturity
4. Identify Opportunities to Increase Staff Data Skills
5. Identify Priority Datasets for Agency Open Data Plans
6. Publish and Update Data Inventories
7. Launch a Federal Chief Data Officer Council
8. Improve Data and Model Resources for AI Research and Development
9. Improve Financial Management Data Standards
10. Integrate Geospatial Practices into the Federal Data Enterprise
11. Develop a Repository of Federal Enterprise Data Resources
12. Create an OMB Federal Data Policy Committee
13. Develop a Curated Data Skills Catalog
14. Develop a Data Ethics Framework
15. Develop a Data Protection Toolkit
16. Pilot a One-Stop Standard Research Application
17. Pilot an Automated Tool for Information Collection
Reviews that Supports Data Inventory Creation and Updates
18. Pilot Enhanced Data Management Tool for Federal Agencies
19. Develop Data Quality Measuring and Reporting Guidance
20. Develop a Data Standards Repository
Promoting
Efficient and
Appropriate
Data Use
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Identify Data Needs to Answer Key
Agency Questions
Assess and Balance the Needs of Stakeholders
Champion Data Use
Use Data to Guide Decision-Making
Prepare to Share
Convey Insights from Data
Use Data to Increase Accountability
Monitor and Address Public Perceptions
Provide Resources Explicitly to Leverage
Data Assets
Connect Data Functions Across Agencies
Prioritize Data Governance
Govern Data to Protect Confidentiality
and Privacy
Protect Data Integrity
Convey Data Authenticity
Assess Maturity
Inventory Data Assets
Recognize the Value of Data Assets
Manage with a Long View
Leverage Data Standards
Maintain Data Documentation
Align Agreements with Data Management
Requirements
Identify Opportunities to Overcome
Resource Obstacles
Allow Amendment
Enhance Data Preservation
Coordinate Federal Data Assets
Share Data Between State, Local, and
Tribal Governments and Federal Agencies
Increase Capacity for Data Management
and Analysis
Align Quality with Intended Use
Communicate Planned and Potential
Uses of Data
Design Data for Use and Re-Use
Explicitly Communicate Allowable Use
Harness Safe Data Linkage
Promote Wide Access
Diversify Data Access Methods
Review Data Releases for Disclosure Risk
Leverage Partnerships
Leverage Buying Power
Leverage Collaborative Computing Platforms
Support Non-Federal Stakeholders
Support Federal Stakeholders
Governing,
Managing,
and
Protecting
Data
Building a
Culture that
Values
Data and
Promotes
Public Use
Actions*
*Federal Data Strategy Year 1 Actions
Practices 2019181716151413121110987654321
Federal Data Strategy Year 1 Actions by Practice Matrix
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
Contents
Special Thanks to Our Contributors ..............................................3
Federal Data Strategy Development Team.........................................4
Principles and Practices ................................................. 6
Data, Accountability, and Transparency................................... 10
How We Will Get There ................................................. 14
Priority Actions for 2020................................................ 20
Agency Actions ............................................................ 21
Community of Practice Actions.............................................. 29
Shared Solution Actions .................................................... 34
Looking Forward ...................................................... 46
Federal Data Strategy
2020 Action Plan
President’s Management Agenda
THE PROMISE OF
EVIDENCE-BASED POLICYMAKING
Report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking
PRESIDENT'S
MANAGEMENT
A G E N D A
The 2017 report of the Commission on
Evidence-Based Policymaking revealed
the potential of leveraging data as
a strategic asset.
The 2018 President’s Management Agenda
established a cross-agency priority goal focused
on leveraging data as a strategic asset, which
led to the creation of the Federal Data Strategy.
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
Special Thanks to Our Contributors
Data is critically important to grow the economy,
increase the eectiveness of the Federal Government,
facilitate civic engagement and oversight, and promote
transparency. In March 2018, as part of the President’s
Management Agenda (PMA), the Administration
established a Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) Goal focused
on Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset to establish
best practices for how agencies manage and use data.
As part of this CAP Goal, the first ever enterprise-wide
Federal Data Strategy (FDS) was developed to establish
standards, interoperability, and skills consistency
across agencies. To ensure the FDS was comprehensive
and actionable, an interdisciplinary team of top-level
leaders from multiple Federal agencies led the CAP Goal,
including:
• Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of Oice of Science
and Technology Policy, Executive Oice of the
President
• Karen Dunn Kelley, Deputy Secretary,
U.S. Department of Commerce
• Suzette Kent, Federal Chief Information Oicer,
Oice of Management and Budget, Executive Oice
of the President
• Nancy Potok, Chief Statistician of the U.S.,
Oice of Management and Budget,
Executive Oice of the President
• Maria Roat, Chief Information Oicer,
U.S. Small Business Administration.
The CAP Goal leads wanted significant input from a
diverse set of stakeholders to ensure the FDS held value
for a wide variety of agencies and data users. To achieve
this goal, they convened the FDS development team,
which included nearly 50 career sta from around the
Federal Government, who developed the components of
the FDS in an iterative fashion with many opportunities
for feedback. The interagency team gathered ideas,
examples, comments, and suggestions from Federal
employees, private industry, academia, NGOs, and
the public from June 2018 to August 2019. This input
helped the team build a robust, integrated approach
to managing and using data. The result is a multi-
year strategy that will fundamentally transform how
data is managed and used. This strategy will support
improving public services, fuel learning and innovation
in the Federal community, and increase government
accountability and transparency. The CAP Goal leads
would like to recognize and thank the FDS development
team, whose members spent countless hours
researching, listening, and synthesizing, as well as the
agency and public commenters who contributed their
time and expertise through 147 sets of forum remarks
and 601 written comment submissions. The FDS and
first annual Action Plan could not have been created
without them.
Public Engagement on the Federal Data Strategy
Events
Public Comments
Speakers
President’s Management Agenda
Federal Data Strategy Development Team
• Ken Ambrose, Senior Policy Analyst, Health
Resources and Services Administration,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Tom Beach, Chief Data Strategist and Portfolio
Manager, U.S. Patent and Trademark Oice,
U.S. Department of Commerce
• Marika Bertram, Data Analysis and Evaluation, U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Sharon Boivin, Senior Advisor, Oice of the Chief
Data Oicer, U.S. Department of Education
• Trey Bradley, Strategic Data Initiatives Program
Manager, Oice of Shared Solutions & Performance
Improvement, U.S. General Services Administration
• Noah Brod, Economic Development Specialist, Small
Business Administration
• Melvin Brown II, Director, Oice of the Chief
Information Oicer, Small Business Administration
• Chris Campbell, Director of Enterprise Data
Management and Chief Data Architect,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Nikki Churchwell, Management and Program
Analyst, Oice of Finance and Operations,
U.S. Department of Education
• Leremy Colf, Director of Disaster Science,
Oice of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness
and Response, Oice of Policy and Planning,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Colleen Collins, Portfolio Manager, Food and
Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Sheri Craig, Statistician, Oice of Strategy and
Innovation, U.S. Oice of Personnel Management
• Richelle Davis, Education Program Specialist,
U.S. Department of Education
• David W. Dreisigmeyer, Data Miner, Research and
Methodology Directorate, Center for Economic
Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of
Commerce
• Kipp Dubow, Records Management Oicer,
U.S. Department of Veterans Aairs
• Casey Eggleston, Research Mathematical
Statistician, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of
Commerce
• Kimberly Essary, Deputy Director and Senior
Counsel, Oice of Enterprise Data and Analytics, U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Anne Fletcher, Social Science Analyst,
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Ruxi Giura, Digital Insurance Communications
Specialist, Federal Emergency Management
Administration, Department of Homeland Security
• Bill Gould, Senior Advisor, Small Business
Administration
• Jessica Graber, Research Survey Statistician,
U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce
• Matt Greene, Deputy Chief Data Oicer for
Governance, Oice of the Chief Data Oicer,
U.S. Department of Education
• William Hawk, Economist, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S.
Department of Commerce
• Lucas Hitt, Chief of the Communications Division,
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department
of Commerce
• William “Jay” Huie, White House Leadership
Development Fellow, General Services
Administration on detail to Oice of Management
and Budget
• Dan Janes, Program Director, National Institutes
of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services
• Tiany Julian, Data Scientist, National Center
for Science and Engineering Statistics,
National Science Foundation
• Ed Kearns, Chief Data Oicer, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce
• Lee Kelly, Division Director, Oice of Information
Security and Privacy, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency
• Julia Lane, Senior Research Fellow, U.S. Census
Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce
• Hilary Leeds, Health Science Policy Analyst, National
Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
• Grace Levin, Management Analyst,
U.S. State Department
• Anne Levine, Acting Chief Data Oicer,
Federal Communications Commission
• Lisa Mancino, Senior Agricultural Economist,
Food Economic Division, Economic Research Service,
U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Shelly Martinez, Senior Statistician, Oice of
Management and Budget, Executive Oice of the
President
• Lisa Mavrogianis, Open Data Lead,
U.S. Department of Veterans Aairs
• Lisette Montalvo, Data Governance Council
Secretariat, U.S. Department of Veterans Aairs
• Jessica Nicholson, Senior Economist,
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis,
U.S. Department of Commerce
• Erik Noble, Senior Policy Advisor, Oice of Science
and Technology Policy, Executive Oice of the
President
• Glenda Noel, Program and Management Analyst,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Anne Parker, Program Manager, Internal Revenue
Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury
• Regina Powers, Economist, Oice of the Under
Secretary for Economic Aairs, U.S. Department of
Commerce
• Bryant Renaud, Performance Analyst, Oice of
Management and Budget, Executive Oice of the
President
• Natalie Rico, Senior Policy Analyst, Oice of
Management and Budget, Executive Oice of the
President
• Joseph Semsar, Chief of Sta to the Deputy
Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce
• Stacy Sneeringer, Research Economist, Economic
Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Rachel Snyderman, Program Examiner, Oice of
Management and Budget, Executive Oice of the
President
• Genevieve Soule, Program Analyst, Oice of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Leanne Tang, Lead System Architect and Developer,
National Agricultural Statistics Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture
• Re’Neesha J. Thomas, Consultant, National
Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
• Zachary Trautt, Materials Research Engineer,
National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S.
Department of Commerce
• Kim Valentine, Acting Deputy Geospatial
Information Oicer, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce
• Khoa Vo, White House Leadership Fellow, Oice of
Management and Budget, Executive Oice of the
President
• Rebecca Williams, Digital Service Expert, Oice of
Management and Budget, Executive Oice of the
President
• Shondelle Wilson-Frederick, Lieutenant
Commander, Statistician & National Program Lead,
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Jennifer Wiltz, Captain, Senior Medical Oicer,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Grace Yuan, Data Analytics Oicer, National Science
Foundation
• Lin Zhang, Senior Enterprise Data Architect,
U.S. Department of the Interior
PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES
Principles
The Federal Data Strategy Principles serve as motivational guidelines. They underlie a comprehensive
strategy that encompasses Federal and Federally-sponsored program, statistical, and mission-support
data. They inform the Practices and Action Plan.
Ethical Governance
1. Uphold Ethics: Monitor and assess the implications of federal data practices for the public.
Design checks and balances to protect and serve the public good.
2. Exercise Responsibility: Practice eective data stewardship and governance. Employ sound
data security practices, protect individual privacy, maintain promised confidentiality, and ensure
appropriate access and use.
3. Promote Transparency: Articulate the purposes and uses of federal data to engender public
trust. Comprehensively document processes and products to inform data providers and users.
Conscious Design
4. Ensure Relevance: Protect the quality and integrity of the data. Validate that data are
appropriate, accurate, objective, accessible, useful, understandable, and timely.
5. Harness Existing Data: Identify data needs to inform priority research and policy questions;
reuse data if possible and acquire additional data if needed.
6. Anticipate Future Uses: Create data thoughtfully, considering fitness for use by others;
plan for reuse and build in interoperability from the start.
7. Demonstrate Responsiveness: Improve data collection, analysis, and dissemination with
ongoing input from users and stakeholders. The feedback process is cyclical; establish a
baseline, gain support, collaborate, and refine continuously.
Learning Culture
8. Invest in Learning: Promote a culture of continuous and collaborative learning with and about
data through ongoing investment in data infrastructure and human resources.
9. Develop Data Leaders: Cultivate data leadership at all levels of the federal workforce by
investing in training and development about the value of data for mission, service, and the
public good.
10. Practice Accountability: Assign responsibility, audit data practices, document and learn from
results, and make needed changes.
President’s Management Agenda
Practices
The Federal Data Strategy’s Practices are designed to inform
agency actions on a regular basis, to be continually relevant,
and to be suiciently general so as to broadly apply at all
federal agencies and across all missions. The Practices
represent aspirational goals that, when fully realized, will
continually challenge and guide agencies, practitioners, and
policymakers to improve the government’s approach to data
stewardship and the leveraging of data to create value.
Building a Culture that Values Data and
Promotes Public Use
1. Identify Data Needs to Answer Key Agency Questions:
Use the learning agenda1 process to identify and
prioritize the agency’s key questions and the data
needed to answer them.
2. Assess and Balance the Needs of Stakeholders:
Identify and engage stakeholders throughout the
data lifecycle to identify stakeholder needs and to
incorporate stakeholder feedback into government
priorities to maximize entrepreneurship, innovation,
scientific discovery, economic growth, and the public
good.
3. Champion Data Use: Leaders set an example,
incorporating data in decision-making and targeting
resources to maximize the value of data for decision-
making, accountability, and the public good.
4. Use Data to Guide Decision-Making: Eectively,
routinely, transparently, and appropriately use data
in policy, planning, and operations to guide decision-
making; share the data and analyses behind those
decisions.
5. Prepare to Share: Assess and proactively address the
procedural, regulatory, legal, and cultural barriers to
sharing data within and across federal agencies, as well
as with external partners.
6. Convey Insights from Data: Use a range of
communication tools and techniques to eectively
present insights from data to a broad set of audiences.
7. Use Data to Increase Accountability: Align operational
and regulatory data inputs with performance measures
and other outputs to help the public to understand the
results of federal investments and to support informed
decision-making and rule-making.
8. Monitor and Address Public Perceptions: Regularly
assess and address public confidence in the value,
accuracy, objectivity, and privacy protection of federal
data to make strategic improvements, advance agency
missions, and improve public messages about planned
and potential uses of federal data.
9. Connect Data Functions Across Agencies: Establish
communities of practice for common agency data
functions (e.g. data management, access, analytics,
informatics, and user support) to promote eiciency,
collaboration, and coordination.
10. Provide Resources Explicitly to Leverage Data
Assets: Ensure that suicient human and financial
resources are available to support data driven agency
decision-making, accountability and the ability to spur
commercialization, innovation, and public use.
Governing, Managing, and Protecting Data
11. Prioritize Data Governance: Ensure there are suicient
authorities, roles, organizational structures, policies,
and resources in place to transparently support the
management, maintenance, and use of strategic data
assets.
12. Govern Data to Protect Confidentiality and
Privacy: Ensure there are suicient authorities, roles,
organizational structures, policies, and resources in
place to provide appropriate access to confidential data
and to maintain public trust and safeguard privacy.
13. Protect Data Integrity: Emphasize state-of-the-art data
security as part of Information Technology security
practices for every system that is refreshed, architected,
or replaced to address current and emerging threats;
foster innovation and leverage new technologies to
maintain protection.
14. Convey Data Authenticity: Disseminate data sets such
that their authenticity is discoverable and verifiable by
users throughout the information lifecycle, consistent
with open data practices, and encourage appropriate
attribution from users.
15. Assess Maturity: Evaluate the maturity of all aspects of
agency data capabilities to inform priorities for strategic
resource investment.
16. Inventory Data Assets: Maintain an inventory of
data assets with suicient completeness, quality, and
metadata to facilitate discovery and collaboration in
support of answering key agency questions and meeting
stakeholder needs.
17. Recognize the Value of Data Assets: Assign value to
data assets based on maturity, key agency questions,
stakeholder feedback, and applicable law and
regulation to appropriately prioritize and document
resource decisions.
18. Manage with a Long View: Include data investments
in annual capital planning processes and associated
guidance to ensure appropriated funds are being used
eiciently to leverage data as a strategic long-term
asset.
19. Maintain Data Documentation: Store up-to-date and
comprehensive data documentation in accessible
repositories to facilitate use and document quality,
utility, and provenance in support of informing key
agency questions and meeting stakeholder needs.
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
20. Leverage Data Standards: Adopt or adapt, create as
needed, and implement data standards within relevant
communities of interest to maximize data quality and
facilitate use, access, sharing, and interoperability.
21. Align Agreements with Data Management
Requirements: Establish terms and conditions for
contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and other
agreements that meet data management requirements
for processing, storage, access, transmission, and
disposition.
22. Identify Opportunities to Overcome Resource
Obstacles: Coordinate with stakeholders to identify
mutually-acceptable cost recovery, shared service, or
partnership opportunities to enable data access while
conserving available resources to meet user needs.
23. Allow Amendment: Establish clear procedures to
allow members of the public to access and amend
federal data about themselves, as appropriate and in
accordance with federal laws, regulations and policies,
in order to safeguard privacy, reduce potential harm
from inaccurate data, and promote transparency.
24. Enhance Data Preservation: Preserve federal data
in accordance with applicable law, regulation, policy,
approved schedules, and mission relevance.
25. Coordinate Federal Data Assets: Coordinate and share
data assets across federal agencies to advance progress
on shared and similar objectives, fulfill broader federal
information needs, and reduce collection burden.
26. Share Data Between State, Local, and Tribal
Governments and Federal Agencies: Facilitate data
sharing between state, local, and tribal governments
and the Federal Government, where relevant and
appropriate and with proper protections, particularly
for programs that are federally funded and locally
administered, to enable richer analyses for more
informed decision-making.
Promoting Efficient and Appropriate Data Use
27. Increase Capacity for Data Management and
Analysis: Educate and empower the federal workforce
by investing in training, tools, communities, and other
opportunities to expand capacity for critical data-
related activities such as analysis and evaluation, data
management, and privacy protection.
28. Align Quality with Intended Use: Data likely to inform
important public policy or private sector decisions must
be of appropriate utility, integrity, and objectivity.
29. Design Data for Use and Re-Use: Design new data
collections with the end uses and users in mind to
ensure that data are necessary and of high enough
quality to meet planned and future agency and
stakeholder needs.
30. Communicate Planned and Potential Uses of
Data: Review data collection procedures to update
and improve how planned and future uses of data
are communicated, promoting public trust through
transparency.
31. Explicitly Communicate Allowable Use: Regularly
employ descriptive metadata that provides clarity about
access and use restrictions for federal data, explicitly
recognizes and safeguards applicable intellectual
property rights, conveys attribution as needed, and
optimizes potential value to stakeholders to maximize
appropriate legal use.
32. Harness Safe Data Linkage: Test, review, and deploy
data linkage and analysis tools that use secure and
privacy-protective technologies to address key agency
questions and meet stakeholder needs while protecting
privacy.
33. Promote Wide Access: Promote equitable and
appropriate access to data in open, machine-readable
form and through multiple mechanisms, including
through both federal and non-federal providers, to
meet stakeholder needs while protecting privacy,
confidentiality, and proprietary interests.
34. Diversify Data Access Methods: Invest in the creation
and usability of multiple tiers of access to make data as
accessible as possible while minimizing privacy risk and
protecting confidentiality.
35. Review Data Releases for Disclosure Risk: Review
federal data releases to the public to assess and
minimize the risk of re-identification, consistent with
applicable laws and policies, and publish reviews to
promote transparency and public trust.
36. Leverage Partnerships: Create and sustain
partnerships that facilitate innovation with commercial,
academic, and other partners to advance agency
mission and maximize economic opportunities,
intellectual value, and the public good.
37. Leverage Buying Power: Monitor needs and
systematically leverage buying power for private-sector
data assets, services, and infrastructure to promote
eiciency and reduce federal costs.
38. Leverage Collaborative Computing Platforms:
Periodically review and optimize the use of modern
collaborative computing platforms to minimize costs,
improve performance, and increase use.
39. Support Federal Stakeholders: Engage with relevant
agencies to share expert knowledge of data assets,
promote wider use, improve usability and quality, and
meet mission goals.
40. Support Non-Federal Stakeholders: Engage with
industry, academic, and other non-federal users of data
to share expert knowledge of data assets, promote
wider use, improve usability and quality, and advance
innovation and commercialization.
DATA
,
ACCOUNTABILITY
,
AND TRANSPARENCY:
CREATING A DATA STRATEGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
The use of data is transforming the economy,
government, and society. If the Federal Government
does not maintain its role as a preeminent supplier and
sophisticated and ethical user of data, it will no longer
be able to fulfill its civic duty to the public. While the
Federal Government leads globally in many instances in
developing and providing data about the United States
and the world, it lacks a robust, integrated approach to
using data to deliver on mission, serve the public, and
steward resources.
In March 2018, the PMA set out a long-term vision for
eective and modern government capabilities focused
on system-level thinking to tackle interconnected
barriers to change, most notably related to aging
technology infrastructure, disconnected data and an
outmoded civil service framework. The PMA’s three
drivers of transformation—IT modernization; data,
accountability, and transparency; and the workforce
of the future—were developed to promote change that
resonates across the Federal enterprise. Specifically,
data, accountability, and transparency initiatives were
developed to provide the tools to deliver visibly better
results to the public, while improving accountability
to taxpayers for sound fiscal stewardship and mission
results. The Administration established a CAP Goal for
each of these drivers to ensure public tracking and
accountability, including CAP Goal 2: Leveraging Data
as a Strategic Asset to develop an integrated cross-
agency FDS that encompasses all relevant governance,
standards, infrastructure, and commercialization
challenges of operating in a data-driven world. In
addition, the Administration simultaneously pursued
changes in related cross-cutting priorities that span
agency management and operational domains, and
also functional priorities that target more specific areas
including financial management and acquisition, among
others.
To manage the Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset
CAP Goal, a cross-section of Oice of Management and
Budget (OMB) policy and budget oicials met to scope
the challenge, opportunity, and component strategies
and drivers of change. This scoping exercise ensured
that FDS development addressed all management and
use needs and leveraged maintainable processes to
execute activities. Learning from lessons of the previous
Administration’s CAP Goal dedicated strictly to the
dissemination of open data, the Leveraging Data as a
Strategic Asset CAP Goal development team created a
comprehensive scope by considering the entire data
lifecycle (from creation to reuse or destruction), various
types of government data managed in a similar manner
(e.g., mission support, programmatic, and statistical
data), and the government use of government and
non-government data, as well as demands for use
of government data by industry and academia. As
discussed above, CAP Goal leads from OMB, Oice
of Science and Technology Policy, Department of
Commerce, and Small Business Administration built out
an interdisciplinary FDS development team that worked
together from June 2018 to August 2019, with feedback
from private industry, academia, civil servants, and
the public to gather ideas, examples, comments, and
suggestions in their quest to build a robust, integrated
approach to managing and using data. While the scoping
exercise informed and framed the development of the
FDS, new topical categories emerged as the team co-
created each deliverable component of the final strategy.
People — Workforce
of the Future
IT Modernization
Data,
Accountability, and
Transparency
CAP Goal 2:
Leveraging Data as a
Strategic Asset
MISSION
SERVICE
STEWARDSHIP
President’s Management Agenda
Drivers of Transformation
President’s Management Agenda
The result of this iterative co-creation is a multi-year
strategy that will fundamentally transform how the
Federal Government manages, uses, and makes data
available that will:
• Prepare agencies to consider secondary use
scenarios, including privacy risks and self-service
opportunities for reuse by colleagues, other agencies
and governments, researchers, entrepreneurs, and
the public
• Replicate, accelerate, and scale data management
and disseminate best practices to the entire Federal
Government according to priority and maturity level
• Provide a long-term roadmap for incremental
improvements across budgets and Administrations
• Provide a single set of annual priorities for the whole
of government to focus on
E
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Four Cross-Cutting
Drivers of Change
Policy
People
Process
Platform
Access, Use, and
Augmentation
Decision-
making and
Account-
ability
Commercial-
ization,
Innovation,
and Public
Use
A Federal Data Strategy for
Today’s Work Environment
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
FDS
Draft
Principles
July 2018
Call for
Best
Practices
Principles
Federal Data Strategy
(Principles + Practices)
Draft
Practices
Draft Year 1
Action Plan
Year 1
Action Plan
October 2018 June 2019 December 2019
Federal Data Strategy Development
Principles, Practices, and Action Plan
HOW WE WILL GET THERE:
THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF THE FEDERAL DATA STRATEGY
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
A Framework for Consistency
and Annual Action Plans
The FDS describes a 10-year vision for how the Federal
Government will accelerate the use of data to deliver
on mission, serve the public, and steward resources
while protecting security, privacy, and confidentiality.
The FDS includes a mission statement, ten operating
principles, and a set of 40 best practices to guide
agencies in leveraging the value of Federal and Federally-
sponsored data. The mission statement, principles,
and practices are presented in final form in M-19-18,
1
and additional detail regarding their development can
be found at strategy.data.gov. All Executive Branch
agencies (hereinaer “agencies”)
2
will implement the
strategy through annual government-wide Action Plans
(hereinaer “Action Plans”). Action Plans will identify
and prioritize practice-related steps for a given year and
build on progress from year to year, which will allow for
focused, measured progress, along with opportunities
to improve and adapt plans. Action Plans will also align
with ongoing Federal Government programs and policies
and will complement statutory requirements.
3
Each annual Action Plan will consist of actions that
incorporate one or more of the 40 practices outlined
in the strategy. This 2020 Action Plan specifies 20
measurable actions that agencies will should take during
the first year of implementing the strategy that support
foundational steps to implement the FDS practices.
1. See Oice of Mgm’t & Budget, Exec. Oice of the President, OMB M-19-18, Federal Data strategy – A Framework for Consistency (2019)
available at www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/M-19-18.pdf.
2. The term “agency” means any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation,
or other establishment in the executive branch of the Government (including the Executive Oice of the President), or any independent
regulatory agency, but does not include— (a) the Government Accountability Oice; (b) Federal Election Commission; (c) the governments
of the District of Columbia and of the territories and possessions of the United States, and their various subdivisions; or (d) Government-
owned contractor-operated facilities, including laboratories engaged in national defense research and production activities; 44 U.S.C.
§3502.
3. Including the Paperwork Reduction Act, the E-Government Act of 2002, the Privacy Act of 1974, the Federal Information Security
Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Eiciency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA), the Freedom of
Information Act, the Information Quality Act, the Federal Records Act, and the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018,
among others.
The mission of the Federal Data Strategy is to leverage the full value of Federal data for mission, service, and the
public good by guiding the Federal Government in practicing ethical governance, conscious design, and a learning culture.
Timeless, enduring
guide for agencies
Aspirational goals for a
5- to 10-year horizon to
further the principles
Activities in the
2020 Action Plan chosen to
implement the practices
Federal Data Strategy Framework
Mission Statement
Principles Practices Action Steps
10 40 20
President’s Management Agenda
Collective Resources,
Continuous Learning,
and Constant Feedback
To further support agencies in executing the FDS, the
FDS team has identified opportunities for collective
resources, continuous learning tools, and stakeholder
feedback opportunities including:
1. An online repository of policies, standards,
tools, best practices, and case studies, known as
Federal Enterprise Data Resources and located
at resources.data.gov, has been established to
provide centralized access to resources related to
Federal data management and use;
2. Resources and “proof point” examples to incubate
small data projects within agencies including, the
GEAR Center, the Incubator Playbook (a collection
of tools available to agencies for data incubation
projects), and a body of crowd-sourced use cases
and “proof points”;
3. Companion resources to implement every Agency
Action step; and
4. Shared Solution Action steps to prototype calls for
platforms needed to implement the FDS.
How the 2020 Action Plan
Supports Other Data-Related
Requirements
The strategy is designed to serve as a framework
for consistency that harmonizes the ways agencies
address the many laws and regulations that govern
how agencies manage and use data. The graphic below
depicts the dynamic environment of the strategy,
capturing the external influences—such as laws and
executive orders, stakeholder input and user needs,
and new technologies—that generate agency activities
undertaken in response to statutory requirements, OMB
guidance, and policies reflected by government-wide
priorities. An annual Action Plan, designed to guide
agencies in implementing the strategy, will be released
each year and incorporate new laws, requirements, and
priorities that will impact Federal agencies’ capacity to
leverage data as a strategic asset.
The Action Plan is designed to guide agencies as they
work to meet a wide array of legislative and policy
requirements. In particular, the 2020 Action Plan
incorporates requirements of the Foundations for
Statutory
Requirements
Federal
Data Strategy
Principles and
Practices
OMB
Guidance
Government-
Wide Priorities
Annual
Action
Plan
New Laws and
Executive Orders
New
Technologies
Stakeholder Input
and User Needs
Federal Data Strategy Ecosystem
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (hereinaer
“the Evidence Act”), the Geospatial Data Act of 2018,
and Executive Order 13859 on Maintaining American
Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. Because the
governing laws vary in scope and applicability, the
actions described in this policy document below,
dierentiate between actions that are mandatory
and those that are strongly encouraged. This 2020
Action Plan seeks to do more than compliance, instead
providing strategic guidance to agencies in planning
their optimal implementation approaches, while filling
key gaps to support more robust data management and
use across the Federal Government.
This first annual Action Plan establishes a solid
foundation that will support the implementation of the
strategy over the next decade. Specifically, this 2020
Action Plan identifies initial actions for agencies that are
essential for establishing processes, building capacity,
and aligning existing eorts to better leverage data
as a strategic asset. In addition to actions required of
each agency, the 2020 Action Plan includes a series of
pilot projects already underway at individual agencies
and a set of government-wide eorts that are designed
to support all agencies during implementation of
the strategy through the development of tools and
resources.
Structure of the 2020 Action Plan
The 2020 Action Plan is designed to be cross-cutting and
to support agencies in fulfilling a wide array of legislative
and administrative requirements, while also prioritizing
foundational activities for agencies in developing a
mature data asset management environment. As part of
the first-year implementation of the strategy, OMB will
work with agencies through new and existing forums to
support agencies and promote progress.
The 2020 Action Plan includes 20 actions broken into
three distinct categories: Agency Actions, Community of
Practice Actions, and Shared Solution Actions.
• 6 Agency Actions are executed by each agency and
are designed to advance each agency’s ability to
fully leverage its data as a strategic asset. Agency
Actions set expectations for progress and success in
implementing the strategy by building a foundation
for the management of data throughout the lifecycle
within agencies. Implementation guidance will
be routinely updated on strategy.data.gov, and
resources to support implementation will be
regularly posted to the repository at
resources.data.gov.
• 4 Community of Practice Actions are taken by
a specific group of agencies around a common
topic, usually through an established interagency
council or other existing coordinating mechanism.
Community of Practice Actions seek to integrate
and coordinate ongoing eorts related to existing
laws, regulations, and executive orders that are
particularly relevant to the strategy.
• 10 Shared Solution Actions are distinct projects
or eorts that are led by a single agency or existing
interagency council for the benefit of all agencies.
Shared Solution Actions provide government-wide
thought leadership, direction, tools, governance,
and services for implementing the strategy that can
be leveraged by all agencies. Many of the Shared
Solution Actions have received financial resources as
part of the CAP Goal: Leveraging Data as a Strategic
Asset
4
and are already underway.
For each action, the 2020 Action Plan includes: a
description of the desired result of successful execution
of the action, the identification of an entity responsible
for executing the action, a set of metrics for measuring
progress during the first year, and the expected timeline
for completion of the action.
4. Federal Government Priority Goals (commonly referred to as
CAP Goals) were established by the Government Performance
and Results (GPRA) Modernization Act (31 U.S.C. § 1120) and are
set at the beginning of each Presidential term in consultation
with Congress. In FY2017 and FY2018, a total of $11.2 million was
available each year to support CAP Goal projects under transfer
authority provided by Congress.
President’s Management Agenda
Shared
Solution
Actions
Legend
1. Identify Data Needs to Answer
Priority Agency Questions
2. Constitute a Diverse Data
Governance Body
3. Assess Data and Related Infrastructure
Maturity
12. Create an OMB Federal Data
Policy Committee
5. Identify Priority Data Assets for Agency
Open Data Plans
8. Improve Data and Model Resources for
AI Research and Development
9. Improve Financial Management
Data Standards
4. Identify Opportunities to Increase
Staff Data Skills
6. Publish and Update Data Inventories
7. Launch a Federal Chief Data Officer
Council
11. Develop a Repository of Federal Enterprise
Data Resources
16. Pilot a One-Stop Standard Research
Application
13. Develop a Curated Data Skills
Catalog
14. Develop a Data Ethics Framework
15. Develop a Data Protection Toolkit
10. Integrate Geospatial Data Practices into
the Federal Data Enterprise
17. Pilot an Automated Tool for Information
Collection Reviews that Supports Data
Inventory Creation and Updates
18. Pilot Enhanced Data Management Tool
for Federal Agencies
19. Develop Data Quality Measuring and
Reporting Guidance
20. Develop a Data Standards Repository
Duration of Action Milestone Target Date
For more information on milestones, please see corresponding action page.
Community
of Practice
Actions
Agency
Actions
Time From Action Plan Implementation
0–3 Months 4–6 Months 7–9 Months 10–12 Months
Federal Data Strategy Year 1 Actions
PRIORITY ACTIONS FOR 2020
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
Agency Actions
Six Agency Actions are identified as foundational steps
to support agencies in establishing plans, processes,
and priorities for better managing data assets while
considering how the agency’s data assets could be
leveraged to advance the agency’s mission. Because
agencies have dierent levels of maturity in their current
management and use of data, agencies are expected to
have dierent starting points for executing the six Agency
Actions. Each agency should first establish a baseline for
each action by assessing the agency’s current status, and
then develop and implement a plan to fully achieve each
action over the course of the next year. The strategy is
supported by tools and resources to aid in the execution
of the Agency Actions. Resources will be posted to
the repository, Federal Enterprise Data Resources, at
resources.data.gov throughout the course of the year.
Many of the Agency Actions build on and complement
eorts that are already underway in response to other
requirements or laws. The graphic below maps each
of the six Agency Actions to a set of relevant laws and
guidance documents. While future Action Plans will
make similar connections between Agency Actions and
relevant laws and requirements, all Agency Actions are
designed to support agencies in leveraging their data
assets.
1. Identify Data Needs to Answer
Priority Agency Questions
2. Constitute a Diverse Data Governance Body
3. Assess Data and Related Infrastructure Maturity
5. Identify Priority Data Assets for Agency
Open Data Plans
4. Identify Opportunities to Increase Staff Data Skills
6. Publish and Update Data Inventories
Foundations for Evidence-
Based Policymaking Act of
2018 and Associated
OMB Guidance
Executive Order on
Maintaining American
Leadership in
Artificial Intelligence
Improving
Implementation
of the Information
Quality Act (M-19-15)
Agency Actions
President’s Management Agenda
external stakeholders, using the process to generate and
organize priority agency questions that can be pursued
through activities that include statistics, program
evaluation, research, performance management, and
policy analysis. Adopting this approach of identifying
priority agency questions at the outset helps to establish
a process through which an agency can allocate its
statistical, performance management, research and
evaluation eorts, and funding to the most critical
questions that face the agency.
This approach represents a paradigm shi in how
agencies leverage data assets. Rather than constraining
research based on data, the learning agenda process
ensures that a research agenda starts with the priority
agency questions. Once the priority agency questions
have been identified, then the agency must contemplate
what data are needed to answer the priority agency
questions. This critical next step is also explicitly
By September 2020, all agencies will take
initial steps to identify the data needed to
answer priority questions of interest to the
agency.
5
For the past several years through the
budget formulation process,
6
OMB has
encouraged agencies to develop multi-year
learning agendas. A multi-year learning
agenda enables agencies to systematically
identify the most critical short- and long-
term questions relevant to the programs,
policies, and regulations of an agency. The
Evidence Act now requires the development
of learning agendas,
7
directing CFO Act
agencies to generate a multi-year learning
agenda in conjunction with their strategic
plans. Agencies develop learning agendas
in consultation with both internal and
ACTION 1
Identify Data Needs to Answer Priority Agency Questions
5. The provisions under Title I of the Evidence Act apply to the 24 agencies identified in the Chief Financial Oicers Act of
1990 (CFO Act) in 31 U.S.C. §901(b), but OMB Memorandum M-19-23 strongly recommends participation of all non-CFO
Act agencies, and sub-agencies, operational divisions, and bureaus of CFO Act agencies. Thus, this requirement is only
mandatory for agencies that are subject to the Evidence Act’s mandatory requirements but encouraged for all others.
6. President’s FY2019 Budget: Building and Using Evidence to Improve Government Eectiveness (Analytical Perspectives).
7. Use of the terminology “learning agendas” are equivalent to the “agency evidence-building plans,” as required in the
Evidence Act. 5 U.S.C. §312(a).’
8. 5 U.S.C. §312(a).
Priority Agency
Question
Does the data
needed to answer
this question
already exist?
YES
NO
Data is Available Within the
Same Federal Agency
Data is Available Within a
Different Federal Agency
or a Non-Federal Entity
Acquire and
Use Data
Collect and
Use Data
A New Data Collection
is Required
Access and
Use Data
Data Collection Tree
?
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
ACTION 1
Identify Data Needs to Answer Priority Agency Questions
collected and maintained within the Federal
Government. Under circumstances where
the data needed already exist, the next
step would be to either directly access the
data holdings, or to develop an acquisition
strategy to access the needed data.
Alternatively, the data required might not
exist or might not be accessible because of
legal or other barriers, and a new collection
eort may be justified. Many agencies
already have processes and procedures by
which they assess the availability of data to
answer priority agency questions, even if
the agency does not yet have a formalized
learning agenda in place.
required under the Evidence Act, which states that
learning agendas must include “a list of data the agency
intends to collect, use, or acquire to facilitate the use of
evidence in policymaking.”
8
Exhibit 6 maps the process
by which an agency might approach identifying data
needs to answer priority agency questions.
The data required to answer a priority agency question
might already exist — either in that agency, at another
agency, or within a non-Federal entity (e.g., private
firm or state/local government). The development and
expansion of high-quality data inventories and data
catalogs across agencies, as required by the Evidence
Act and supported by Actions 6 and 17, will increase
agencies’ capacity to determine whether the data
required to answer priority agency questions is already
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
REPORTING
MECHANISM
REQUIRED OR
ENCOURAGED
Consult with key agency
leaders, such as Chief Data
Officers, Evaluation Officers
and Statistical Officials to
identify data needed to answer
priority agency questions
Completion
September ,
Interim Learning
Agenda or FY
Budget Submission
Required for CFO
Act Agencies only
Encouraged for
all agencies
(see OMB M--)
Identify data needs for
answering priority questions in
the interim learning agenda
Completion
September ,
Interim Learning
Agenda or FY
Budget Submission
Required for CFO
Act Agencies only
Develop a plan to engage the
stakeholders needed to access
or acquire the data needed to
answer priority questions
Completion
September ,
Interim Learning
Agenda or FY
Budget Submission
Required for CFO
Act Agencies only
Encouraged for
all agencies
(see OMB M--)
President’s Management Agenda
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
REPORTING
MECHANISM
REQUIRED OR
ENCOURAGED
Publish agency data governance
materials (membership,
charter, meeting cadence) on
[agency].gov/data web page
Completion
January ,
Post to agency/
data web page
Required for
all agencies
After you complete your
assessment of current staff data
skills and literacy (see Action ),
dedicate staff to support DGB
Number of FTEs
dedicated
October
,
Progress
Report Tool*
Encouraged for
all agencies
Document how the DGB
receives its authority
Completion
September ,
Progress
Report Tool*
Encouraged for
all agencies
Put in place a data
strategy or road map
Completion
activity
per quarter,
any order
Progress
Report Tool*
& in agency
Information
Resource
Management
Strategic Plan
Encouraged for
all agencies
Develop a plan for capital
planning for enterprise data
assets and infrastructure
Completion
Encouraged for
all agencies
Adopt a master data
management program
Completion
Encouraged for
all agencies
* An agency’s Chief Data Oicer is considered the main point of contact for its progress reporting and each CDO receives a unique link for the
Progress Report Tool.
All agencies were required by M-19-23 to
establish an inclusive and empowered Data
Governance Body (DGB) by September 30,
2019, to be chaired by the Chief Data Oicer,
with participation from relevant senior-
level sta in agency business units, data
functions, and financial management.
By January 2020, all agencies will publish
documentation related to the DGB (e.g.,
membership, charter, meeting cadence,
and minutes) on their agency data web
page (at https://[agency].gov/data) and
by November 2020, all agencies will have
begun enterprise-wide data governance
activities such as capital planning for
enterprise data assets and infrastructure,
emerging priority data governance areas
such as preparing data for use in artificial intelligence,
and an agency data strategy or road map, or master data
management program.
The DGB should use data maturity models to assess
agency capabilities (see Action 3: Assess Data and
Related Infrastructure Maturity), and should also
seek broad agency input before recommending data
investment priorities. The DGB membership should be
updated as needed.
Agencies may refer to A Playbook in Support of the
Federal Data Strategy: Getting Started on Prioritizing Data
Governance and Assessing Maturity for guidance and
support in accomplishing this action as well as Action 3.
9
ACTION 2
Constitute a Diverse Governance Body
9. A Playbook in Support of the Federal Data Strategy: Getting
Started on Prioritizing Data Governance and Assessing Maturity
can be found in the repository at resources.data.gov.
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
ACTION 3
Assess Data and Related Infrastructure Maturity
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
REPORTING
MECHANISM
REQUIRED OR
ENCOURAGED
Select an operational maturity
assessment model for data
and data infrastructure
Completion
July ,
*
Progress
Report Tool**
Required for
all agencies
Agency Chief Data Officer
and other senior-level staff
participate in any training or
technical assistance related
to maturity assessments
Number of people
attended training
September ,
Progress
Report Tool**
Encouraged for
all agencies
Conduct and document the
outcome of the initial data
maturity assessment
Completion
September ,
Progress
Report Tool**
Encouraged for
all agencies
* Due to government-wide focus on COVID-19 response activities, the Federal Data Strategy team has extended this target date.
Read the team’s statement on the FDS News page at strategy.data.gov/news.
** An agency’s Chief Data Oicer is considered the main point of contact for its progress reporting and each CDO receives a unique link for the
Progress Report Tool.
By June 2020, all agencies will should conduct an initial
maturity assessment focusing on data and related
data infrastructure (e.g., organizational structures and
knowledge bases, policies) to set a baseline for future
improvements.
Maturity assessments allow an organization to evaluate
itself against documented best practices, determine
gaps, and identify priority areas for improvement. A
maturity assessment analyzes all aspects of agency
policies, procedures, and operations related to data and
data infrastructure, including data governance, data
management, data culture, data systems and tools, data
analytics, sta skills and capacity, resource capacity,
and compliance with law and policy. The results of a
maturity assessment feed into the data governance and
management processes to inform investment decisions
and to prioritize subsequent actions. A maturity
assessment should be proactively communicated and
explained to employees and repeated
periodically, as determined by the agency,
to measure progress and prioritize next
steps.
The maturity model used to conduct the
maturity assessment should be chosen
by the DGB established under Action 2.
This assessment will identify readiness to
meet other requirements of the strategy
and related legal requirements and can be
used to make investment decisions and to
prioritize subsequent actions. Agencies may
refer to A Playbook in Support of the Federal
Data Strategy: Getting Started on Prioritizing
Data Governance and Assessing Maturity for
guidance and support in accomplishing this
action as well as Action 2.
President’s Management Agenda
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT
TARGET
DATE
REPORTING
MECHANISM
REQUIRED OR
ENCOURAGED
Perform an assessment of current
staff data literacy and data skills
Completion
July ,
*
Progress
Report Tool**
Required for CFO
Act Agencies only
Encouraged for
all agencies
Conduct a gap analysis between
the current staff’s skills and the
skills the agency requires
Completion
September ,
Progress
Report Tool**
Required for CFO
Act Agencies only
Encouraged for
all agencies
Based on the assessment, establish a
baseline and develop a performance
plan to close the identified
data skills and literacy gaps
Completion
December ,
Progress
Report Tool**
Required for CFO
Act Agencies only
Encouraged for
all agencies
* Due to government-wide focus on COVID-19 response activities, the Federal Data Strategy team has extended this target date.
Read the team’s statement on the FDS News page at strategy.data.gov/news.
** An agency’s Chief Data Oicer is considered the main point of contact for its progress reporting and each CDO receives a unique link for the
Progress Report Tool.
By June 2020, all CFO Act agencies, pursuant
to M-19-23 and the Evidence Act, will have
documented information on their plans to
carry out a capacity assessment to assess the
coverage, quality, methods, eectiveness, and
independence of the statistics, evaluation,
research, and analysis eorts of the agency.
These assessments may be further leveraged
by agencies to identify critical data skills, assess
their stas’ capacities for those skills, identify
any gaps, and take actions to ensure that their
Federal workforces are well-prepared to support
evidence-building activities.
The sta data skills assessment should align
with, and be a part of, ongoing human capital
management eorts designed to ensure
agencies have skills and competencies needed
to eectively accomplish agency mission. This
alignment is important since achieving parity
between an agency’s data skill needs and its
workforce capacity requires repeating this
process over time. The assessment has four
major components:
1. Identify critical data skills needed for the agency
2. Assess the current sta capacity for those data skills
3. Perform a data skills gap analysis to prioritize the agency’s needs
4. Identify and execute approaches to fill those needs
The identification of critical data skills will naturally be
informed by the determination of agency priority questions,
including those gathered during the development of the
learning agenda (see Action 1) and will be addressed in
the agency maturity assessment (Action 3). Thoughtful
consideration should also be given to identifying a minimum
level of data literacy among all sta, including for those
performing roles not traditionally considered data related. The
agency should assess the data skills possessed by the current
workforce and seek to understand data literacy rates among
its sta. The gap analysis should determine how much more
of each critical skill is required among sta and facilitate a
prioritization of needed skills relative to available resources.
Options for increasing sta skills capacity may include new
analysis or other soware tools, easy-to-use dashboards,
additional training and educational opportunities, on-the-job
rotational learning experiences, participation in data-related
communities of practice, and introducing hiring and retention
strategies to address gaps.
Note: This action can also serve as one input to the capacity
assessment required by CFO Act agencies under the Evidence
Act, in coordination with Evaluation Oicers.
ACTION 4
Identify Opportunities to Increase Sta Data Skills
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
REPORTING
MECHANISM
REQUIRED OR
ENCOURAGED
Publish an Open Data Plan
for sharing priority agency
data assets, developed with
stakeholder engagement,
including data assets that
support COVID- response
and AI R&D (see Action )
Completion
After OMB Open
Data Plan Guidance
is issued;
Annually on Agency
IRM Strategic
Plan schedule
Agency
Information
Resource
Management
Strategic Plan
Required for
all agencies
Execute a process to evaluate
and improve the timeliness,
completeness, consistency,
accuracy, usefulness,
and availability of open
Government data assets
Qualitative and
quantitative
improvements
December ,
strategy.data.gov
& agency public
data.json APIs
Required for
all agencies
By January 2020, all agencies will identify their initial list
of priority data assets for agency open data plans.
10
This
list will describe data assets that the agency considers
especially valuable to the public interest and therefore
intends to make available as open government data.
Agency open data plans will include (1) processes and
procedures that require data collection mechanisms
created on or aer January 13, 2019, facilitate open
formats, and facilitate collaboration with non-
Government entities (including businesses), researchers,
and the public for the purpose of understanding how
data users value and use government data; (2) identify
methods to collect and analyze digital information on
data asset usage by users within and outside of the
agency, including designating a point of contact within
the agency to assist the public and to respond to quality
issues, usability issues, recommendations
for improvements, and complaints about
adherence to open data requirements
within a reasonable period of time; (3)
develop a process to evaluate and improve
the timeliness, completeness, consistency,
accuracy, usefulness, and availability of
open Government data assets; and (4)
includes requirements for meeting the goals
of the agency open data plan, including the
acquisition.
A playbook and use cases that describe
prioritization methodologies and examples
of open data access to support this action
will be available at resources.data.gov.
ACTION 5
Identify Priority Data Assets for Agency Open Data Plans
10. The Evidence Act direct all agencies to develop an Open Data Plan that identifies “priority data assets, that is, any data asset
for which disclosure would be in the public interest and establishes a plan to evaluate each priority data asset for disclosure
on the Federal Data Catalogue, including an accounting of which priority data assets have not yet been evaluated.” See 44
U.S.C. §3506.
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
REPORTING
MECHANISM
REQUIRED OR
ENCOURAGED
Update comprehensive
data inventories for overall
completeness and priority
COVID- response*
data asset sprints
Metadata quality
improvements
Minimally every
months,
as often as
possible*
Agency public
data.json APIs
Required for
all agencies
Update comprehensive
data inventory to conform
to standard metadata
Completion
days after
OMB/GSA
standard
metadata
guidance is
issued*
Agency public
data.json APIs
Required for
all agencies
* Due to government-wide focus on COVID-19 response activities, the Federal Data Strategy team has included COVID-19 response data assets as
priority data assets for this milestone and clarified target dates based on OMB guidance dependencies. Read the team’s statement on the FDS
News page at strategy.data.gov/news.
All agencies will update existing
comprehensive data inventories in
accordance with updated standard
metadata that facilitates ingestion by
data.gov and search engine optimization.
At least every 90 days, all agencies will
identify missing or incomplete listings
in their comprehensive data inventories and ensure
metadata is comprehensive for priority data assets,
such as data assets included in agency Open Data Plans,
identified in Community of Practice Actions 8, 9, and 10,
or as identified by the Chief Data Oicer Council (CDO
Council).
ACTION 6
Publish and Update Data Inventories
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
Community of Practice Actions
Community of Practice Actions are taken by a specific
agency or group of agencies related to a common
topic, usually through an established interagency
council or other existing coordinating mechanism.
Community of Practice Actions seek to integrate and
coordinate ongoing eorts related to existing laws,
regulations, and executive orders that are particularly
relevant to the strategy. For this initial Action Plan,
the four Community of Practice Actions included were
identified as key opportunities for agencies to build
upon ongoing eorts to improve and better coordinate
data-related initiatives across agencies. In particular,
the Community of Practice Actions included in the 2020
Action Plan capitalize on current work related to the
Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in
Artificial Intelligence, the Geospatial Data Act of 2018,
the Evidence Act, and eorts related to the management
and use of several financial management data assets
across government. These four actions, undertaken with
cross-agency collaboration, will speed and streamline
the execution of existing requirements, as depicted in
Exhibit 7 below.
8. Improve Data and Model
Resources for AI Research
and Development
9. Improve Financial Management
Data Standards
7. Launch a Federal Chief
Data Officer Council
10. Integrate Geospatial Data
Practices into the Federal
Data Enterprise
The
Geospatial
Data Act of
2018
Appendix A to OMB Circular No. A-123
Management of
Reporting and Data
Integrity Risk (M-18-16)
Foundations for Evidence-
Based Policymaking Act of
2018 and Associated
OMB Guidance
Executive Order on
Maintaining American
Leadership in
Artificial Intelligence
Community of Practice Actions
ACTION 17
Pilot an Automated Tool for Information Collection Reviews
that Supports Data Inventory Creation and Updates
President’s Management Agenda
By January 2020, OMB will launch, and
agency CDOs will participate in, a CDO
Council, as required by the Evidence Act and
detailed in OMB M-19-23. The CDO Council
will meet regularly, establish its priorities,
and begin to develop resources as required
by the Evidence Act to support CDOs in
fulfilling their responsibilities under the
Evidence Act. Resources may be developed
in concert with the FDS team and other
councils and will represent government-
wide best practices for the generation,
use, protection, and dissemination of
data; promote and encourage data sharing
agreements between agencies; and identify
ways in which agencies can improve upon
the production of evidence for use in policymaking. The
CDO Council’s resources will reflect consultation with the
public and engagement with private users of government
data and other stakeholders on how to improve access
to Federal data assets. In addition, the CDO Council
will identify and evaluate new technology solutions for
improving the collection and use of data.
The CDO Council will share responsibility with other
government-wide councils that conduct statutory,
data-related activities, such as the Interagency Council
on Statistical Policy (ICSP) and the Evaluation Oicer
Council. OMB expects that the activities of these
multiple councils will be coordinated through the OMB
Federal Data Policy Committee, to be established under
Action 12.
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Launch CDO Council Number of meetings held
January ,
OMB
Create resources Number of resources published
December ,
CDOs
Encourage use of resources
by agencies
Track adoption of
resources by agencies
December ,
CDOs
ACTION 7
Launch a Federal Chief Data Ocer Council
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
ACTION 8
Improve Data and Model Resources for AI Research and Development
Implementation of the Executive Order on Maintaining
American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (AI),
11
is
designed to improve the data and computing resources
for AI research and development by February 2020.
The Executive Order, issued February 2019, includes an
objective to “Enhance access to high-quality and fully
traceable federal data, models, and computing resources
to increase the value of such resources for AI R&D, while
maintaining safety, security, privacy, and confidentiality
protections consistent with applicable laws and
policies.” The Federal Government intends to achieve
this objective by:
• Investigating barriers to access or quality limitations
of Federal data and models that impede AI R&D and
testing. A Request for Information (RFI) was issued
as a Federal Register Notice by OMB
12
inviting the
public to identify needs for additional access to, or
improvements in the quality of, Federal data and
models that would improve the nation’s AI R&D and
testing eorts.
• Addressing identified barriers by updating Federal
data and source code inventory guidance for
agencies to utilize in enhancing the discovery and
usability of Federal data and models in AI R&D. The
implementation guidance provides
supports agencies in:
» Prioritizing the data assets and
models under their purview
for discovery, access, and
enhancement;
» Assessing the level of eort needed
to make necessary improvements
in data sets and models, against
available resources; and
» Developing justifications for
additional resources.
• Incorporating updated inventory
technical schema formats into
Action 11 (Develop a Repository of
Federal Enterprise Data Resources) and
Action 5 (Identify Priority Data Assets
for Agency Open Data Plans) of the 2020
Action Plan.
• Selecting pilot(s) to demonstrate how
to enhance access to discoverable
and useable Federal data and models,
including mature, high-quality Federal
training data assets.
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Identify barriers to access
and quality limitations
Completion of RFI
February ,
OMB*
Provide technical schema
formats on inventories
Completion
December ,
OMB*
Pilot demonstration of how
access to data useful for AI
should be enhanced
Completion
December ,
CDOs
* In consultation with the National Science and Technology Council Machine Learning and AI Subcommittee and the CDO Council.
11. See Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (2019) available at:
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-maintaining-american-leadership-artificial-intelligence/
12. See the Federal Register Notice available at: www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/07/10/2019-14618/identifying-
priority-access-or-quality-improvements-for-federal-data-and-models-for-artificial
President’s Management Agenda
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Getting Payments Right
Metrics related to this CAP Goal are
being tracked on performance.gov
See timeline on
performance.gov
Getting Payments
Right Executive
Steering Committee
Results Oriented
Accountability for Grants
Metrics related to this CAP Goal are
being tracked on performance.gov
See timeline on
performance.gov
CAP Goal Executive
Steering Committee
Promote public trust in the
stewardship of taxpayer dollars
Publication of
draft strategy
September ,
Financial Data
Transformation Executive
Steering Committee
Develop an IT spending
transparency maturity
assessment model*
Completion
September ,
CIO Council Federal
Technology Investment
Management
Community of Practice
* This activity and milestone have been transferred to the 2020 Action Plan from the “Improving Outcomes Through Federal IT
Spending Transparency” CAP Goal team.
13. See a full description of the CAP Goal available at: www.performance.gov/CAP/getting-payments-right.
14. See a full description of the CAP Goal available at: www.performance.gov/CAP/grants.
15. With approval and concurrence from OMB.
The PMA includes a series of CAP Goals that address
“functional priority areas for transformation” across
government, several of which address improved
financial management practices. Three specific
CAP Goals have been selected for inclusion in the
2020 Action Plan due to their focus on financial
management data assets. By September 2020, the
Federal Government, through implementation of
the identified CAP Goals below, will have improved
the management and use of several financial
management data assets.
• Getting Payments Right: CAP Goal 9 directs
agencies to save taxpayer money by making
payments correctly and collecting money back
from incorrect payments. Agencies will accomplish
this by employing strategic use of financial data
and other mitigation strategies at the point in the
payment process where the improper payment
is occurring, and clarifying and streamlining
reporting and compliance requirements to focus
on actions that make a dierence.
• Results Oriented Accountability for Grants: Agencies will
maximize the value of grant funding by applying a risk-
based, data-driven framework that balances compliance
requirements with demonstrating successful results for the
American taxpayer.
• Promote public trust in the stewardship of taxpayer
dollars: The Federal Government will engage stakeholders
and decision-makers to develop a dra Federal Financial
Data Strategy to open, connect, and demonstrate value
while promoting public trust in financial management
transparency and accountability in a way that meets user
needs while minimizing reporting burden and orienting the
business of government around data.
• The IT Spending Transparency Maturity Model will be a
consensus-driven tool that will assist agencies in measuring
the current and future state of their Technology Business
Management (TBM) implementations. It will be developed
through the Chief Information Oicer (CIO) Council’s Federal
Technology Investment Management (FTIM) Community of
Practice with the support of ACT-IAC industry volunteers.*
ACTION 9
Improve Financial Management Data Standards
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Establish the NSDI strategic plan Completion
December ,
SAOGI at OMB,
FGDC,
FGDC NGDA
Lead Covered
Agencies, GSA
Publish a GeoPlatform
providing standards-compliant
web services for NGDAs
Completion
December ,
Engage with other relevant councils Number of engagements
December ,
Publish NGDA data theme data
assets with standards compliant
metadata and webservice endpoints
Percentage of NGDA data
assets that are compliant
December ,
Track NGDAs for implementation
of standards
Percentages of NGDAs with:
i) metadata standards,
ii) established content standards,
iii) standards in process,
iv) data assets not requiring standards,
v) no established standards
December ,
By December 2020, the Federal Geographic Data Committee
(FGDC), in coordination with the OMB Federal Data Policy
Committee (FDPC), will improve the value of, and access to,
geospatial data and services for use across the Federal data
enterprise and the public through the implementation of
the Geospatial Data Act (GDA). Through this action, FGDC
members will coordinate with their agency DGB, their Senior
Agency Oicial for Geospatial Information (SAOGI), and the
FDPC on the use and integration of geospatial data into
broader Federal eorts.
The Federal Government, through the FGDC with input from
and in partnership with representatives from state, local,
and tribal governments, the private sector, and institutions
of higher education, will develop the National Spatial Data
Infrastructure (NSDI) strategic plan to ensure geospatial data
from multiple Federal and non-Federal sources are available
and easily integrated to enhance decision-making.
The SAOGI at OMB will assist the FGDC in ensuring FGDC
cross-representation on appropriate data oversight bodies
to help spatially enable the Federal data enterprise. FGDC
members will work with the other oversight bodies to
establish a process to develop consistent identification of the
spatial attributes of both spatial datasets (data with feature
geometry) and non-spatial datasets with location attributes
(e.g., address, coordinates, county name). This engagement
will lay the foundation that enables the relating
or joining of data with like spatial attributes to
add contextual value and provide a catalyst for
innovative data use and spatial analytics.
The FGDC will operate an electronic service
known as the GeoPlatform and provide access
to geospatial data and related metadata for
all National Geospatial Data Assets (NGDA),
excluding public disclosure of any information
that reasonably could be expected to cause
damage to the national interest, security, or
defense of the nation; and provide standards-
compliant metadata and standards-compliant
web services for all NGDA data assets, registered
with data.gov and available as web services
through the GeoPlatform.
The Federal Government’s lead agencies for
NGDA data assets will identify, inventory, and
publish the status and standards being used for
each of the NGDA data themes and content and
services metadata, consistent with international
standards, excluding public disclosure of any
information that reasonably could be expected
to cause damage to the national interest,
security, or defense of the nation.
ACTION 10
Integrate Geospatial Data Practices into the Federal Data Enterprise
President’s Management Agenda
Shared Solution Actions
Shared Solution Actions are described as government-
wide data services and represent discrete pilot projects
or eorts led by a single agency or existing council for
the benefit of all agencies. The ten Shared Solution
Actions identified in the 2020 Action Plan are designed
to provide government-wide direction, tools, and/
or services for implementing the strategy that other
agencies will be able to leverage in the future. Many
of the Shared Solution Actions have received financial
resources as part of the CAP Goal: Leveraging Data as
a Strategic Asset and are already underway. Similar
to the Agency Actions and the Community of Practice
Actions, the Shared Solution Actions will also support
agencies as they implement existing policies and laws.
For example, the Curated Data Skills Catalog to be
developed under Action 13 will be available for use by
all agencies in support of implementation of both the
Evidence Act and the Executive Order on Maintaining
American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, both of
which require an assessment of sta capacity for various
data-related functions. The graphic below maps each of
the ten Shared Solution Actions to a set of relevant laws
and guidance.
12. Create an OMB Federal Data Policy Committee
11. Develop a Repository of Federal Enterprise
Data Resources
16. Pilot a One-Stop Standard Research Application
13. Develop a Curated Data Skills Catalog
14. Develop a Data Ethics Framework
15. Develop a Data Protection Toolkit
17. Pilot an Automated Tool for Information
Collection Reviews that Supports Data Inventory
Creation and Updates
18. Pilot Enhanced Data Management Tool for
Federal Agencies
19. Develop Data Quality Measuring and
Reporting Guidance
20. Develop a Data Standards Repository
Foundations for Evidence-
Based Policymaking Act of
2018 and Associated
OMB Guidance
Executive Order on
Maintaining American
Leadership in
Artificial Intelligence
Improving
Implementation
of the Information
Quality Act (M-19-15)
Shared Solution Actions
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
By December 2020, the General Services Administration
(GSA), the Oice of Government Information Services
of the National Archives, and OMB will collaborate with
stakeholders to develop the website resources.data.gov,
a government-wide repository of policies, standards,
tools, best practices, and case studies that is required
under the Evidence Act.
16
This repository, titled Federal
Enterprise Data Resources, has been established to
provide centralized access to resources related to Federal
data management and use in support of agencies as
they seek to execute both the FDS and the requirements
of the Evidence Act.
17
The repository will include the
following types of resources:
• Case Studies: Examples of what agencies are
currently implementing
• Data.gov Schema: The standard metadata schema
required for inclusion in data.gov, the Federal data
catalog
18
• Federal Data Strategy: Guiding
principles and best practices and
associated implementation tools
• Playbooks: Decision points, checklists,
and questions that help organizations
navigate options
• Requirements: Definitions, laws,
policies, and regulations
• Skill Builders: Professional
development resources and curriculums
to improve data-related skills
• Standards: Guidance on preferred
technical formats, licensing, and
resources related to implementing data
standards
• Tools: Tools available to agencies to
help execute data goals
ACTION 11
Develop a Repository of Federal Enterprise Data Resources
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT
TARGET
DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Make regular updates to
resources.data.gov in response
to stakeholder input
Frequency of feature updates
and site improvements
December ,
GSA
Track growth and success of the site
Number of resources available
by type, resource usage
December ,
GSA
Engage stakeholders to
prioritize content
Number of stakeholder
engagement activities
December ,
GSA, the Office
of Government
Information Services
of the National
Archives, and OMB
16. 44 U.S.C. §3511(c)(2).
17. 44 U.S.C. §3511.
18. U.S.C. §3511(c)(2).
President’s Management Agenda
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Launch FDPC Number of meetings held
January ,
OMB
Set priorities for
Completion of written priorities
endorsed by membership
March ,
OMB
Carry out at least data
policy coordination activity
Number of data policy related
memorandum and circulars
updated, streamlined, or rescinded
December ,
OMB
By January 2020, OMB will establish the
FDPC that will help agencies deliver on
mission and eectively steward taxpayer
dollars by enhancing OMB’s coordination
of Federal data policy, governance,
and resource considerations. OMB has
statutory responsibility and coordinates
many government-wide priorities and
functions, many of which have a data-
related dimension. The FDPC will be a
mechanism to coordinate OMB’s own data
policy development and implementation
activities for the Federal Government,
including those necessary for the executive
branch to meet existing and new legal
requirements as well as addressing
emerging priority data governance areas
such as preparing data for use in artificial
intelligence. Over time, the FDPC will also provide
a forum for OMB oices to address selected data
issues that cross agencies or span executive councils’
responsibilities. The FDPC is responsible for government-
wide management, governance, and resource priorities
for data management standardization and use, including
by contributing to the FDS’s annual action plans and
align transformation eorts to reduce costs, duplication,
and burden. The FDPC will be comprised of senior sta
representing OMB’s statutory and programmatic areas,
including oices responsible for evaluation, financial
management, information technology, performance
management, privacy, procurement, regulations,
resource management, and statistical policy. The FDPC’s
charter will specify roles and responsibilities. OMB’s
approach to working across its functional areas will
furthermore serve as a model for individual agencies to
bridge their own functional silos.
ACTION 12
Create OMB Federal Data Policy Committee
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Share draft catalog contents with
CDOs and other stakeholders
Completion
February ,
GSA
Collect input and make revisions
Number of stakeholder
engagement activities;
Improvements added
June ,
GSA
Publish the catalogue on
resources.data.gov
Posted to resources.data.gov;
Number of resources available
in the catalog by data role
November ,
GSA
Transfer responsibility for
maintenance to the CDO council
Completion
December ,
CDO Council
By November 2020, GSA will complete a curated data
skills catalog of learning opportunities to help agencies
develop competencies for managing data as a strategic
asset and making data-driven decisions. This skills
catalog will be aligned to Federal needs for information
about existing learning providers, programs, courses,
certifications and other credentials, and opportunities
for employees to practice and apply new skills.
The catalog will incorporate Federal and non-Federal
stakeholder input and will be released in multiple stages
to allow useful content to be available as soon as it is
ready rather than in a single, delayed release. Demand
for skills identified in other parts of the FDS, including
Action 4, will inform the priorities for how the catalog is
built.
This resource will incorporate information
about significant roles in the data
ecosystem into its organization and
take into account skills, experience, and
responsibilities of key job functions as well
as support the results of data maturity
assessments agencies will do as part of
Action 3.
The contents of the catalog will initially be
available to the CDOs of each agency as
well as other relevant Federal communities
as it is being built. Contributions to its
development will be encouraged from other
groups throughout the process.
ACTION 13
Develop a Curated Data Skills Catalog
ACTION 17
Pilot an Automated Tool for Information Collection Reviews
that Supports Data Inventory Creation and Updates
President’s Management Agenda
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Initial examination of ethical issues
encountered across data life cycle
June ,
GSA with CDO
Council and ICSP
Release initial data ethics
framework and use cases
Posted to
resources.data.gov
December ,
GSA
Transfer responsibility for
review and update
Ongoing every
months
CDO Council, ICSP
By December 2020, GSA will develop a
data ethics framework to help agencies
systematically identify and assess the
potential benefits and risks associated with
the data they acquire, manage, and use. This
framework is intended to help agency sta,
managers, and leaders make considered data
acquisition, management, and use decisions
to address ethical issues they may encounter
throughout the data lifecycle. The framework
will be broad and flexible – outlining and
describing high-level principles that can
be applied to specific circumstances, such
as preparing data for the responsible and
ethical use of evolving technologies, including
mitigating bias when developing AI and
machine learning methods and systems.
Once the completed framework and
associated implementation tools are
published, they will be promoted
government-wide for agency use via the CDO
Council, ICSP, and various other channels.
Fully integrating a data ethics perspective into
all aspects of agencies’ data management
eorts will require substantial and long-
term cultural change. It would involve sta
at all levels undergoing training to support
and refresh data literacy skills and reinforce
protocols related to data privacy, confidentiality, and the
ethical collection, use, storage, and dissemination of data.
Leadership support, spearheaded by CDOs and Statistical
Oicials, is crucial, as is agency input into the design of
tailored ethics frameworks and their implementation.
Initial work to develop a data ethics framework has already
begun with a review of data ethics frameworks developed
by other countries, organizations, and advocacy groups
to identify common elements and themes to inform
development of a U.S. data ethics framework. Next, an
inter-agency team will conduct iterative Federal and
non-Federal stakeholder engagement. This process will
employ a variety of consultation, design, and assessment
approaches to ensure broad input into the framework, such
as:
• Framework prototypes: Creating prototypes based
on ideas from various user communities on the design,
construction, and structure of the framework.
• Open and targeted feedback: Sharing dra concepts
and a dra framework to enable stakeholders to
meaningfully engage and provide input.
• Pilots: Encouraging agencies to pilot a prototype
framework using their own data management
processes and provide specific feedback about its
utility, completeness, and drawbacks.
• Use cases: Developing use cases to illustrate the
application of the framework across the data lifecycle.
ACTION 14
Develop a Data Ethics Framework
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Release initial toolkit
Posted to
resources.data.gov
December ,
FCSM
Release updated Report on Statistical
Disclosure Limitation Methodology
Posted to
resources.data.gov
December ,
FCSM
By December 2020, the Federal Committee on Statistical
Methodology (FCSM), with direction from the ICSP,
and the Department of Education will develop a data
protection toolkit. The way the Federal Government
provides, maintains, and uses data has a unique place
in society because use of Federal data has a tremendous
impact on the public, businesses, and our democratic
process. This trust includes protecting or excluding
private information when releasing data publicly.
By developing this critical community resource, the
Federal Government is demonstrating commitment to
strengthening privacy and confidentially promises now
and into the future.
This action is designed to address the need to maintain
confidentiality and data privacy when providing access
to Federal data assets due to the threat of the growing
threat of re-identification risk to individuals and
businesses from combining publicly available data. Once
completed, the data protection toolkit can be used by
agencies to develop and implement cost-eective data
protection programs. This web-based toolkit will provide
a repository for best practices regarding
confidentiality and data privacy practices
based on existing and emerging standards
in partnership with agencies, academia,
and industry. The toolkit is intended to
serve as a central resource for guidance,
tools, and templates to help agencies avoid
the unintentional release of data assets
that could be used to re-identify individual
people or entities.
In addition to developing the toolkit,
the FCSM will update the 2005 Report
on Statistical Disclosure Limitation
Methodology,
19
which has served as
a primary reference for agencies on
approaches for maintaining confidentiality
and data privacy in Federal data releases.
The revision will include more detailed
guidance for agencies on assessing,
managing, and mitigating the risk that
individuals or enterprises are re-identified.
ACTION 15
Develop a Data Protection Toolkit
19. See Report on Statistical Disclosure Limitation Methodology available at: nces.ed.gov/FCSM/pdf/spwp22.pdf.
complexity, improve the user experience, and reduce the
wait time to access data, which can range from months
to years.
Agencies with active researcher access programs will
collaborate with each other and their stakeholder
communities to reduce the burden resulting from
duplicative and non-standard access request application
forms. This standard approach will assist agencies in
setting consistent access protocols as required by the
Evidence Act. In addition to informing future phases of
this pilot, these eiciencies will improve and expand
access to data for evidence-building while promoting
transparency.
By March 2020, the Federal Statistical
Research Data Center Program Management
Oice of the U.S. Census Bureau, under
the direction of the ICSP, will pilot the first
phase of a one-stop portal that reduces
the burden on researchers requesting
access to restricted Census Bureau data
assets. The current process for obtaining
restricted data from multiple agencies for
research and evidence-building purposes
is fragmented, uncoordinated, and requires
following a dierent application process for
each agency. Standardizing the application
process will eliminate confusion, reduce
ACTION 16
Pilot a One-stop Standard Research Application
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Create pilot portal Completion
March ,
Census Bureau
Recruit users to try the
portal and give feedback
Number of users
April ,
Census Bureau
Publish report describing success
of the project and feedback that
will inform future improvements
Posted to
resources.data.gov
December ,
Census Bureau
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
By July 2020, the National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education will
complete a pilot of an automated tool that leverages
agency Information Collection Review (ICR) processes
and documentation to build agency data inventories
and update metadata in agency data inventories. Under
the Paperwork Reduction Act,
20
all agencies must
undergo an ICR in order to gain approval from OMB to
collect information from the public. For many agencies,
a substantial fraction of data inventory items originate
with an information collection.
The automated tool generated under this action
will include an electronic template and database
management system that facilitates the development
and standardization of the content of ICRs developed
by agencies for OMB review. The template will have
fields that include metadata needed in the agency data
inventory that will be tagged in the underlying database.
Aer the agency CDO certifies, and OMB approves, the
ICR, the tagged items can be extracted for the agency
data inventory. This automated tool will support the
inventory requirements under the Evidence Act by
organizing metadata captured as part of the information
collection design phase into agency inventories.
However, this template will only collect some of the
information needed for a complete inventory.
Metadata resulting from the completed
collection (e.g., response rates, variable
names, labels, URL for report and data)
will need to be acquired through other
means before the inventory update can be
completed.
This action will begin a multi-year process
of deploying an automated approach to
populating needed information on agency
data inventories using information that is
already required to approve ICRs through
what has traditionally been a separate
process. This project will help address
public, cross-agency, and intra-agency
needs for data discovery and access by
leveraging these existing processes and
information. In so doing, the amount of
metadata generated by agencies will go
beyond the minimum standards currently
required,
21
and better enable prospective
data users to understand the degree to
which an already collected data asset can
meet their needs. Agency input will be used
to inform development and expansion of
this pilot.
ACTION 17
Pilot an Automated Tool for Information Collection Reviews
that Supports Data Inventory Creation and Updates
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Develop pilot tool Completion
July ,
NCES
Test tool with at least two agencies Completion
December ,
NCES
Engage stakeholders for
feedback on the tool
Number of stakeholder
engagement activities
December ,
NCES
Publish report describing agency
tests and stakeholder input
Posted to
resources.data.gov
December ,
NCES
20. 44 U.S.C. §3501 et seq.
21. Government-wide metadata standards are available at resources.data.gov.
President’s Management Agenda
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Demonstrate pilot and initial
feature set with a pilot agency
Completion
March ,
GSA
Infrastructure/security roadmap
for production platform
Completion
March ,
GSA
Achieve interoperability with
continually updated Federal
open data metadata schema
Completion
June ,
GSA
Develop business plan and cost model
Posted to
resources.data.gov
June ,
GSA
Onboard agency customers
Number of agencies
onboarded
September ,
GSA
Demonstrate increased data asset
availability and improved usage
Number of datasets and
usage of data assets
through platform
December ,
GSA
By September 2020, GSA will have
developed and piloted an improved tool for
metadata management, data hosting, and
API capabilities in support of open data and
Federal data catalog requirements under
the Evidence Act. Currently, most agencies
have to identify their own solution for
managing their data inventories, metadata,
and APIs. This project will provide agencies
with an option to use a centrally developed
and hosted data management tool,
designed to reduce cost and workload at
any individual agency.
GSA will create a government-wide platform
pilot with a shared code base and cloud
hosting that is customizable to support
agency needs, leveraging data.gov’s existing
open source codebase. This approach can
provide agencies with a cost-eective option
to manage metadata and data assets, host
data assets for public access, assist in the
improvement in the quality of metadata and
result in increased use and improved user
experience for the public and for agencies.
ACTION 18
Pilot Enhanced Data Management Tool for Federal Agencies
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
By December 2020, the FCSM, under direction of the
ICSP, will:
• Identify best practices for measuring and reporting
on the quality of data outputs created from multiple
sources or from secondary use of data assets;
• Develop documentation best practices for agencies
to apply to administrative or programmatic data
likely to be secondarily useful, such as for evidence
building; and
• Create tools to help agencies follow practices to
support eective secondary uses of data.
Assessing the fitness for specific uses of data is critical
to leveraging data eectively. Such an assessment
answers the question: Does a data asset have an
appropriate level of accuracy, timeliness, and relevance
to support the intended use? This action facilitates such
assessments by articulating best practices for reporting
on the quality of data outputs. Such best practices may
include, for example, documentation of a data asset’s
representativeness, precision, and coherence. Consistent
reporting on such elements allows stakeholders to make
informed choices about their use of the
data outputs. The action builds on FCSM’s
past and current eorts to assess the utility
of administrative data for statistical uses,
measure data quality in statistical outputs,
and establish best practices for reporting on
data quality to the public.
The action promotes the eective
application of these data best practices by
encouraging agencies that originate data
to maintain metadata that supports data
quality measurement. Such metadata may
include, for example, information about
potential and actual data providers, ways
in which data is gathered, and adjustments
made to the data during processing. By
pairing the guidance with tools such as
metadata templates, the action aims
to cultivate data quality reporting in a
coordinated Federal Government context.
ACTION 19
Develop Data Quality Measuring and Reporting Guidance
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Completion of report on best practices
for reporting on output quality
Posted to
resources.data.gov
September ,
*
FCSM
Completion of metadata guidance
for use by data originators
Posted to
resources.data.gov
December ,
FCSM
Develop tools to aid
metadata maintenance
Posted to
resources.data.gov
December ,
FCSM
* Due to government-wide focus on COVID-19 response activities, the Federal Data Strategy team has extended this target date.
Read the team’s statement on the FDS News page.
President’s Management Agenda
of government, and a catalog of data standards already
in use by the Federal Government. The repository will
connect to resources.data.gov and will leverage existing
repositories of standards-developing methods and tools,
and eorts such as the U.S. Data Federation, the National
Information and Exchange Model (niem.gov), and Federal
and non-Federal partner community repositories such
as the Common Education Data Standards (ceds.ed.gov),
Fair Sharing (fairsharing.org), and Registry of Research
Data Repositories (re3data.org). The data standards
repository will be designed as a user-friendly website in
support of both more and less technical users.
By December 2020, GSA will collaborate
with OMB, in consultation with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology,
to create a data standards repository to
accelerate the creation and adoption of
data standards across agencies. It will
include information about the dierent
types of existing standards of all types
(e.g., metadata, content, classification),
including policies related to using voluntary
consensus standards, information about
standards-developing organizations and
communities of practices inside and outside
ACTION 20
Develop a Data Standards Repository
MILESTONE MEASUREMENT TARGET DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PARTY
Develop repository with
communities, frameworks,
and schemas
Completion
December ,
GSA and OMB
LOOKING FORWARD
Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
The FDS, presented in final form in OMB Memorandum
M-19-18, Federal Data Strategy - A Framework for
Consistency, describes a ten-year vision for how the
Federal Government will accelerate the use of data
to deliver on mission, serve the public, and steward
resources—while protecting security, privacy, and
confidentiality. Fully implementing the 40 practices
described in the strategy will require a sustained,
iterative, and systematic eort over a ten-year period.
The Action Plans produced each year will identify priority
actions for a given year and incrementally build on
progress from year to year, capitalizing on the successes
of previous eorts, aligning with ongoing Federal
Government programs and policies, and complementing
new statutory requirements. In this way, the strategy
recognizes the dynamic environment in which agencies
must implement the strategy. The production of annual
Action Plans allows the implementation of the strategy
to adapt each year to adjust to new laws, requirements,
and priorities that will impact agencies’ capacity to
leverage data as a strategic asset.
Future annual Action Plans will build on the 2020 Action
Plan to further develop a coordinated approach to
Federal data stewardship. Feedback from stakeholders
has and will continue to identify key topic areas for
future annual Action Plans, such as attention to data
quality, increasing opportunities for safe data-sharing,
increasing data literacy throughout the Federal
workforce, and addressing organizational culture in
support of leveraging data as a strategic asset. Future
annual Action Plans will build on and expand the eorts
taken by agencies to advance the mission of the FDS to
leverage the full value of Federal data, in alignment with
American values, for mission, service, and the public
good.
The 2020 Action Plan was coordinated and edited by
the President’s Management Agenda team
