2020 Action Plan

Last Updated 5/14/2020. Consistent with M-20-16 Federal Agency Operational Alignment to Slow the Spread of Coronavirus COVID-19, the Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan is adjusting Actions by extending several Agency target dates by one month and one Shared Solution target date by three months. In addition, in places where the Federal Data Strategy calls for Agencies to prioritize data assets and projects, the agencies are making sure to include COVID-19 response data as their highest priority. All adjustments can be viewed prominently and in detail below.

The Federal Data Strategy provides a common set of data principles and best practices in implementing data innovations that drive more value for the public. Annual action plans will identify and prioritize practice-related steps for a given year, along with targeted timeframes and responsible entities.

The 2020 Action Plan establishes a solid foundation that will support implementation of the strategy over the next decade. Specifically, the plan identifies initial actions for agencies that are essential for establishing processes, building capacity, and aligning existing efforts to better leverage data as a strategic asset.

In addition, the 2020 Action Plan includes a series of pilot projects already underway at individual agencies and a set of government-wide efforts designed to support all agencies through the development of tools and resources.

Annual Action Plans are developed iteratively with stakeholder feedback and input incorporated along the way. If you’d like to be notified about updates or ways to be involved, please sign up for our news updates.

Download PDF - Final Federal Data Strategy & 2020 Action Plan

Download PDF – Federal Data Strategy Brochure

Download PDF - Draft 2019-2020 Action Plan

Download PDF - Revisions Based on Feedback

Preamble

• Special Thanks to Our Contributors
• Data, Accountability, and Transparency: Creating a Data Strategy and Infrastructure for the Future
• How We Will Get There: The Dynamic Nature of the Federal Data Strategy

Action Plan Categories

• Agency Actions
• Community of Practice Actions
• Shared Solution Actions

Conclusion

• Looking Forward

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 different levels of maturity in their current management and use of data, agencies are expected to have different 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 efforts 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.

Action 1: Identify Data Needs to Answer Priority Agency Questions

By September 2020, all agencies will take initial steps to identify the data needed to answer priority questions of interest to the agency.¹

For the past several years through the budget formulation process²,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 agendas³, 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 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 efforts, and funding to the most critical questions that face the agency.

This approach represents a paradigm shift 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 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.”⁴ 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 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 effort 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.

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 30, 2020	Interim Learning Agenda or FY 2022 Budget Submission	Required for CFO Act Agencies only Encouraged for all agencies (see OMB M-19-23)
Identify data needs for answering priority questions in the interim learning agenda	Completion	September 30, 2020	Interim Learning Agenda or FY 2022 Budget Submission	Required for CFO Act Agencies only Encouraged for all agencies (see OMB M-19-23)
Develop a plan to engage the stakeholders needed to access or acquire the data needed to answer priority questions	Completion	September 30, 2020	Interim Learning Agenda or FY 2022 Budget Submission	Required for CFO Act Agencies only Encouraged for all agencies (see OMB M-19-23)

Action 2: Constitute a Diverse Data Governance Body

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 Officer, with participation from relevant senior-level staff 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 3.⁵

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 31, 2020	Post to agency/data web page	Required for all agencies
After you complete your assessment of current staff data skills and literacy (see Action 3), dedicate staff to support DGB	Number of FTEs dedicated	September 30, 2020 October 31, 2020*	Progress Report Tool**	Encouraged for all agencies
Document how the DGB receives its authority	Completion	September 30, 2020	Progress Report Tool**	Encouraged for all agencies
Put in place a data strategy or road map	Completion	1 activity per quarter, any order encouraged of all agencies	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	(See Above)	(See Above)	Encouraged for all agencies
Adopt a master data management program	Completion	(See Above)	(See Above)	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 our News page.

** An agency’s Chief Data Officer (CDO) is considered the main point of contact for its progress reporting and each CDO receives a unique link for the Progress Report Tool.

Action 3: Assess Data and Related Infrastructure Maturity

By September 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, staff 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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Reporting Mechanism	Required or Encouraged
Select an operational maturity assessment model for data and data infrastructure	Completion	June 30, 2020 July 31, 2020*	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 30, 2020	Progress Report Tool**	Encouraged for all agencies
Conduct and document the outcome of the initial data maturity assessment	Completion	September 30, 2020	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 our News page.

** An agency’s Chief Data Officer (CDO) is considered the main point of contact for its progress reporting and each CDO receives a unique link for the Progress Report Tool.

Action 4: Identify Opportunities to Increase Staff Data Skills

By June 2020, all CFO Act agencies will have performed a capacity assessment to assess the coverage, quality, methods, effectiveness, of current staff data literacy and data skills. These assessments may be further leveraged by agencies to identify critical data skills, assess their staffs’ capacities for those skills, identify any gaps, and take actions to ensure that their Federal workforces are well-prepared to support evidence-building activities pursuant to M-19-23 and the Evidence Act.

The staff data skills assessment should align with, and be a part of, ongoing human capital management efforts designed to ensure agencies have skills and competencies needed to effectively 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 staff 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 staff, 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 staff. The gap analysis should determine how much more of each critical skill is required among staff and facilitate a prioritization of needed skills relative to available resources. Options for increasing staff skills capacity may include new analysis or other software 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 Officers.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Reporting Mechanism	Required or Encouraged
Perform an assessment of current staff data literacy and data skills	Completion	June 30, 2020 July 31, 2020*	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 30, 2020	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 31, 2020	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 our News page.

** An agency’s Chief Data Officer (CDO) is considered the main point of contact for its progress reporting and each CDO receives a unique link for the Progress Report Tool.

Action 5: Identify Priority Data Assets for Agency Open Data Plans

By December 2020, all agencies will identify their initial list of priority data assets for agency open data plans.⁶ 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 after 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.

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-19 response* and AI R&D (see Action 6)	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 31, 2020	strategy.data.gov & 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. Read the team’s statement on our News page.

Action 6: Publish and Update Data Inventories

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 Officer Council (CDO Council).

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Reporting Mechanism	Required or Encouraged
Update comprehensive data inventories for overall completeness and priority COVID-19 response* and AI R&D (see Action 6) data asset sprints	Metadata quality improvements	Minimally every 3 months, as often as possible	Agency public data.json APIs	Required for all agencies
Update comprehensive data inventory to conform to standard metadata	Completion	July 31, 2020 90 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 our News page.

Back to top

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 efforts 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 efforts 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 efforts 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.

Action 7: Launch a Federal Chief Data Officer Council

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 Officer 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 31, 2020	OMB
Create resources	Number of resources published	December 31, 2020	CDOs
Encourage use of resources by agencies	Track adoption of resources by agencies	December 31, 2020	CDOs

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),⁷ 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 OMB⁸ 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 efforts.
• 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 effort 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 29, 2020	OMB*
Provide technical schema formats on inventories	Completion	December 31, 2020	OMB*
Pilot demonstration of how access to data useful for AI should be enhanced	Completion	December 31, 2020	CDOs

* In consultation with the National Science and Technology Council Machine Learning and AI Subcommittee and the CDO Council.

Action 9: Improve Financial Management Data Standards

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 difference.
• 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 draft 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 Officer (CIO) Council’s Federal Technology Investment Management (FTIM) Community of Practice with the support of ACT-IAC industry volunteers.*

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Getting Payments Right	Metrics related to this CAP Goal are being tracked on performance.gov9	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.gov10	See timeline on performance.gov	CAP Goal 8 Executive Steering Committee
Promote public trust in the stewardship of taxpayer dollars	Publication of draft strategy	September 30, 2020	Financial Data Transformation Executive Steering Committee11
Develop an IT spending transparency maturity assessment model*	Completion	September 30, 2020	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.

Action 10: Integrate Geospatial Data Practices into the Federal Data Enterprise

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 Official for Geospatial Information (SAOGI), and the FDPC on the use and integration of geospatial data into broader Federal efforts.

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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Establish the NSDI strategic plan	Completion	December 31, 2020	SAOGI at OMB, FGDC, FGDC NGDA Lead Covered Agencies, GSA
Publish a GeoPlatform providing standards-compliant web services for NGDAs	Completion	December 31, 2020	SAOGI at OMB, FGDC, FGDC NGDA Lead Covered Agencies, GSA
Engage with other relevant councils	Number of engagements	December 31, 2020	SAOGI at OMB, FGDC, FGDC NGDA Lead Covered Agencies, GSA
Publish NGDA data theme data assets with standards compliant metadata and webservice endpoints	Percentage of NGDA data assets that are compliant	December 31, 2020	SAOGI at OMB, FGDC, FGDC NGDA Lead Covered Agencies, GSA
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	12 months	SAOGI at OMB, FGDC, FGDC NGDA Lead Covered Agencies, GSA

Back to top

Shared Solution Actions

Shared Solution Actions are described as government-wide data services and represent discrete pilot projects or efforts 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 staff 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.

Action 11: Develop a Repository of Federal Enterprise Data Resources

By December 2020, the General Services Administration (GSA), the Office 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.¹² 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.¹³ 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 catalog¹⁴
• 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

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 31, 2020	GSA
Track growth and success of the site	Number of resources available by type, resource usage	December 31, 2020	GSA
Engage stakeholders to prioritize content	Number of stakeholder engagement activities	December 31, 2020	GSA, the Office of Government Information Services of the National Archives, and OMB

Action 12: Create OMB Federal Data Policy Committee

By January 2020, OMB will establish the FDPC that will help agencies deliver on mission and effectively 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 offices 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 efforts to reduce costs, duplication, and burden. The FDPC will be comprised of senior staff representing OMB’s statutory and programmatic areas, including offices 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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Launch FDPC	Number of meetings held	January 31, 2020	OMB
Set priorities for 2020	Completion of written priorities endorsed by membership	March 31, 2020	OMB
Carry out at least 1 data policy coordination activity	Number of data policy related memorandum and circulars updated, streamlined, or rescinded	December 31, 2020	OMB

Action 13: Develop a Curated Data Skills Catalog

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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Share draft catalog contents with CDOs and other stakeholders	Completion	February 29, 2020	GSA
Collect input and make revisions	Number of stakeholder engagement activities; Improvements added	June 30, 2020	GSA
Publish the catalogue on resources.data.gov	Posted to resources.data.gov; Number of resources available in the catalog by data role	November 30, 2020	GSA
Transfer responsibility for maintenance to the CDO council	Completion	December 31, 2020	CDO Council

Action 14: Develop a Data Ethics Framework

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 staff, 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 efforts will require substantial and long-term cultural change. It would involve staff 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 Officials, 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 draft concepts and a draft 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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Initial examination of ethical issues encountered across data life cycle		June 30, 2020	GSA with CDO Council and ICSP
Release initial data ethics framework and use cases	Posted to resources.data.gov	December 31, 2020	GSA
Transfer responsibility for review and update		Ongoing every 24 months	CDO Council, ICSP

Action 15: Develop a Data Protection Toolkit

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-effective 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 Methodology¹⁵, 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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Release initial toolkit	Posted to resources.data.gov	December 31, 2020	FCSM
Release updated Report on Statistical Disclosure Limitation Methodology	Posted to resources.data.gov	December 31, 2020	FCSM

Action 16: Pilot a One-stop Standard Research Application

By March 2020, the Federal Statistical Research Data Center Program Management Office 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 different application process for each agency. Standardizing the application process will eliminate confusion, reduce 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 efficiencies will improve and expand access to data for evidence-building while promoting transparency.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Create pilot portal	Completion	March 31, 2020	Census Bureau
Recruit users to try the portal and give feedback	Number of users	April 30, 2020	Census Bureau
Publish report describing success of the project and feedback that will inform future improvements	Posted to resources.data.gov	December 31, 2020	Census Bureau

Action 17: Pilot an Automated Tool for Information Collection Reviews that Supports Data Inventory Creation and Updates

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,¹⁶ 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. After 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,¹⁷ 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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Develop pilot tool	Completion	July 31, 2020	NCES
Test tool with at least two agencies	Completion	December 31, 2020	NCES
Engage stakeholders for feedback on the tool	Number of stakeholder engagement activities	December 31, 2020	NCES
Publish report describing agency tests and stakeholder input	Posted to resources.data.gov	December 31, 2020	NCES

Action 18: Pilot Enhanced Data Management Tool for Federal Agencies

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-effective 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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Demonstrate pilot and initial feature set with a pilot agency	Completion	March 31, 2020	GSA
Infrastructure/security roadmap for production platform	Completion	March 31, 2020	GSA
Achieve interoperability with continually updated Federal open data metadata schema	Completion	June 30, 2020	GSA
Develop business plan and cost model	Posted to resources.data.gov	June 30, 2020	GSA
Onboard agency customers	Number of agencies onboarded	September 30, 2020	GSA
Demonstrate increased data asset availability and improved usage	Number of datasets and usage of data assets through platform	December 31, 2020	GSA

Action 19: Develop Data Quality Measuring and Reporting Guidance

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 effective secondary uses of data.

Assessing the fitness for specific uses of data is critical to leveraging data effectively. 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 efforts 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 effective 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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Completion of report on best practices for reporting on output quality	Posted to resources.data.gov	June 30, 2020 September 30, 2020*	FCSM
Completion of metadata guidance for use by data originators	Posted to resources.data.gov	December 31, 2020	FCSM
Develop tools to aid metadata maintenance	Posted to resources.data.gov	December 31, 2020	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 our News page.

Action 20: Develop a Data Standards Repository

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 different 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 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 efforts 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.

Milestone	Measurement	Target Date	Responsible Party
Develop repository with communities, frameworks, and schemas	Completion	December 31, 2020	GSA and OMB

Looking Forward

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 effort 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 efforts, 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 efforts 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.

Back to top

Footnotes