The impetus for the creation of Data.gov was the January 2009 Presidential Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and other agency partners, launched Data.gov on May 21, 2009.
In 2014, the current version of the Data.gov catalog was launched. Agencies compile metadata such as title, description, keywords, and links for accessing their datasets, and the Data.gov catalog automatically “harvests” that metadata to populate a continually updated catalog.
The OPEN Government Data Act, signed into law in January 2019, aims to promote transparency, innovation, and collaboration by making government data more accessible and usable. In this article, we will explore the key provisions of the OPEN Government Data Act and its potential impact on government operations and public engagement.
In 2019, the process of maintaining a central catalog of federal agency datasets was made a statutory mandate under the OPEN Government Data Act. Federal agencies are required by statute to create and maintain comprehensive metadata inventories to be harvested by a central federal catalog operated by GSA.
The OPEN Government Data Act, which stands for "Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary Government Data Act," is a part of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-435). The act seeks to change how government information is formatted, cataloged, and presented for public access and use. It builds upon the Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014 (P.L. 113-187), which require records materials to be assessed by agencies for public release.
The act establishes a presumption that "Government data assets made available by an agency shall be published as machine-readable data…in an open format, and… under open licenses". This means that government data should be easily accessible and usable by the public, without restrictions or barriers.
This bill requires open government data assets made available by federal agencies (excluding the Government Accountability Office, the Federal Election Commission, and certain other government entities) to be published as machine-readable data. When not otherwise prohibited by law, and to the extent practicable, public data assets and nonpublic data assets maintained by the federal government must be available: (1) in an open format that does not impede use or reuse and that has standards maintained by a standards organization; and (2) under open licenses with a legal guarantee that the data be available at no cost to the public with no restrictions on copying, publishing, distributing, transmitting, citing, or adapting.
If published government data assets are not available under an open license, the data must be considered part of the worldwide public domain. Agencies may engage with outside organizations and citizens to leverage public data assets for innovation in public and private sectors.
(1) make their enterprise data inventories available to the public on Data.gov, and
(2) designate a point of contact to assist the public and respond to complaints about adherence to open data requirements.
For privacy, security, confidentiality, or regulatory reasons, agencies may maintain a nonpublic portion of their inventories.
Additionally, The General Services Administration must maintain a single public interface online as a point of entry dedicated to sharing open government data with the public. And The Office of Management and Budget must develop and maintain an online repository of tools, best practices, and schema standards to facilitate the adoption of open data practices.
The act mandates that all government data should be open by default, unless there are specific reasons for keeping it confidential, such as national security or privacy concerns.
Government data must be published in machine-readable and open formats, making it easier for the public to access and use the data.
Each agency is required to develop and maintain a comprehensive data inventory of all data assets, including metadata.
The act makes Data.gov, the federal government's central catalog for open data, a statutory requirement rather than just a policy.
The act requires each agency to designate a Chief Data Officer responsible for data governance, management, and implementation of the act's requirements.
Agencies are encouraged to engage with the public and gather feedback on their data management practices and priorities.
OPEN Government Data Act, H.R.1770 - 115th Congress (2017-2018). https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1770
The OPEN Government Data Act: A Primer, CRS Reports. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12299
OPEN Government Data Act, Data Coalition. https://www.datacoalition.org/page-18219
Open Data: Additional Action Required for Full Public Access, GAO. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104574
Open Government Data Act (2018), CIO.GOV. https://www.cio.gov/handbook/it-laws/ogda/
Open Government, Data.gov. https://data.gov/open-gov/
Open Government Initiative, The White House. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/open
Open Data Policies, US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/data/open-data-policies
Open Data: Agencies Need Guidance to Establish Comprehensive Data Inventories, GAO. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-29
About this repository, Data Gov. https://resources.data.gov/about/about-this-repository/
Grassley TO OMB - OPEN Government Data Act Implementation. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_omb_-_open_government_data_act_implementation.pdf
AI and Open Government Data Assets Request for Information, Federal Register. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/17/2024-08168/ai-and-open-government-data-assets-request-for-information
How to get your Open Data on Data.gov, Data Gov. https://resources.data.gov/resources/data-gov-open-data-howto/
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