Open Data Transition Report:  An Action Plan for the Next Administration


This report includes 27 open data recommendations for the next U.S. President, his or her transition teams, and government agencies in the next administration. Click on individual recommendation to learn more.   
Goal I: Enhance the government open data ecosystem
Recommendation
Lead Actor
Timeline
Recommendation 1: Define, fund, and appoint Chief Data Officers for each federal agency to establish data as a key element of each agency’s mission.
Office of Management and Budget
First 100 Days
Recommendation 2: Ensure government data is born digital to help agencies analyze and open the data efficiently.
Office of Management and Budget
First 100 Days
Recommendation 3: Conduct a National Data Infrastructure Review to identify high-value opportunities for federal investments in tribal, city, and state data infrastructure.
Council on Financial Assistance Reform
First 100 Days
Recommendation 4: Develop a centralized public database of FOIA requests and information released under FOIA, acting on the principle of “release to one, release to all.”
Office of Management and Budget & the FOIA Officers’ Council
First Year
Recommendation 5: Fully implement the DATA Act to provide financial transparency and accountability through open data.
All Federal Agencies
First Year
Recommendation 6: Standardize reporting data for federal grants to help make that data more accessible and useful.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services & Office of Management and Budget
First Year
Recommendation 7: Enable data users to voluntarily provide direct feedback that will improve data quality.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
First Year
Goal II: Deliver direct benefits to citizens and communities
Recommendation
Lead Actor
Timeline
    
Recommendation 8: Create a National Hunger Heat Map to help distribute food supplies to areas of greatest need and decrease hunger.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
First 100 Days
Recommendation 9: Continue to support and expand local data-driven climate resilience projects to help communities prepare for severe weather incidents.
The White House
First 100 Days
Recommendation 10: Launch a Police Data Initiative 2.0 to collect data on police violent encounters in a standardized, open format for transparency and research.
The White House and Federal Bureau of Investigation
First 100 Days
Recommendation 11: Standardize and update the government's public data on occupations and required skills to help Americans find jobs.
U.S. Department of Labor & National Institute of Standards and Technology
First Year
Recommendation 12: Help communities address opioid addiction by opening up data on drug treatment facilities.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
First Year
Recommendation 13: Establish a National Data EnviroCorps in which volunteers collect air, water, and soil quality data and help communities identify and manage environmental risks.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
First Year
Recommendation 14: Develop guidelines for all consumer-facing regulatory agencies to make consumer complaints available as open data to improve products and services.
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
First Year
Recommendation 15: Expand open data summer camps to inspire the next generation of data-savvy students and help improve and apply open government data.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
First Year
Recommendation 16: Open up data on housing choice voucher wait lists to support low-income families in finding housing.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
First Year
Goal III: Share scientific research data to spur innovation and scientific discovery
Recommendation
Lead Actor
Timeline
Recommendation 17: Establish a Federal Research Data Council to coordinate the government’s commitment to open research.
National Science and Technology Council
First 100 Days
Recommendation 18: Develop an Annual Research Data Census to increase awareness of federally funded research and improve access to data.
National Science Foundation
First 100 Days
Recommendation 19: Coordinate agency efforts to transition to cloud storage and analytics, enabling more research with government data.
General Services Administration
First 100 Days
Recommendation 20: Work with major research organizations, scientific publications, and professional associations to move toward requiring researchers to publish their data in open, reusable formats.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
First 100 Days
Recommendation 21: Establish international standards for collaboration and data sharing, beginning with a pilot in Arctic research.
The White House
First Year
Recommendation 22: Identify and publish large, high-quality datasets across all fields for use in machine learning to support advances in artificial intelligence.
National Science and Technology Council & Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity
First Year
Goal IV: Help businesses and entrepreneurs use government data as a resource
Recommendation
Lead Actor
Timeline
Recommendation 23: Identify cost barriers to accessing government data and eliminate fees to level the playing field for data users.
U.S. Government Accountability Office
First 100 Days
Recommendation 24: Launch a Standard Business Reporting Program that will ultimately help businesses lower reporting burdens and costs.
The President, The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, & National Economic Council
First 100 Days
Recommendation 25: Partner with the automated vehicle industry to give open data a central role in creating national safety standards.
U.S. Department of Transportation
First 100 Days
Recommendation 26: Provide complete, accurate, and timely data on energy use in buildings to help companies save money by increasing energy efficiency.
U.S. Department of Energy
First Year
Recommendation 27: Make it easier to discover and access government-owned intellectual property to help entrepreneurs build on this free resource.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
First Year
    
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