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President Trump Signs into Law the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking (FEBP) Act

posted by martyb on Wednesday January 16 2019, @01:04AM   
from the Information-wants-to-be-free dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Washington, D.C. – Today, President Trump signed into law the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking (FEBP) Act (H.R. 4174, S. 2046), which includes the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act (Title II). The package passed Congress on Monday, December 31, 2018.

The OPEN Government Data Act requires all non-sensitive government data to be made available in open and machine-readable formats by default. It establishes Chief Data Officers (CDO) at federal agencies, as well as a CDO Council.

https://www.datacoalition.org/press-releases/president-signs-government-wide-open-data-bill/

exaeta writes:

OPEN Government Data Act passes.

The OPEN Government Data Act will ensure that the federal government releases valuable data sets, follows best practices in data management, and commits to making data available to the public in a non-proprietary and electronic format.

https://www.datainnovation.org/2019/01/open-government-data-act-signed-into-law-establishes-u-s-as-leader-in-open-data/

https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/15/open-government-data-act/

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Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2

• Re:Something doesn't connect Re:Something doesn't connect (Score: 2, Disagree) by Whoever on Wednesday January 16 2019, @05:29AM (2 children)

  by Whoever (4524) on Wednesday January 16 2019, @05:29AM (#787243) Journal

  It's not at all clear that this is good.

  There are all kinds of reasons that valid data may not be publicly released. This law will exclude those datasets from any policy making.

  For an example, there is proprietary climate data that cannot be released because of its proprietary nature. This new law will allow more climate change denial.

  There are datasets that contain private data on individuals (health, etc.). This will exclude that data from any policy making decisions.

  Parent

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• Re:Something doesn't connect (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @07:26PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @07:26PM (#787510)

  There are all kinds of reasons that valid data may not be publicly released. This law will exclude those datasets from any policy making.

  Unless I am wrong, this isn't that law.

  The OPEN Government Data Act requires all non-sensitive government data to be made available in open and machine-readable formats by default. It establishes Chief Data Officers (CDO) at federal agencies, as well as a CDO Council.

  It seems this is just saying that, if the government has data that can be released to the public, it must be, and in easily parsed formats.

  Parent

• Re:Something doesn't connect (Score: 2) by GeminiDomino on Thursday January 17 2019, @04:56PM

  by GeminiDomino (661) on Thursday January 17 2019, @04:56PM (#787933)

  For an example, there is proprietary climate data that cannot be released because of its proprietary nature. This new law will allow more climate change denial.

  Sounds like a business model problem to me. Reproducibility and Falsifiability trump (or should, anyway) profit.

  There are datasets that contain private data on individuals (health, etc.). This will exclude that data from any policy making decisions.

  Good. Policy making should be based on aggregate, anonymized data (which, at least in the health sphere, I can personally attest is collected in great quantities), not individually identifiable cases.

  --
  "We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture"

  Parent