Today, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the first salvo in the implementation of the DATA Act, discussed in a post by David Mader.
Released today were 15 of what is expected to be 57 final data standards, which all federal agencies will be required to use to enhance consistency and transparency. OMB also issued agency guidance in the form of a memorandum: Increasing Transparency of Federal Spending by Making Federal Spending Data Accessible, Searchable, and Reliable and the DATA Act Playbook.
The DATA Act required a pilot “to test and explore ways to simplify the reporting process for recipients of federal grants.” The Department of Health and Human Services has been tasked with this effort and today the Common Data Element Repository (C-DER) was launched and a new section has been added to the Grants.gov website called Learn Grants. OMB and HHS will use the Learn Grants site to “test how data standards can translate into actual time saved in reporting and how to put all information about Federal grants in one place.”
More information on the DATA Act and its implementation can be found here.