[okfn-br] Fwd: [A2k] Senate passes historic endorsement of open government data

Quarta Dezembro 14 23:17:27 UTC 2016

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From: Manon Ress <manon.ress em keionline.org>
Date: Tue, Dec 13, 2016 at 12:11 PM
Subject: [A2k] Senate passes historic endorsement of open government data
To: a2k discuss list <a2k em lists.keionline.org>

Senate passes historic endorsement of open government data

by Alex Howard

policy

 DEC 12, 2016 3:34 PM

https://sunlightfoundation.com/2016/12/12/senate-passes-historic-endorsement-of-open-government-data/

Amidst unanswered questions about the future of open government in the

United States, the Senate has provided a unanimous endorsement of a set of

enduring principles that the Sunlight Foundation has advanced and defended

for a decade: that data created using the funds of the people should be

available to the people in open formats online, without cost or restriction.

On Dec. 10, 2016, S.2852, the Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary

(OPEN) Government Data Act, passed the Senate with an amendment by

unanimous consent. The OPEN Government Data Act has been a core priority of

the Sunlight Foundation in Washington in 2016. We are thrilled that the

Senate has acted to move it and grateful to the bill’s co-sponsors for

their support for open government.

“I’m proud to work across the aisle with Senator Schatz to bring a 21st

century solution to this city’s antiquated, 20th century approach to data,”

said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., in a statement. “Because transparency keeps

Washington accountable to the people, government data should be made public

unless an administration makes a compelling reason not to. After passing

the Senate with bipartisan support, we have momentum to carry this

important work into the new year.”

“Public information belongs to the public, and it’s the government’s job to

make sure that data is available and easily accessible in today’s

ever-changing digital world,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, in a

statement, “I thank Senator Sasse for working with me to get this through

the Senate, and I look forward to continuing our work in the next Congress.”

The bill requires government data assets to be published as

machine-readable data in an open format that does not limit reuse and

imposes a condition that no costs will be imposed.

In keeping with Sunlight’s years of advocacy, the bill requires the White

House Office of Management and Budget to oversee the completeness and

availability of an enterprise data inventory for every agency. That work is

ongoing today, as everyone in the public can see at the Project Open Data

Dashboard. The OPEN Government Data Act will ensure that the work continues.

This approach to transparency and accountability will not only inform and

enhance public knowledge and apply data to improve society. It will improve

the ability of agencies to understand and use the information assets they

hold. The data breaches and compromises of the past decade show how

important it is for agencies to understand what data they hold and its

sensitivity. That’s why the OPEN Government Data Act’s requirement for the

Chief Information Officers Council to work with the newly strengthened

Office of Government Information Services and the White House Office of

Science and Technology Policy to “promote data operability and

comparability of data assets across the government” is welcome and

essential. So to is the act’s requirement for the White House Office of

Management and Budget to continue to “assess the extent of each federal

agencies use of data assets to support decision-making cost savings and

performance.”

If enacted and signed into law, these measures would be directly relevant

and useful to advancing the goals of the Evidence-Based Policy Commission

in 2017. We hope that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan sees and values this

connection swiftly to institutionalize this sensible, bipartisan approach

to improving government and governance. Given the Congressional Budget

Office’s assessment of no cost to taxpayers from the OPEN Government Act,

there is strong rationale to get this one.

Given the demand from commercial requesters using the freedom information

act to search for data, we hope and expect that open data from a new

FOIA.gov will be used to prioritize the structuring and disclosure of open

data using the vehicle that the OPEN Government Data Act mandates:

Data.gov. The act would also preserve Data.gov as a public interface for

the nation’s open data, which is in of itself a valuable mandate,

particularly given the site’s improvements and approach to federation.

The OPEN Government Data Act is an essential complement to the Freedom of

Information Act reform that passed this summer. Together, the legislation

would provide statutory structure and mandatory requirements for open and

transparent government in the 21st century.

If passed and implemented, the two laws put in place a series of provisions

and structures that will enable Congress, journalists, nonprofits,

academics, private-sector companies and the public to hold future

administrations accountable. We and our allies know that executive orders

and memorandums can be undone with the stroke of a pen. Sunshine laws

cannot be so easily untangled nor dismissed.

For this reason, we both celebrate the Senate’s unanimous endorsement of

the law and hope that the U.S. House will quickly move to re-introduce the

bill in the 115th Congress and work across the aisle to enact it within the

first week of public business. We will hold Schatz and Sasse to their word

and expect the members of Congress who stood up for open government data

this fall to continue do so. Sunlight stands ready with our allies to hail

congressional support for open government in the 21st century, and to hold

our legislators and official accountable for following through on this

mandate.

--

Manon Ress, Ph.D.

Knowledge Ecology International, KEI

manon.ress em keionline.org, tel.: +1 202 332 2670

www.keionline.org

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