8 Steps to Implementing the DATA Act

The DATA Act  aims at making federal spending data accessible, searchable, and reliable. The DATA Act isn’t just about federal reform, it also provides an opportunity to have open, public dialogue on how federal dollars are spent. This information will serve as a tool to inform management decision-making, improve oversight, and give key insights that can lead to innovation both inside and outside of the government.

Progress for the DATA Act

Recently, on the OMB blog, the Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Dave Lebryk and OMB Controller Dave Mader announced the roll out of 57 Data Standards. OMB and Treasury have received and continue to seek  input and feedback from partners in Congress, industry stakeholders, federal agencies, and taxpayers through their public GitHub collaboration space, 15 final data standards currently available will be used by all agencies for all federal spending data posted on USAspending.gov. The USASpending.gov website is a publicly accessible, searchable website mandated by the Federal Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (DATA Act) that offers the public access to information on how their tax dollars are spent.

DATA Act Playbook

OMB also issued guidance to agencies on Increasing Transparency of Federal Spending by Making Federal Spending Data Accessible, Searchable, and Reliable. And to assist agencies with implementation, Treasury created a DATA Act Playbook with 8 Steps to Implementing the DATA Act (infographic) that, if followed together, will help agencies leverage existing capabilities to drive implementation of the DATA Act.

1. Organize Your Team
2. Review Elements
3. Inventory Data
4. Design & Strategize
5. Implement an Executive Broker
6. Test Broker
7. Submit Data

They also announced that they have launched a repository for common data elements and a new section of Grants.gov with information about the grants life-cycle, which will test how data standards can translate to actual time saved in reporting and how to put all information about Federal grants in one place.

For more information about our efforts under the DATA Act and how the public can participate, please visit USAspending HERE.

Please share our smartegrants.com infographic and use the hashtags #Grantchat and #Grantgear