The Federated Enterprise Risk Management (FERM) Work Group is an initiative launched in March of 2019 to support some key data initiatives of the United States Federal Government, but applicable to governments worldwide. The higher financial priority of the Federal Government is financial enterprise risk management. In order to perform more complex risk analytics, it is widely recognized that the data structure and procedures of the Federal Government need to be modernized. Several of these Open Data Laws have already been enacted, while some are still in the Legislative process. The purpose of this wiki site is to document various discussions and decisions in this broad modernization initiative, particularly those that enable enhanced near real-time, risk decision management. The activities below are required, initial steps in support of the Federal Government data initiatives. At present, the data initiatives include five major areas:

1. Data support for OMB Directive to Chief Financial Officers Council in the area of Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”), specifically 06-06-2018 Memo M-18-16 Appendix A to OMB Circular No. A-123, Management of Reporting and Data Integrity Risk. The FERM group will focus on Financial Risk, and coordinate with other OMG Groups addressing other types of risk.

2. Aid and support for The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (“DATA Act”), a law that aims to make information on Federal expenditures more acceptable and transparent.

3. Aid and support for The Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (“OPEN”) Government Data Act of 2019, which was signed into law January 14, 2019.

4. Provide technical support during the drafting of proposed legislation called the Financial Transparency Act, expected to be passed during the 116th Congress.

5. Prepare data requirements modification for DAIMS 2.0 Act, expected to be passed in 2020 Legislative session.

OMG Policies & Procedures do not strictly specify how a working group is formed or governed. By virtue of having assembled to pursue FERM, the participants constitute, and can call themselves, a Working Group.

The OMG Federated Enterprise Risk Management (FERM) Working Group was formed as a landing place within the OMG Domain Task Force structure to address possible data standard needs that result from financial and budgetary management of governments, such as the various Open Data Acts being implemented by the US Federal Government. These Acts appear to be an effort to modernize the structural data environment for Federal financial management and other ongoing Federal Government work.

Several states, including California, Florida, and Ohio, are simultaneously attempting to modernize their respective state data infrastructures. There no doubt will be some overlap with the Federal data modernization efforts, since there are Federal programs that are implemented by the states (for instance Medicaid, Medicare, Affordable Care Act, The National School Lunch Act, The Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act, FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, Fair Housing Act, Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”), etc.).

FERM activities, as well as the SBRM standardization activity, will play a central role in government data modernization efforts. Among other things, the SBRM standard provides a standard way for machines to reach into standard business reports and extract the electronic values for all cells of interest. The SBRM standard also allows one to associate specific ontology terms with those same facts. Specific ontologies for the various reports may or may not presently exist. It is expected that OMG and its various sub-groups will be asked to curate or standardize (subsets of) these ontologies. It is recognized that various ontologies may be required by governments in this data modernization effort. Many of them will be financial in nature, and hence will remain with the Financial Domain Task Force. Others, such as the safety of the food supply chain, will be spun off to the appropriate OMG DTF.