U.S. Federal Data Strategy

The U.S. Federal Data Strategy (FDS) provides a common set of data principles and best practices. The 2020 Action Plan identifies milestones that are essential for establishing processes, building capacity, and aligning existing efforts. This initial plan builds a solid foundation that will support implementation of the strategy over the next decade. This page will showcase progress, measurements, and metrics collected and reported on 65 milestones from 20 actions. We will track progress on the 2020 Action Plan milestones continuously throughout the year. As milestones are completed, information will be uploaded to this page. Once this page is fully operational, you will be able to check agency activity on every milestone. https://strategy.data.gov/progress/

Principlas

The Federal Data Strategy Principles serve as moti-vational guidelines. They underlie a comprehensive strategy that encompasses federal and federally-spon-sored program, statistical, and mission-support data. They inform the Practices and Action Plan.

Ethical Governance

<i> <ol> <li><b>Uphold Ethics:</b> Monitor and assess the implications of federal data practices for the public. Design checks and balances to protect and serve the public good.</li> <li><b>Exercise Responsibility:</b> Practice effective data stewardship and governance. Employ sound data se- curity practices, protect individual privacy, maintain promised confidentiality, and ensure appropriate access and use.</li> <li><b>Promote Transparency:</b> Articulate the purposes and uses of federal data to engender public trust. Comprehensively document processes and products to inform data providers and users.</li> </ol> </i>

Conscious Design

<i> <ol start=4> <li><b>Ensure Relevance:</b> Protect the quality and integrity of the data. Validate that data are appropriate, accurate, objective, accessible, useful, understand-able, and timely.</li> <li><b>Harness Existing Data:</b> Identify data needs to inform priority research and policy questions; reuse data if possible and acquire additional data if needed.</li> <li><b>Anticipate Future Uses:</b> Create data thoughtfully, considering fitness for use by others; plan for reuse and build in interoperability from the start.</li> <li><b>Demonstrate Responsiveness:</b> Improve data collection, analysis, and dissemination with ongoing input from users and stakeholders. The feedback process is cyclical; establish a baseline, gain support, collaborate, and refine continuously.</li> </ol> </i>

Learning Culture

<i> <ol start=8> <li><b>Invest in Learning:</b> Promote a culture of continuous and collaborative learning with and about data through ongoing investment in data infrastructure and human resources.</li> <li><b>Develop Data Leaders:</b> Cultivate data leadership at all levels of the federal workforce by investing in training and development about the value of data for mission, service, and the public good.</li> <li><b>Practice Accountability:</b> Assign responsibility, audit data practices, document and learn from results, and make needed changes.</li> </ol> </i>

Practices

Actions