Prioritizing Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking

Our society needs good science and evidence. We need leadership across our government institutions that gives evidence and science a seat at the table. This is key as we continue to grapple with the pandemic, economic hardship, and social inequity. 

Two years after the passage of the bipartisan Foundations for Evidence-based Policymaking Act, the beginning of a new administration allows us to reflect on how we want to use science and data in decision making. Days into the Biden administration, he issued a presidential memorandum that the Executive Branch will prioritize and support evidence-based decision-making. 

Last week, the Data Foundation hosted a discussion on what this memorandum means for broad networks of researchers, statisticians, data officials, evaluators, and decision-makers. Panelists offered their thoughts on what this presidential memorandum means for evidence in policymaking.

In addition to general support and encouragement on the presidential memo, panelists emphasized that this a first step in rebuilding trust in data. Kumar Garg of Schmidt Futures recommended using concrete practices that contribute to public trust in data such as community-based information delivery.

The conversation also focused on the value of learning agendas, which can be a powerful tool for all agencies to make use of evaluation methods to improve programs and further missions. Kate Tromble of Results for America stressed how evaluation of this kind puts evidence and data to good work and encouraged the Office of Management and Budget to offer more guidance to agencies, while Paul Schoeder (Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics) highlighted the need for real concrete funding support.

Overall, this memorandum is an encouraging demonstration of leadership in the field of science and evidence building for effective policymaking. The next steps will be to ensure that there is appropriate support for agencies, including funding and guidance, and make sure this memorandum is synced to existing government-wide initiatives like the Federal Data Strategy as they seek to improve their use of data and evidence.