Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: A Primer

The bipartisan Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-435), which includes the OPEN Government Data Act, set the stage for major government-wide reforms for making data accessible, rigorous, and useful for decision-making. The legislation incorporated many recommendations from the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking and adopted widely-accepted principles and strategies for action from the open data and evidence communities. The Evidence Act continues to shape how federal agencies make data-driven policy decisions.

Since becoming law, the Evidence Act has transformed open data policy and institutionalized evidence-building activities. Agencies have created new leadership roles: Chief Data Officers who manage data quality and governance, and Evaluation Officers who lead program evaluation activities. The White House Office of Management and Budget has issued implementation guidance for the law, and in response, agencies have produced learning agendas identifying priority questions about their programs, capacity assessments documenting evaluation capabilities, and annual evaluation plans documenting their findings and progress. Most recently, agencies have also begun releasing open data plans that map out how their processes for managing and sharing data. These documents represent the tangible work of building evidence capacity across government, and the Data Foundation’s Evidence Act Hub preserves and organizes them for public access.

In building an evidence-informed culture in government, the Evidence Act established "open by default" as the standard for federal data. Agencies now make non-sensitive data publicly available in usable formats, maintain comprehensive inventories of their datasets, and provide channels for public input on data priorities. Researchers can access restricted government data through streamlined application pathways that reduce bureaucratic burden while maintaining strong privacy protections.

The legislation also strengthens responsible data use through enhanced frameworks and principles for building public trust. The Evidence Act’s reauthorization of the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) provided legal safeguards that enable appropriate data uses while protecting individual privacy. Statistical agencies are directed to maintain objectivity, independence, and confidentiality in their work, thereby building public confidence in the data that informs policy decisions. The Data Foundation’s Evidence Act Hub collects the foundational laws, policies, and guidance that structure this work, alongside the agency responses that show implementation in practice.