Introducing the Evidence Act Hub: Streamlining Access to Federal Data and Evidence Resources

Overview

As the U.S. evidence-based policymaking ecosystem continues to mature, the Data Foundation has heard consistently from industry partners, nonprofit peers, researchers, and government officials themselves about a critical gap: while federal agencies publish evidence plans, evaluation reports, and data governance guidance across dozens of websites, there is no convenient, centralized place that aggregates, preserves, and makes these materials readily accessible. Practitioners, researchers, and policymakers across sectors have identified the need for a single, reliable platform to support more effective implementation and oversight of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Evidence Act (Evidence Act).

In this webinar, Data Foundation President & CEO Nick Hart debuted the new Evidence Act Hub, a digital repository and knowledge hub that brings together U.S. federal data and evaluation resources in a single, searchable location. By creating sustainable infrastructure outside government systems, the Hub ensures continuity of access while adding value through curation, analysis, and contextualization that help users navigate the growing evidence ecosystem. In providing the resources in a single location that is open access, the Hub also enables the data and evidence community to convert Evidence Act materials into machine-readable formats that are better suited for emerging uses in artificial intelligence across the policy community.

Dr. Hart was joined by an expert panel to discuss:

• The value proposition of centralized infrastructure for evidence-informed policymaking resources, and how the Hub supports policy professionals and researchers
• Resources available in the Evidence Act Hub at launch, including agency evidence plans, regulatory guidance on evaluation and data governance, and Data Foundation reports and analysis
• Potential expansions for the Evidence Act Hub, including live tracking of federal Chief Data Officers, Evaluation Officers, and Statistical Officials, plus access to curated toolkits and frameworks
• What to monitor as agencies continue releasing annual evaluation plans and open data plans for fiscal year 2026.

Speakers

• Nick Hart, President & CEO, Data Foundation
• Susan Jenkins, Senior Fellow, Center for Evidence Capacity, Data Foundation
• Daniel Schuman, Senior Fellow, Center for Evidence Capacity, Data Foundation
• Sara Stefanik, Director, Center for Evidence Capacity, Data Foundation (moderator)