▶ Open Data & Transparency

Open data infrastructure enables public accountability, fuels private sector innovation, and provides the accessible datasets that AI development requires. Despite progress under the OPEN Government Data Act, resource and capacity constraints could slow the momentum and pose new risks to the systems that make government data discoverable and usable.

The Data Foundation works to ensure agencies meet their open data obligations, protects critical infrastructure, and demonstrates partnership models that can sustain accessibility even under budget pressures. Modern approaches — through external partnerships and supplemental infrastructure — can maintain open data systems when government capacity is stretched.

Our technical assistance supports agency data plan development, while congressional engagement ensures accountability for open data commitments and protects data.gov and related infrastructure through appropriations.

▶ Financial Data Transparency

When businesses report similar financial information to multiple regulators using different formats, compliance costs rise and regulatory effectiveness suffers. The Data Foundation advances Standard Business Reporting (SBR) and the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) to demonstrate how modern data standards deliver efficiency and transparency simultaneously — reducing burden for industry while giving regulators better tools to detect fraud and assess risk.

The Data Foundation advances SBR implementation through FDTA rulemaking engagement, supports pilot projects documenting compliance cost savings, and builds industry coalitions. The financial sector serves as a proof point for government-wide reporting modernization, showing that burden reduction and improved oversight work together rather than in competition. As regulatory technology, automated reporting, and disclosure requirements continue to evolve, standardized data becomes the foundation for both compliance efficiency and effective oversight.

▶ Data Sharing & Privacy

Effective privacy frameworks should do more than check compliance boxes; they should make data governance transparent and verifiable to support functional public accountability. When trust is low, both data protection and beneficial data sharing suffer. Accountability requires more than technical solutions; it requires transparent systems where stakeholders can independently verify protections rather than simply trusting assertions. The Data Foundation advances privacy reforms that go beyond bureaucratic processes to achieve functional public accountability.

The Data Foundation advances privacy-enhancing technologies that enable robust, secure data sharing while protecting sensitive information, support modernization of the Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act, and develop federal-state-local frameworks for cooperative data governance.

▶ Evidence-Based Efficiency

The federal government spends billions on programs without systematic evidence of what works. Businesses and governmental jurisdictions face duplicative reporting requirements that waste resources without improving data quality. The Data Foundation is advancing an Evidence 2.0 framework that demonstrates the return on investment from evidence infrastructure and accelerates implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act.

Expanding access to the Do Not Pay system—which currently prevents improper payments by verifying eligibility across government databases—can extend these protections while streamlining verification processes that currently create administrative bottlenecks. Standard Business Reporting allows businesses to report once using standardized formats that serve multiple regulatory requirements, cutting compliance costs while improving data quality for regulators and policymakers.

Our approach documents burden reduction opportunities worth billions in economic value, advances grants reform that emphasizes outcomes over process, and shows how evaluation, learning agendas, and smarter data use prevent waste and improve government outcomes. Evidence infrastructure does not just serve good government in the abstract — it pays for itself.

▶ Artificial Intelligence & Data Quality

America's AI leadership depends on access to high-quality, timely government datasets — yet federal data systems often lack the documentation, accessibility, and quality standards that AI development requires. Quality government data is essential training infrastructure for  AI, providing a competitive advantage that proprietary datasets alone cannot deliver.

The Data Foundation advances regulations enabling privacy-protected researcher access to federal data, supports secure computing environments for sensitive data research, and develops AI-enabled evaluation frameworks that maintain quality while reducing costs. We work to ensure that data quality standards for AI training datasets meet the documentation and accessibility requirements that responsible AI development demands.

▶ Statistical Independence & Public Trust

Federal statistics — economic indicators, population trends, social indicators, and public health measures — are foundational to business planning, policy decisions, and public trust. When statistical integrity is questioned, the entire evidence ecosystem suffers. The Data Foundation monitors implementation of the Evidence Act's Public Trust Rule and advances congressional oversight that protects the decision-making authority of federal statistical agencies.

Statistical modernization and statistical independence are not in conflict; they are complementary goals that together serve the businesses and policymakers who depend on quality government data The Data Foundation monitors Public Trust Rule implementation, advances congressional oversight that protects statistical agency decision-making authority, supports the integration of administrative records and emerging technologies that improve the timeliness and accessibility of federal statistics.