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This page provides up-to-date information about the key federal officials that serve as champions of data, evaluation, and evidence as established by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence Act). These officials—the Chief Data Officers, Evaluation Officers, and Statistical Officials—carry out the responsibilities prescribed by laws and subsequent guidance, from leading day-to-day data management and evaluation activities to preparing long-term strategic learning agendas and open data plans.
The Evidence Act designates these positions, but it does not require how they are designated, to whom, or at what level of agency leadership. A lot of variety exists across government, as each agency has its own context and ability to designate officials wherever they may reside in agency operations. Because of this variability across government, the Evidence Act Hub focuses monitoring efforts on the 24 cabinet-level agencies subject to the Evidence Act and the individuals publicly designated as holding positions in these agencies, in whatever manner that agencies present the information.
Information on Evidence Act officials is presented in several AirTable windows below. These tables can be sorted by categories, grouped, filtered, printed, and downloaded as .csv files for research use. Please contact us at evidencehub@datafoundation.org if you encounter any errors, out-of-date information, or have questions.
Chief Data Officers lead organizational development of processes to leverage data across their agencies. Formally established by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, CDOs manage data at every stage of the lifecycle by establishing procedures, standards, and controls to ensure agency data’s quality and protection. They coordinate with officials responsible for generating and using data, manage agency data assets, ensure conformance with data management best practices, and engage stakeholders in using public data assets. CDOs serve as chair of their agency's Data Governance Board and represent the agency on the interagency Chief Data Officer Council.
The Evidence Act depends on CDOs to provide the data infrastructure and management practices that enable evidence-building activities. By establishing effective data governance, improving data quality and accessibility, and reducing barriers that inhibit access to data assets, CDOs create the conditions for agencies to answer priority questions about how to improve their programs and policies. Their responsibility for managing data assets and coordinating across data users ensures that evaluation and statistical activities have access to the information they need while maintaining appropriate protections. The CDO's central leadership position and regular engagement with agency leadership enables the data-driven decision-making the Evidence Act requires.
Evaluation Officers are senior career employees who serve as their agency's champion for program evaluation and senior advisor on evaluation policy and practice. Formally established by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, they coordinate evaluation activities across the agency, build capacity for conducting rigorous evaluations, establish and implement agency evaluation policies that uphold standards for scientific integrity and objectivity, and advise leaders on integrating evidence into operations and strategic planning. Evaluation Officers coordinate with other senior officials including the Chief Data Officer and Statistical Official, serve as a member of the agency’s Data Governance Body, and represent the agency on the interagency Evaluation Officer Council.
The Evidence Act requires Evaluation Officers coordinate the development and implementation of three specific strategic deliverables: learning agendas, the annual evaluation plans (submitted with the annual performance plan), and capacity assessments. They ensure these documents reflect genuine agency priorities and that evaluation activities directly support the questions identified in the Learning Agenda. By managing how evaluation findings are integrated into agency decision-making, Evaluation Officers enable the evidence-informed policymaking that the Evidence Act was designed to advance.
Statistical Officials are designated senior leaders who coordinate and oversee statistical activities and serve as members of the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP). Formally established by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, these officials ensure their agencies produce relevant, timely, credible, and objective statistical information while protecting the confidentiality of individual data providers. Eleven Statistical Officials also serve as heads of OMB-recognized statistical agencies or units, giving them direct responsibility for major federal statistical programs covering topics including the economy, workforce, energy, agriculture, education, health, and crime. They coordinate with the U.S. Chief Statistician and other ICSP members to implement government-wide statistical policies, principles, standards, and guidelines, and work to ensure their agencies' statistical activities maintain integrity, objectivity, impartiality, and utility.
Statistical Officials ensure that data collection and analysis conducted under the Evidence Act meets federal statistical standards and serves agencies’ strategic needs. When agencies develop their learning agendas and conduct program evaluations, Statistical Officials provide expertise on statistical methodology, and ensure that any new data collection for evidence-building purposes conforms to statistical best practices. By upholding statistical integrity, Statistical Officials help agencies build evidence that meets the quality and reliability standards necessary for informing policy decisions.
