The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence Act) ushered in a new era of data sharing, evidence building, and privacy protection in government. The Evidence Act also charged the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with issuing regulations to guide agencies on how to support statistical agencies and units in their missions and responsibilities.

On August 18, 2023, OMB issued the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the Fundamental Responsibilities of Statistical Agencies and Units, or the “Trust Regulation”, an important milestone in the implementation of the Evidence Act. 

This proposed rule is of tremendous importance for public sector data and fits into the implementation of the Evidence Act and the larger vision of evidence-informed policy making. The Data Foundation will be exploring important dynamics at play, including:

• The importance of open and accessible data for evidence-based policymaking
• The challenges of protecting privacy while sharing data
• The role of statistical agencies in ensuring the quality and reliability of data
• The importance of public trust in government data and statistics
• How the proposed regulation can help to implement the Evidence Act and advance evidence-informed policymaking