{"id":15194,"date":"2015-05-08T18:44:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-08T18:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:41:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:41:20","slug":"better-data-better-decisions-better-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Better data + better decisions = better government"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i><img decoding=\"async\" align=\"left\" alt=\"\" alternate=\"David Mader is controller of the Office of Federal\" assetid=\"26992281\" assettype=\"image\" class=\"imgAsset middle\" credit=\"Mike Morones\/Staff\" cutline=\"David Mader is controller of the Office of Federal Financial Management at OMB.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/7b07761879d3b356a2f9c158cdea7b9db22f82ef\/r=311x400\/local\/-\/media\/2015\/05\/08\/FederalTimes\/FederalTimes\/635666932942254445-David-Mader-MM.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" title=\"David-Mader-MM [ID=26992281]\" width=\"245px\"\/><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Editor&#8217;s Note: This post was first published at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/blog\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\" title=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/blog\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\">whitehouse.gov<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>David Mader is the Controller of the Office of Federal Financial Management at the White House Office of Management and Budget.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>David Lebryk is the Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A year ago, Congress passed the <em>Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014,<\/em> or the <em>DATA Act<\/em>. Since then, the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of the Treasury have engaged with the communities that create and use this data and taken important first steps towards creating a more  <g class=\"gr_ gr_53 gr-alert gr_spell ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace\" data-gr-id=\"53\" id=\"53\">   data driven  <\/g> government, and making federal data more transparent and available to the American people. Today marks the beginning of the next phase of implementation of the DATA Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Rolling Out Data Standards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently, the federal government produces huge amounts of data about how it spends money, but in some cases the same words are used in different ways. These inconsistencies make it difficult to use this data in a comprehensive way. Over a two-year period, starting today, the DATA Act requires Federal agencies to streamline this fragmentation and report federal funds, broken down into specific categories like how much funding an agency receives from Congress and how much they are spending on specific projects and awards. It also requires agencies to use common government-wide data standards when posting that information to USAspending.gov \u2013 standards that aren&#8217;t currently applied across all agencies for all uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"__NOTFORSYNDICATION\"><b>Related: <\/b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/story\/government\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/clock-starts-data-act\/26988377\/\" title=\"http:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/story\/government\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/clock-starts-data-act\/26988377\/\">Clock starts on DATA Act   <g class=\"gr_ gr_47 gr-alert gr_spell ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace\" data-gr-id=\"47\" id=\"47\">    implemenation   <\/g><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/Pages\/Data-Act.aspx\">Today<\/a> we are beginning the rollout of 57 data standards. Some are final based on public input we have already received, and others will require additional input as we finalize them this summer. As a result of input from our partners in Congress, industry stakeholders, federal agencies, and taxpayers through feedback on our public <a href=\"http:\/\/fedspendingtransparency.github.io\/\">GitHub collaboration space<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/max.gov\/maxportal\/assets\/public\/offm\/DataStandardsFinal.htm\">15 final data standards<\/a> available today will be used by all agencies for all federal spending data posted on USAspending.gov, the Federal Government&#8217;s one-stop shop for spending data. We are also releasing 12 additional proposed data standards and 30 existing data elements that we are in the process of standardizing across the government. Conversation and collaboration with the public  <g class=\"gr_ gr_65 gr-alert gr_gramm Grammar multiReplace\" data-gr-id=\"65\" id=\"65\">   has  <\/g> been key to our progress thus far and we encourage you to visit our online <a href=\"http:\/\/fedspendingtransparency.github.io\/\">collaboration space<\/a> on GitHub for more information on these proposed standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to data standards, we have been testing new formats for exchanging data across the federal government. In particular, Treasury&#8217;s pilots have demonstrated how we can digitally tag award data through the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format. This process is called the <a href=\"http:\/\/fedspendingtransparency.github.io\/data-exchange-standard\/\">DATA Act Schema<\/a> and it has been <a href=\"http:\/\/fedspendingtransparency.github.io\/data-exchange-standard\/\">released<\/a> online and will continue to be refined with public input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Helping Agencies &amp; the DATA Act Playbook<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To ensure the government has the necessary tools to adopt these standards within the two-year timeline, OMB also issued guidance to agencies on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/omb\/memoranda\/2015\/m-15-12.pdf\"><em>Increasing <\/em><em>Transparency of Federal Spending by Making Federal Spending Data Accessible, Searchable, and Reliable<\/em><\/a>. And to assist agencies with implementation, Treasury created a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/Documents\/Summary of DATA Act Playbook.pdf\">DATA Act <em>Playbook<\/em><\/a> with eight key steps that, if followed together, will help agencies leverage existing capabilities to drive implementation of the DATA Act. Treasury will continue to refine the <em>Playbook<\/em> and will hold meetings and workshops with agencies to provide updates on DATA Act activities, encourage agency collaboration, and share important insights and information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, leveraging the leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we have begun a pilot program to test and explore ways to simplify the reporting process for recipients of federal grants. We are approaching this pilot in a non-traditional way, with the goal of using the next two years to identify and test multiple ways to improve. To start, today, we have launched a <a href=\"http:\/\/repository.usaspending.gov\/\">repository for common data elements<\/a> and a new section of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.grants.gov\/web\/grants\/learn-grants.html\">Grants.gov<\/a> with information about the grants lifecycle, which will test how data standards can translate to actual time saved in reporting and how to put all information about federal grants in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While we are pleased with the progress that has been made so far on the DATA Act implementation within existing budgetary resources, this is a complex project with challenges ahead. The FY 2016 Budget proposes $84 million to allow agencies to make progress in implementing the DATA Act and increase Federal spending transparency. With better data, we will make better decisions and ensure that every dollar is well spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information about our efforts under the DATA Act and how the public can participate, please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/Pages\/Data-Act.aspx\" title=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/Pages\/Data-Act.aspx\">visit USAspending.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The federal government produces a lot of data, but inconsistencies and fragmentation hamper its use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":15,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[15,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2540,1684],"class_list":["post-15194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management","category-opinions"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KFGI5S2BUVGCZN44I5S4OPLIFU","arc_canonical_url":"\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Better data + better decisions = better government - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The federal government produces a lot of data, but inconsistencies and fragmentation hamper its use.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Better data + better decisions = better government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The federal government produces a lot of data, but inconsistencies and fragmentation hamper its use.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Federal Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-08T18:44:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T04:41:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Lebryk, David Mader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Lebryk, David Mader\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Better data + better decisions = better government\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2015-05-08T18:44:36+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T04:41:20+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 765,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635666932942254445-david-mader-mmjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Inside the Agencies\",\n\t                \"Opinion\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Better data + better decisions = better government - Federal Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635666932942254445-david-mader-mmjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2015-05-08T18:44:36+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T04:41:20+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The federal government produces a lot of data, but inconsistencies and fragmentation hamper its use.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635666932942254445-david-mader-mmjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635666932942254445-david-mader-mmjpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/08\\\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Inside the Agencies\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"management\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Better data + better decisions = better government\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Federal Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Federal Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Federal Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/federal-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/federal-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Federal Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Better data + better decisions = better government - Federal Times","description":"The federal government produces a lot of data, but inconsistencies and fragmentation hamper its use.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Better data + better decisions = better government","og_description":"The federal government produces a lot of data, but inconsistencies and fragmentation hamper its use.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/","og_site_name":"Federal Times","article_published_time":"2015-05-08T18:44:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T04:41:20+00:00","author":"David Lebryk, David Mader","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Lebryk, David Mader","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Better data + better decisions = better government","datePublished":"2015-05-08T18:44:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T04:41:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/"},"wordCount":765,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666932942254445-david-mader-mmjpg.jpg","articleSection":["Inside the Agencies","Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/","name":"Better data + better decisions = better government - Federal Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666932942254445-david-mader-mmjpg.jpg","datePublished":"2015-05-08T18:44:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T04:41:20+00:00","description":"The federal government produces a lot of data, but inconsistencies and fragmentation hamper its use.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666932942254445-david-mader-mmjpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666932942254445-david-mader-mmjpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2015\/05\/08\/better-data-better-decisions-better-government\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside the Agencies","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/","ad_zone":"management"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Better data + better decisions = better government"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/","name":"Federal Times","description":"Federal Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#organization","name":"Federal Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/federal-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/federal-logo-white.png","caption":"Federal Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666932942254445-david-mader-mmjpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Federal Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15194"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15204,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15194\/revisions\/15204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15194"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=15194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}