The federal government has made significant strides towards making vast amounts of government data freely available to the public, and businesses, researchers, civil society groups, journalists, and many others have put open data to good use. However, recent events suggest that some open government data may be at risk. For example, in February 2017, the Department of Agriculture abruptly blocked public access to an animal abuse database used by businesses across the country; in March 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would no longer ask questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to National Survey on Older Americans Act participants, sacrificing a valuable opportunity to collect data about pressing intersectional social issues; and in October 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released its annual report on crime statistics with 70 percent fewer data tables than the prior year’s report.
As part of Endangered Data Week, the Center for Data Innovation will host a panel discussion about the risks to open government data, especially in agencies that are underfunded and understaffed, and what can be done to protect this data in the years to come.
Contact Peter Coetzee