The Senate has unanimously approved a bipartisan bill that would provide individuals, government agencies and other organizations access to machine-readable public information at Data.gov.
Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) introduced the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary Government Data Act, Schatz’s office said Monday.
Schatz said he will continue to work with Sasse to advance the bill in the next Congress.
The OPEN Government Data Act would also require federal agencies to use government data to facilitate decision making operations as well as ensure privacy and protection of national security data.
Organizations that support the bill include the Data Coalition, Sunlight Foundation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Center for Data Innovation, BSA/The Software Alliance and the Taxpayers for Common Sense.
