President Trump has signed into law the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act containing a provision that mandates the federal government to enable public access to all of its non-sensitive data, the Data Coalition said Monday.
The FEBP Act’s Open, Public, Electronic and  requires the data to be machine-readable and open-license in support of efforts to promote efficiency in government operations and services. The OPEN Government Data Act will additionally create a Chief Data Officer Council and assign CDOs to federal agencies; require regular oversight from the Government Accountability Office; and establish standards for providing public access to federal government information.
 Sarah Joy Hays, acting executive director of the Data Coalition, said the governmentwide law will “transform the way the government collects, publishes and uses non-sensitive public information.â€
The data access effort was led by former Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Congress passed the package on Dec. 31, 2018.
