Expand the Production, Dissemination, and Use of Equitable Data (US0113)

The President’s Execu- tive Order 13985 called for the formation of a cross-agency Equitable Data Working Group to study existing Fed- eral data collection policies, programs, and infrastructure to identify inadequacies and provide recommendations for increasing data available for measuring equity and representing the diversity of the American people. In April 2022, the Equitable Data Working Group issued a report to the President with five key recommendations: (1) making collection and analysis of disaggregated data the norm while protecting privacy; (2) building on existing Federal infrastructure to leverage underused data, including through interagency data sharing; (3) building ca- pacity for robust equity assessment for policymaking and program implementation, including by investing in sta- tistical, evaluation, and data science expertise; (4) galvanizing diverse partnerships across levels of government and the research community, especially through opportunities for mutually beneficial uses of data; and (5) being accountable to the American public by providing tools that allow for civil society organizations and communities to use and visualize government data and chart progress towards more equitable outcomes.

The Federal Government commits to implementing these recommendations, including by rechartering the Equi- table Data Working Group as a subcommittee of the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s National Science and Technology Council. In support of these recommendations, the Subcommittee on Equitable Data issued two Requests for Information from the public to inform efforts on how the Federal Government can better measure and share data about the LGBTQI+ community, as well as how Federal agencies can create partnerships and col- laborations to share data with local communities, Tribal, territorial, State, and local governments, and research- ers.

The Subcommittee has also conducted a series of listening sessions with city Chief Data Officers in the Civic An- alytics Network and local data practitioners in the National Neighborhood Indicator Partnership. Engagement with data practitioners in Federal, State, Tribal, territorial, and local government and local data intermediaries has revealed a strong demand for capacity building and clear guidance on effective practices for responsibly-dis- aggregated data. The Subcommittee is planning future, regular sessions with additional stakeholders. These will include engagement with additional networks of local data practitioners and data journalists, among others.

The Federal Government commits to assessing the responses received from these engagements and exploring how they can inform new strategies for equitable data collection and distribution. Specifically, the Subcommittee on Equitable Data will commit to publishing a public report synthesizing its findings on how Federal agencies can better collaborate with members of the public, especially from underserved communities, in collecting, ana- lyzing, and using equitable data.

To develop and share effective equitable data practices—including around improving feedback loops between public data users and Federal data stewards, public engagement, transparency, and accountability—the Subcom- mittee on Equitable Data commits to creating a government-wide community of practice, including a listserv, learning assets such as “how to” guides, and regular webinars to share lessons learned across agencies. To pilot data feedback loop strategies, over the next year the Subcommittee on Equitable Data commits to sharing public recommendations to individual Federal agencies received through past Requests for Information, and then shar- ing back publicly whether agencies can implement the recommendations and any relevant barriers to doing so. The Subcommittee on Equitable Data commits to publishing a progress report in early 2023 on agency adoption of the recommendations of the Equitable Data Working Group, including agency case studies and recommenda- tions to reduce barriers and accelerate equitable outcomes.

Further, the Subcommittee on Equitable Data Interagency Working Group on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, launched through the Executive Order on Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals (Executive Order 14075), commits to publishing a Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQI+ Equity and sharing the Agenda with public stakeholders; State, Tribal, local, and territorial govern- ments; and academic researchers. This Evidence Agenda will include a summary of LGBTQI+ data needs; a set of research questions that the Federal Government needs to answer to more effectively understand, support, and improve the lives of LGBTQI+ individuals; and guidelines for collecting Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity data on administrative forms. Recommendations for best practices for collecting sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data on Federal statistical surveys, published by the office of the Chief Statistician of the United States in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), are forthcoming. In addition, the Director of OMB, through the Chief Statistician of the United States, is evaluating SOGI data practices across agencies, and plans to update reports, guidance, or directives, as needed, based upon the latest evidence, research, and stakeholder input, per Executive Order 14075.

Action Plan Review

Commitment 1. Production, dissemination, and use of equitable data
Implementing agency: National Science and Technology Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy.

For a complete description of the commitment, see pages 4–5 in the U.S. 2022–2024 action plan: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/United-States_Action-Plan_2022-2024_December.pdf.

Context and objectives
This commitment originated in the administration and is aimed at ensuring thorough implementation of its equitable data policy. Its point of departure is Executive Order 13985 on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government—the first one signed by President Joe Biden upon his inauguration on 20 January 2021. The executive order resulted in the formation of a cross-agency Equitable Data Working Group to map existing federal data collection policies, programs, and infrastructure. In April 2022, the working group issued a report with recommendations.

This commitment involves implementing those recommendations, which boil down to: [1]

1. Making collection and analysis of disaggregated data the norm while protecting privacy.

2. Building on existing federal infrastructure to leverage underused data, including through interagency data sharing.

3. Building capacity for robust equity assessment for policymaking and program implementation, including by investing in statistical, evaluation, and data science expertise.

4. Galvanizing diverse partnerships across levels of government and the research community, especially through opportunities for mutually beneficial uses of data.

5. Being accountable to the American public by providing tools that allow civil society organizations and communities to use and visualize government data and chart progress towards more equitable outcomes.

The text of the commitment, by far the most detailed in the NAP, implies that implementation had already begun by the time the commitment was written. The government rechartered the Equitable Data Working Group as a subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council, which issued two requests for information from the public and conducted a series of “listening sessions” with city Chief Data Officers and local data practitioners. As part of the commitment, the government plans to widen these consultations, assess the responses received, and feed them into new strategies for equitable data collection and distribution.

Potential for results: Substantial
The commitment’s focus on data about and for marginalized groups makes it relevant in the current national context, as well as a centerpiece in the administration’s equity agenda. Its elements of public consultation and data publication make it relevant to the OGP principles of civic participation and transparency. It makes a point of listening to civic society and other stakeholders, although the working group and the subcommittee do not appear to include any formal civil society participation. It is promising in that it could produce significant change in the ways of working with data of multiple federal agencies. While lacking an explicit baseline, the Working Group Report highlights clear weaknesses of the data generated or stored by the federal government, which the commitment aims to address.

Its main immediate outputs will be a report summarizing findings on how to better collaborate with members the public, especially from underserved communities, plus a report assessing data practices related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and LGBTQI+ people’s data needs. The report will also provide guidelines and recommendations of best practices for collecting SOGI data on administrative forms and statistical surveys, the publication of recommendations to individual federal agencies received through requests for information and of data regarding whether those agencies are implementing those recommendations, and the establishment of a government-wide community of practice, including a listserv, learning assets such as “how to” guides, and webinars to share lessons learned across agencies.

Opportunities, challenges, and recommendations during implementation
While this is a flagship commitment for the government, consulted civil society representatives view it as another commitment that consists in “keep doing what they’re already doing.” [2] Several steps could be taken to make it more ambitious and help fulfill its potential.

First, implementation could be done jointly with that of Commitment 2, which seems very close in language, values, and proposed actions. The two commitments were not clustered by the IRM because they appear to differ in scope, are led by different implementing agencies, and crucially, there is insufficient information about the activities, milestones, and deliverables of Commitment 2. But if it were possible to bring them together, the commitment would acquire more substance in that it would not only expand the production, dissemination, and use of data on SOGI and race, but would also review the federal data standards, ideally for both.

Second, it would be advisable to integrate the civil society data community into a steady collaboration throughout the process instead of just requesting discrete user feedback.

Third, based on the fifth recommendation of the Equitable Data Working Group, it would be key to dedicate resources to designing, piloting, and promoting the use of “tools that allow for civil society organizations and communities to use and visualize government data and chart progress towards more equitable outcomes.” [3]