Open Government Data Act

The Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary Government Data Act (OPEN)’s key purpose is to ensure all data is readily available, machine-readable, standards based, secure, and accessible. This applies government wide and requires each agency to make their data open unless there is a good reason why it should not be.

The OPEN Act says that all designated departments and agencies will develop and maintain a comprehensive data inventory for all data assets created by or collected by the agency. These data inventories will feed into a government-wide data catalog, which will be available to entities both inside and outside the government.

Agencies are also required to designate a Chief Data Officer who shall be responsible for lifecycle data management and other specified functions.

Another important purpose of the OPEN Act is to use data, statistics, and analysis to inform and evaluate policies. Each agency shall have a chief evidence officer and identify "evidence-building" data for use in policy-making.