Press Releases
Financial Data Transparency Act will modernize financial reporting to improve accountability and transparency.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congress passed the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) as a part of the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. The FDTA requires seven of the financial regulatory member-agencies of the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council to adopt and apply uniform data standards (i.e. a common data format) for the information collected from regulated entities. As a consequence, the data standards will enable better information processing, software-enabled filing preparation, and data reconciliation. This bill has clear benefits for the American public, investors, government regulators, and private sector firms.
“The Data Coalition is pleased to see that the collaboration and advocacy from our members, partners, and staff resulted in such a strong, bipartisan mandate from Congress to modernize our country’s financial data,” said Nick Hart, president of the Data Foundation. “We are especially grateful for the leadership from the legislation’s congressional champions. Special thanks to our Financial Transparency Task Force members.”
“This bill is about harnessing the power of software to improve investor insight and reduce regulatory compliance costs. It's a clear win for investors, taxpayers, and efficient capital markets," said Craig Clay, president of global capital markets at Donnelley Financial Solutions, and advisory board member of the Data Coalition.
“Transparency is a key component to building trust in a global economy," said Marty Vanderploeg, CEO of Workiva Inc. "As the volume of financial data grows, it is critical that we build systems to make that data easier to work with, verify, and utilize. Workiva has been a long-time supporter of legislative action such as the Financial Data Transparency Act, and we are thrilled to see it pass both houses. The bill will transform government data into open, smart, searchable and downloadable formats without proprietary restrictions.”
The Data Coalition looks forward to continuing our work towards a more effective and efficient regulatory data ecosystem. We will continue to coordinate experts and thought leaders to ensure a collaborative implementation phase, starting with our upcoming 2023 RegTech Data Summit.
Common Identifiers Across the Covered U.S. Financial Regulatory Agencies The FDTA requires the establishment of “common identifiers” for information reported to covered regulatory agencies, which could include transactions and financial products/instruments. Searchable, Machine-Readable, Open Data Standards The FDTA includes a set of required characteristics that build upon industry and technology best practices, account for lessons learned from existing federal regulatory standard setting, and incorporate relevant federal policy and international standards definitions. Promotes Interoperability In establishing data standards, the FDTA requires the heads of covered agencies to consult with each other to promote interoperability of financial regulatory data across members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. No New Reporting or Disclosure Requirements Nothing in the FDTA requires any covered agency to collect or make publicly available additional information. Minimize Burden on Smaller Entities The FDTA allows agencies to scale data reporting requirements to reduce burden on smaller regulated entities and minimize disruptive changes to those affected by regulations.
Common Identifiers Across the Covered U.S. Financial Regulatory Agencies
The FDTA requires the establishment of “common identifiers” for information reported to covered regulatory agencies, which could include transactions and financial products/instruments.
Searchable, Machine-Readable, Open Data Standards
The FDTA includes a set of required characteristics that build upon industry and technology best practices, account for lessons learned from existing federal regulatory standard setting, and incorporate relevant federal policy and international standards definitions.
Promotes Interoperability
In establishing data standards, the FDTA requires the heads of covered agencies to consult with each other to promote interoperability of financial regulatory data across members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
No New Reporting or Disclosure Requirements
Nothing in the FDTA requires any covered agency to collect or make publicly available additional information.
Minimize Burden on Smaller Entities
The FDTA allows agencies to scale data reporting requirements to reduce burden on smaller regulated entities and minimize disruptive changes to those affected by regulations.
Learn more about the Financial Data Transparency Act.
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Upcoming Events
Join us January 19th to hear experts on the FDTA and the Data Coalition Initiative to take a deep dive into the provisions of this legislation, as well as what to expect during the implementation process. We will highlight key issues likely to arise and discuss strategies on how the data community can continue to support regulators as they modernize financial regulatory data.
About the Data Coalition
Washington, D.C. – Today Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS+), which will establish a National Secure Data Service (NSDS). The CHIPS+ Act includes a provision to establish the NSDS demonstration project at the National Science Foundation. The NSDS has been a long-standing legislative priority of the Data Coalition Initiative, an organization that advocates for responsible policies to make government data high-quality, accessible, and usable.
“The Data Coalition Initiative is thrilled to see Congress support this type of innovation in our federal data system, and is looking forward to working with the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), and other stakeholders to ensure that the full benefits of a National Secure Data Service are realized,” said Corinna Turbes, Managing Director of the Data Coalition Initiative, whose members represent the national data community. “The Data Coalition calls on President Biden to sign this crucial data modernization effort into law.” “The NSDS is an important step for improving the data infrastructure in our country to enable more evidence-informed policymaking at the scope and scale necessary to meet the growing demands for government policies and programs that are continuously improving,” said Nick Hart, President of the Data Foundation. “Establishing the NSDS at the National Science Foundation is an example of continued bipartisan support for improving the use of data and evidence.”
“The Data Coalition Initiative is thrilled to see Congress support this type of innovation in our federal data system, and is looking forward to working with the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), and other stakeholders to ensure that the full benefits of a National Secure Data Service are realized,” said Corinna Turbes, Managing Director of the Data Coalition Initiative, whose members represent the national data community. “The Data Coalition calls on President Biden to sign this crucial data modernization effort into law.”
“The NSDS is an important step for improving the data infrastructure in our country to enable more evidence-informed policymaking at the scope and scale necessary to meet the growing demands for government policies and programs that are continuously improving,” said Nick Hart, President of the Data Foundation. “Establishing the NSDS at the National Science Foundation is an example of continued bipartisan support for improving the use of data and evidence.”
About the National Secure Data Service:
The National Secure Data Service (NSDS) will unify and promote evidence-building activities across government. The NSDS is a component of the CHIPS+ Act, which includes major improvements to the national research infrastructure, and will provide for improved coordination across the national data ecosystem, while ensuring strong privacy and confidentiality practices are used. The NSDS will encourage government and research partners to organize, analyze, and use information in support of evidence-informed decision-making to improve society.
The NSDS was first proposed by the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking (Evidence Commission) in its 2017 report to Congress and the President as a viable and realistic solution for addressing data linkage challenges that exist in our society.
The NSDS can help government officials and researchers meet the demand from decision-makers for useful, high-quality evidence that is timely, relevant, reliable, and detailed enough to inform policy while protecting the privacy of individuals and businesses. By connecting this data service to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), the National Science Foundation (NSF) will leverage the privacy framework used by statistical agencies that enable strong confidentiality protections, which are enforceable with civil and criminal penalties. This privacy framework, known as the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) was reauthorized and strengthened in the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence Act).
Read our latest report on implementing the National Secure Data Service here.
About the Data Coalition Initiative: The Data Coalition is an initiative of the non-profit Data Foundation. The membership-based initiative facilitates a strong national data community and advocates for responsible policies to make government data high-quality, accessible, and usable. The Data Coalition’s work unites the data communities that focus on data science, management, evaluation, statistics, and technology, including individuals in companies, nonprofit organizations, and academia.
Washington, D.C. - On September 24, President Biden signed into law the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act (P.L. 117-40), after passing the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support.
The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act directs federal agencies to publish their Congressional Budget Justifications - the funding requests they submit to Congress each year that explain the resources needed to run programs and achieve their missions - online and in a structured data format that enables users to download reports in bulk. The law also requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to coordinate a publicly-available website with a list of each justification by agency and fiscal year.
“This was an incredible bipartisan effort to help improve the business of government. Agency budget justifications contain a wealth of information about agency performance and priorities, but are published in such a way that makes it difficult for Congress and the public to engage with the budget process,” said Corinna Turbes, Policy Director for the Data Foundation. “This bill will make it possible for Congress and the American public to better understand what their government is allocating resources and provide capabilities to analyze how budget proposals, appropriations, and budget execution have changed over time.”
This bill passed almost unanimously in the House and Senate, thanks to the leadership from Representatives Comer (R-KY), Quigley (D-IL), Holmes Norton (D-DC), Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Cooper (D-TN), Khanna (D-CA), Axne (D-IA) and Cline (R-VA) and Senators Peters (D-MI), Portman (R--OH), Carper (D-DE), Cornyn (R-TX) and Ernst (R-IA).
About the Law:
The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act directs federal agencies to publish more information online about federal spending. Specifically, the bill would require:
Read the full fact sheet
How Will Congressional Appropriators And OMB Staff Benefit From This Law?
Staff across federal agencies, congressional offices, and even the White House budget office spend countless hours searching, collating, and repurposing content for budget formulation activities each year. Part of this exercise often requires agency staff to review old congressional justification materials to identify historical funding trends. By simply adjusting how information is published, staff supporting budget formulation and execution across agencies and branches of government will be able to more efficiently and accurately portray budgetary information to support decision-making on resource allocations. The same is true for reviewing and applying agency performance measures to promote effective performance management in the budget formulation and execution processes.
What Is The Role Of The Office Of Management And Budget?
OMB coordinates the federal budget formulation and execution processes. After annual budgets are developed and proposed funding levels agreed to within the Executive Branch, agencies are required to submit congressional justification materials for review and clearance by OMB staff. This requirement, established in OMB Circular A-11, dictates that agency justification materials align with the formal President’s Budget Request published annually by OMB.
OMB also requires agencies to publish justifications at a vanity URL (agencyXYZ.gov/CJ) following transmission to Congress, unless exempted for national security purposes. However, while OMB publishes top-line budgetary information in the President’s Budget Request volumes, OMB does not provide a consolidated database or repository for agency justifications. OMB already publishes many other budget documents on a central website, and adding the CBJs to that site would be a useful resource for Congress, agency staff, journalists, watchdogs, and the general public.
Washington, D.C. – Congress has advanced multiple bills that promote transparency about government activities and increase the use, availability, and accessibility of open data, including the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act (S.272), which got final approval yesterday and now heads to the President’s desk for signature. These bills represent priorities of the transparency, data, and evidence communities, and will help ensure better information is publicly available to enable effective, informed policy decisions.
Transparency Bills Improve American People’s Access to Information about Their Government
The bipartisan Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act improves public access to agency documents produced each year that describe past spending and performance, as well as priorities and plans for the next year’s budget. While agencies are expected to share this information publicly, there is no common access point for policymakers, congressional staff, issue advocates, or the American people to view details about the Executive Branch’s spending priorities. This bill establishes a common repository for budget details and will also require agencies to publish their annual budget justifications as structured data, supporting efforts to analyze and compare budget information across agencies and years.
“The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act is a major step forward for the federal government in being transparent about how taxpayer dollars are spent and the effectiveness of government programs,” said Nick Hart, Data Foundation president, on behalf of the members of the Data Coalition Initiative. “Government agencies have a responsibility to clearly communicate priorities and spending information to the public and this Act shifts the responsibility in finding that information from the American people to the government.”
The House previously advanced the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (H.R. 2485), in July. This bill creates would which creates a portal for publishing reports submitted to Congress as open, publicly-available information. While many of these reports are disclosable under existing public records laws, the burden is on the American public or stakeholders to request the report unless an agency chooses to make it available at the time of submission to Congress. This bill would shift the default expectation so that reports are open and available when practicable, a substantial improvement for government transparency and accountability.
While the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act heads to President Biden for signature, the other three bills will be sent to the Senate for consideration. The Data Coalition Initiative urges the Senate to rapidly advance the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Acts, continuing bipartisan efforts to improve government data and access to information for the American people.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Data Coalition and the Data Foundation announce a merger agreement to align efforts and missions for further advancing and promoting effective use of government data in 2021. The Data Coalition will be integrated into the Data Foundation, while continuing to pursue its core policy and legislative objectives.
The Data Coalition is a 50-member business association that advocates for effective government data policy, while building and maintaining a community of interested organizations. Founded in 2012, the members of the Data Coalition include data analytics firms, management consultancies, start-ups, and nonprofits, all of which share a vision for effective use of data in society.
“The Data Coalition is a strong community to support our government’s use of data. With incredible successes since its inception, the Data Coalition will continue to promote a growing data community and advocate for responsible data policy in our country,” said Jeff Press, who was recently named Chair of the Data Coalition’s Advisory Board for 2021.
The Data Foundation is a national non-profit that improves government and society by promoting the use of data to inform public policymaking. In 2020, the Data Foundation announced major philanthropic contributions to support projects such as the COVID Impact Survey, the Policing in America Survey, research on data sharing, chief data officers, and data governance.
“The new partnership between these two organizations presents a compelling opportunity to more effectively educate, influence, and advocate for data-related needs in this country,” said incoming Chair of the Data Foundation, Dean Ritz. “The timing is right, with recently-enacted federal laws that promote open data and evidence-based policymaking, new data leaders across federal agencies, and emerging opportunities for modernizing our data infrastructure, the Data Foundation board wholeheartedly welcomes the Data Coalition as we jointly pursue an equitable, data-informed society.”
The merger has been approved by each non-profit’s board of directors and will take effect at the close of the fourth quarter of 2020.
Washington, D.C. – The Data Coalition, America’s premier voice on data policy, announces eight new members: AcademyHealth, Esper, GS1 US, IBM, Public Spend Forum, Shared Services Leadership Coalition, Summit LLC, and Tyler Technologies.
“The need for our government to have useful, high-quality data is exceedingly clear to the members of the Data Coalition,” said Nick Hart, CEO at the Data Coalition. “We’re pleased to welcome a cohort of organizations leading innovative data strategies to our growing coalition.”
The newest member companies and their membership levels are as follows:
In addition, the Data Coalition announces one member upgrading its members to join the Board of Directors: HData.
A full list of Data Coalition member organizations and details on membership levels are available online.
About the Data Coalition: The Data Coalition is America’s premier voice on data policy. We advocate on behalf of the private sector and the public interest for government data to be accessible, high-quality, and used to enhance accountability, improve government effectiveness, reduce compliance costs, and stimulate innovation. Our more than 50 members have annual revenue over $300 billion and employees in every state of the U.S. For more information, visit datacoalition.org.
Washington, D.C. – On Monday, March 16, the Data Coalition along with U.S. government representatives will host a virtual panel titled “Innovating with Open Government Data.” This session was originally scheduled as a panel discussion at South by Southwest (SXSW). Due to the cancellation of SXSW, the Data Coalition will host this virtual program in an effort to keep the crucial conversation around open government data alive.
The session will take place at the originally scheduled time on Monday, March 16, from 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. EDT. The panelists will discuss how they are using open data to promote government transparency and accountability to solve important issues facing the public.
Panel Line up:
“The value of the information collected by the U.S. government in areas such as public health, safety, weather, demographics, and federal spending is maximized when data are high-quality, accessible, and usable,” said Nick Hart, CEO of the Data Coalition. “With the passage of the Evidence Act and implementation of the White House’s Federal Data Strategy, government is making great strides in recognizing data as a strategic asset and using it for the benefit of the American public. I look forward to discussing how continued access to government data will help us understand and develop solutions to the challenges facing our country.”
“As the nation’s premiere data agency, the Census Bureau is very familiar with open data and the potential it holds to improve decision-making for governments,” said Rebecca Hutchinson, Big Data Lead at the U.S. Census Bureau. “In addition to traditional survey data, alternative data sources such as satellite imagery, payment processor data, scanner data, and web-scraped financial filings provide a unique measure of the nation’s economy. Open data can enhance our ability to provide our data users with what they need to gauge the health of the economy, get a more accurate count of regional demographics, and ultimately provide substantial benefits to the American public.”
“NOAA is focused on providing open access to its high-quality data, which can unlock vast opportunities for innovative solutions to save lives and property, protect our national resources, and expand the blue economy,” said Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., Acting Administrator at NOAA. “NOAA collects billions of real-time environmental observations, and this trove of data is publicly available through several ways, including commercial Cloud Service Providers who simplify and accelerate accessibility. Additionally, NOAA’s emerging Earth Prediction Innovation Center will open access to the underlying model code to fully engage the scientific community to improve weather model forecast skill and accelerate research into operations.”
For more information on the original SXSW session, visit the SXSW website.
About the Data Coalition: The Data Coalition is America’s premier voice on data policy. We advocate on behalf of the private sector and the public interest for government data to be accessible, high-quality, and used to enhance accountability, improve government effectiveness, reduce compliance costs, and stimulate innovation. Our members represent a cross-section of the technology, data analytics, and data management industry. For more information, visit datacoalition.org.
Washington, D.C. – The Data Coalition Board of Directors regretfully announces that the in-person RegTech Data Summit 2020 scheduled for April 22 in New York will be canceled and rescheduled as a virtual event. Given the evolving situation surrounding the novel coronavirus, minimizing potential health risks to members, participants, and attendees is a top priority for the organization to successfully advocate for responsible data policies in the country.
The Data Coalition event, presented by title sponsor Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN), is being re-launched today as the RegTech Data Week, a virtual series of events from April 20-22. The new virtual event will offer expanded programming and content that focuses on the future of RegTech applications in society, specifically strategies for realizing efficiencies for financial services and government agencies.
“Because of the increasingly critical role of RegTech in our society, the Data Coalition prioritizes advancing the dialogue to develop policy options for reducing regulatory reporting costs while improving the quality of information for decision-making,” said Nick Hart, CEO of the Data Coalition. “Through the 3-day long virtual series, the Data Coalition intends to advance meaningful opportunities for implementing RegTech solutions, to highlight emerging RegTech leaders, and to showcase our members’ RegTech solutions.”
During the virtual RegTech Data Week, participants will discuss the benefits and uses of common entity identifiers, development of new pilot projects to advance the use of structured data in regulatory reporting, and other key considerations for adopting RegTech solutions in 2020 and beyond. Additional details about the program structure and logistics for the event will be made available here in the coming days.
Data Coalition members and participants should contact the Data Coalition staff with further questions about the event.
Note: this page was updated on April 6, 2020, to reflect the proper dates for RegTech Data Week 2020.
Washington, D.C. – The Data Coalition, America’s premier voice on data policy, announces 13 new members, Amazon Web Services (AWS), AlyData, DataRobot, data.world, Denodo, Digital Science, DLT Solutions, Informatica, Intel, Markup.Law, Mathematica, NORC, and Thinknum.
“We are thrilled to welcome new members to the growing Data Coalition, including Amazon Web Services, data.world, and DLT Solutions, who joined our Board of Directors,” said Nick Hart, CEO at the Data Coalition. “These thirteen companies are a key cross-section of the broad policy issues for which the Data Coalition advocates, including data sharing, evidence-based policymaking, innovation, and applying emerging technologies. Our newest member companies will play a pivotal role in advancing the Data Coalition’s advocacy efforts and thought leadership.”
Executive
Partner
Regular
Industry
Startup
Nonprofit
A full list of Data Coalition member companies and details on membership levels are available online.
Washington, D.C. – Overnight, the President signed the Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency (GREAT) Act of 2019 into law. The Data Coalition members celebrate this milestone after advocating for passage of the GREAT Act.
The bipartisan GREAT Act transforms federal grant reporting for the modern era by directing federal agencies to modernize and improve reporting processes. Recipients of federal grants — universities, fire departments, police stations, hospitals, food banks, homeless shelters, non-profits, and others — will be able to more efficiently report on activities while also focusing more on better delivering services. The GREAT Act encourages improved oversight of federal funding, greater transparency about how funds are used, and enhanced capabilities to compare grantee performance.
“The U.S. government spends more than $600 billion on grants every year, and yet our reporting processes are built for the 20th century rather than information needs in 2020,” said Data Coalition CEO Nick Hart. “The application of data standards and improvements to data quality encouraged by the GREAT Act will allow for better information about grantee performance while also reducing reporting burden for grantees, meaning service providers can focus on strategies for best serving the American people’s needs. The Data Coalition applauds the tremendous bipartisan leadership demonstrated by Congresswoman Foxx and Congressman Gomez, in particular, to ensure policymakers have access to the information they want and need to support effective decision-making.”
The GREAT Act was supported by a tireless commitment from the bill’s bipartisan sponsors Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) as well as Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Enzi, (R-WY), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
The Data Coalition members look forward to working with federal agencies to ensure the GREAT Act is successfully implemented.
A GREAT Act information one-pager is available on the Data Coalition website.
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