Fwd: OMB Publishes M-25-05 Phase 2 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018

[Alexander Howard]

FYI.  The White House finally issued the guidance on open government data Congress mandated 6 years ago, on the anniversary of Trump signing the bill into law. (The irony of publishing it as a PDF is …sharp.)

OMB Director Shalanda Young did not share it on her way out the door today or write a blog post, much less host a press conference about it. 

The landscape for public access to public data would look different if they’d done this & driven implementation since 2021.

Instead of leading on opening public records to the public they serve, fixing FOIA, strengthening agency capacity, this White House just issued mandatory guidance on open government data. 

Good to finally see it out, but there’s been so much lost time to drive implementation.

For folks who might have forgotten what the law mandated, two canonical principles for open, digital government in the 21st century became law in the United States:

1. public information should be open by default to the public in a machine-readable format, where such publication doesn’t harm privacy or security
2. federal agencies should use evidence when they make public policy
   

The reform represented “a genuine opportunity to not only improve how the nation makes decisions but embed more openness into how the federal government conducts the public’s business.”

It was a historic, bipartisan win for open government data, after years of trying. Today is another milestone for the open movement, codifying core principles into code.

Thank you to all of the advocates, legislators, watchdogs and journalists who played an essential role in making open government data the law of the land.

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---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Open Government Secretariat <opengovernme...@gsa.gov>
Date: Wed, Jan 15, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Subject: OMB Publishes M-25-05 Phase 2 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018
To: <OPENG...@listserv.gsa.gov>

Hello Open Government Community,

       We just wanted to write you a quick note to let you know that OMB has just published M-25-05 "Phase 2 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Open Government Data Access and Management Guidance". Please find it link below:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/M-25-05-Phase-2-Implementation-of-the-Foundations-for-Evidence-Based-Policymaking-Act-of-2018-Open-Government-Data-Access-and-Management-Guidance.pdf

Sincerely,

	U.S. Open Government Secretariat
	Office of Government-wide Policy U.S. General Services Administration      Website         LinkedIn

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[Daniel Schuman]

I've seen two good write ups of the guidance. (FWIW, the substance looks good. I would have liked it six years ago, but I think -- still evaluating -- it's a good foundation for agencies to build upon).

Data Foundation's take: https://datafoundation.org/news/blogs/560/560-Open-by-Default-OMBs-New-Data-Management-Guidance-

Alex's take: https://civic-texts.ghost.io/good-news-for-the-open-social-web-and-open-government-data/

Daniel

-------------------

Daniel Schuman 

Executive Director | American Governance Institute

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