It may or may not get signed before this session of Congress is over, but the Open Data Act (HR 4174) is ready for the President’s signature.
The Act is the principal title of the Foundations of Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. It pushes the Federal government in the direction of making more data more accessible to the public. It calls for the creation of data inventories, use of open data standards, and an “open by default” policy.
Even more importantly, the law lays the foundations of evidence-based policymaking. This is huge. Think of all the areas — climate change, gun violence, healthcare, and economic policy — where partisanship and fact-free argumentation trump evidence and outcomes research.
We need the government at all levels to move towards using data and scientific research as the basis of policymaking decisions. This is a small first step in that direction. I hope Trump signs it.