Bipartisan Data Transparency Bill Included in Defense Bill Passed by Senate
WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate passed Representative Derek Kilmer’s (D-WA-06) bipartisan, bicameral legislation to open up government data to improve services and support new discoveries in the private sector on Monday evening. The bill’s language was added to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that cleared the Senate. The NDAA now moves into a conference committee with the House.
The Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act was originally introduced by Representatives Kilmer and Blake Farenthold (R-TX-27) in the House and Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Ben Sasse (R-NE) in the Senate. It requires that public data be made available in machine-readable format at Data.gov so individuals, organizations and other government offices can utilize it in an easily searchable manner. It also protects privacy and national security information when making federal government data available to the public and requires federal agencies to use data to improve decision making.
“We are pushing to the finish line our bill that finally puts public government data in an accessible, easy to find place. Making open data standard practice will help innovators create breakthroughs that grow jobs in private industry, improve efficiency in government, and create more transparency for the American public.”