Toward a 21st Century National Data Infrastructure: Mobilizing Information for the Common Good (2023) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 The United States Needs a New National Data Infrastructure
2 The United States Needs a New National Data Infrastructure
Pages 19-36
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 19... ...
In all democracies throughout the world, central governments have the responsibility of collecting data and making statistical information widely available to the populace. Credibility is a key attribute of information distributed from the government to the public.
|
From page 20... ...
and other statutes ensure that data provided by respondents to federal statistical agencies for statisti cal purposes are confidential. Government statistical agencies often articulate a set of principles, prac tices, and standards to ensure the trustworthiness and credibility of govern ment statistics.
|
From page 21... ...
call for envisioning a new data infrastructure that produces more timely, granular, and relevant statistical information. A new data infrastructure will mobilize the nation's relevant data assets by accessing data across sectors, to improve existing statistical products and create new ones -- all in scientifically sound ways that incorporate enhanced privacy protections for data subjects and holders.
|
From page 22... ...
Producing National Statistics: Declining Response Rates and Increased Costs In the panel's opinion, U.S. statistical agencies' reliance on samplesurvey data and census data is unsustainable.
|
From page 23... ...
• U.S. Census Bureau quarterly Survey of Residential Alterations and Repairs terminated in 2008.
|
From page 24... ...
. Declining response rates,2 increasing collection costs, program reductions, and government continuing resolutions that freeze funding at the prior-year level and increase agency uncertainty, combined with the inability of federal statistical agency budgets to satisfy the growing demand for more timely and granular information, have generated a vicious circle.
|
From page 25... ...
. In addition, local and city governments are already using data to make smarter, more informed decisions.4 Yet, most of these federal, state, and local administrative-data assets remain untapped by the federal statistical system, and their use is often prohibited by statute for statistical uses or research.
|
From page 26... ...
Some new data sources contain data that households and businesses are asked to report in agency sample surveys, but they can also include more expansive and more timely data that could enrich existing statistical programs. Generally, these private sector data have been available to federal statistical agencies only through negotiated purchases or other bespoke contract mechanisms.
|
From page 27... ...
. Current Efforts to Use Digital Data to Repair Weaknesses in National Statistics Demonstrate the Possibilities and Limitations of Alternative Data Sources The past several years have seen multiple attempts by researchers at statistical agencies to blend diverse data sources with existing survey and census data.
|
From page 28... ...
provided multiple examples of private sector data use by federal statistical agencies and units. All 13 designated statistical agencies, except for the Social Security Administration's Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, are currently using private sector data assets (Reamer, 2021)
|
From page 29... ...
• Laws and regulations remain major obstacles to accessing and using federal statistical agency-restricted data assets, federal pro gram and administrative datasets, and state and local government datasets. • Some data holders share their data, but vast spheres of activi ties have not yet been explored; shared data assets may not be representative.
|
From page 30... ...
One example is the recently announced modernization of the U.S. Census Bureau's residential construction statistics program, which was possible only by blending multiple data sources (Darr, 2022)
|
From page 31... ...
Such linking could provide additional insights into the characteristics of key supply-chain participants. Despite evidence that the blending of diverse data assets for statistical purposes is already a growing component of the federal statistical system and other parts of government,11 there is no cohesive, coordinated plan to build a new data infrastructure to provide statistical agencies or the broader community access to the diverse, relevant data sources needed to further this practice.
|
From page 32... ...
. The Evidence Act implemented about half of CEP's recommendations and provides statistical agencies with a broader statutory basis for access ing and using data assets of federal nonstatistical agencies: "The head of an agency shall, to the extent practicable, make any data asset maintained by the agency available, upon request, to any statistical agency or unit for purposes of developing evidence" (U.S.
|
From page 33... ...
. According to the Evidence Act, providing access to data assets is "for purposes of developing evidence." The Evidence Act defines "evidence" as "information produced as a result of statistical activities conducted for a statistical purpose" (U.S.
|
From page 34... ...
Consistent with the Evidence Act and CEP, ACDEB did not address possible improvements through the use of private sector data for national statistics. ACDEB discussed the Biden Administration's priorities, including presidential memoranda and executive orders that impact the Panel's work (The White House, 2021a,b)
|
From page 35... ...
It is indisputable that the opportunities are prodigious. While the Evidence Act provided statistical agencies with a broader statutory basis for accessing and using data assets of federal nonstatistical agencies (U.S.
|
From page 36... ...
CEP, the Evidence Act, and ACDEB deliberations and recommendations do not identify private sector data as a key component of a new national data infrastructure. Workshop participants noted that private sector data utilization for national purposes might greatly improve the quality, timeliness, and granularity of national statistics, as well as improve knowledge of groups that are not well represented in existing surveys.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.