Open Data Law Aims To Demystify Federal Spending
Landmark DATA legislation, near passage, would transform the US government's spending information from a maze of confusing documents into easily accessible open data.
Both houses of Congress stand poised to pass a law three years in the making that would standardize how the federal government's spending data are published. The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act), regarded by some observers as the most significant open-government legislation since the Freedom of Information Act in 1966, would transform the US government's spending information from a maze of confusing documents into easily accessible open data.
The new law would require the federal government to automate, standardize, and publish its myriad financial management, procurement, and related data in electronic formats that can be easily accessed and analyzed by interested parties in the public and private sectors.
