The founders were data people. I know — not the phrase you expected! But counting was America's first act of self-government, in Article One. Good data doesn't belong to a party. It belongs to the country. Happy Fourth. Let's keep moving forward. #America250 #OpenData #US250 #1776to2026

Joined @GovNavigators this week to debrief #govDATAx and talk federal data: the progress agencies are making, balancing representation with privacy, and why good public data is key to fighting fraud. (Yes, Jaws came up.) Thanks to @Allocore for sponsoring. govnavigators.com/the-govnav…

The @Data_Foundation is launching a process to create a National Data Strategy -- more here: linkedin.com/posts/nickrhart…

If you aren't listening to Data for the People! You are missing out! More -- > linkedin.com/posts/nickrhart…

Check out my latest article: Killer Robots: Claude Literally Killed Me, and I'm Still Here to Tell the Story linkedin.com/pulse/killer-ro… via @LinkedIn

Congress heads home for August recess this week. The work of shaping federal data infrastructure doesn't. Right now there are open data plans, information collection requests, and proposed rules out for public comment. Each one shapes what data gets collected, protected, and made usable. Each one is a chance for the data and evidence community to weigh in. A principle we keep coming back to: volume is not the standard. Substance is. That's what the @Data_Foundation's Expert Engagement Guides are built for—comments that land with weight, not just numbers. There's one for proposed rulemakings and one for Information Collection Requests. There's an open comment period out there with your name on it. Guides linked 👇 Both Expert Engagement Guides are available here: datafoundation.org/news/blog… For Evidence Act resources that complement them: EvidenceAct.org Questions? Reach us at info@datafoundation.org #OpenData #EvidenceAct #PublicComment #FederalData

Here's a short, nonpartisan explainer on the new U.S. Department of Commerce privacy order (DAO 216-26), and what it does and doesn't mean for federal government data. The @data_foundation takes no position on the order. We are here to help decision-makers, policymakers, and our community understand the facts. Full explainer and fact sheet: datafoundation.org/pages/Und…

Searching hundreds of federal Evidence Act PDFs is officially a thing of the past. 🚀 Meet Evi, the new AI assistant for the Evidence Act Hub. Ask questions in plain language about federal Learning Agendas, Evaluation Plans, and Capacity Assessments, and receive citation-backed answers in seconds. 🔎 Grounded in official Hub documents 📄 Inline source citations ⚡ Compare agencies & track priorities over time Try Evi: buff.ly/sNMAc5Q #AI #GovTech #EvidenceAct #PublicPolicy

🎙️ New webinar alert! On July 15, join Tom Dunlap & Kirke Cushing for a discussion on strengthening data infrastructure in private markets as millions of Americans gain exposure to the asset class. Save your seat 👇 us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi… #DataGovernance #PrivateMarkets

The most effective expert comments aren't the loudest. They're the ones agencies can't ignore on the merits. Proud to share two new Expert Engagement Guides from @data_foundation's Center for Evidence Capacity, on commenting on rulemakings and information collections --> datafoundation.org/news/blog…

What should the future of evaluation look like? In a new article for New Directions for Evaluation, Data Foundation President & CEO @NickRHart argues for evaluation that is better, cheaper, faster, and more usable for decision-makers. From strategic prioritization to AI-enabled learning, he outlines a roadmap for strengthening evidence-building in government. 🔗 Read more: buff.ly/jMAkiOZ #Evaluation #EvidenceBasedPolicy #DataFoundation

Government spends trillions and rarely asks: does it work? Time to fix that. My new piece in @GovExec 🔗 govexec.com/management/2026/…

Improper payments affect over $150 billion per year in federal spending -- that's too much. Treasury's Do Not Pay system was designed to help address this, but only 4% of programs are using it. Today, the @Data_Foundation is endorsing the Pre-Payment Fraud Prevention and Treasury Data Access Act ahead of tomorrow's markup in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The bill includes a strong privacy framework. It preserves independent verification before any adverse action, maintains confidentiality obligations, establishes congressional oversight and public reporting, and streamlines administrative processes — all without eliminating the protections that matter. Privacy and program effectiveness aren't at odds. They reinforce each other. This bill removes targeted administrative barriers while preserving core safeguards.  We're urging the Committee to advance this bill in its mark-up on April 29th. --> datafoundation.org/news/pres…

Chronic absenteeism requires a smarter way to coordinate data across the K-12 ecosystem. On 4/28, Kate Cochran joins @Data_Foundation to discuss data frameworks and public-private partnerships to support student success. Register: tinyurl.com/4z764ua9 #EdTech #K12

This week, key House leaders introduced the SECURE Data Act and GUARD Financial Data Act, the most significant federal privacy effort in years. As someone who has worked on federal data policy for decades, I welcome this step and the historic coordination between the House Committee on Energy and Commerce & U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. But we also have work to do. Meaningful privacy protection requires more than rights on paper, it requires accountability mechanisms that make those rights enforceable in practice. That means data protection impact assessments, proportionate safeguards against reidentification risks, and careful attention to preemption. Our most durable national privacy and transparency laws — the Privacy Act, the Evidence Act, OPEN Government Data Act, CIPSEA — were all built on bipartisan consensus. That's the standard this effort should meet. My full statement on behalf of the @data_foundation --> datafoundation.org/news/pres… #privacy #transparency

The federal government reported more than $160 billion in improper payments last year. Over $45 billion of that traces back to failures in death, identity, and marital status verification -- not fraud, but a data infrastructure problem. Today the @data_foundation is releasing "Program Integrity Through Data Infrastructure," a flagship product of our year-long Fiscal Intelligence Initiative, supported by the The Peter G. Peterson Foundation. The report lays out policy options for shifting the government away from a pay-and-chase model toward preventative screening -- with real scorable savings potential for the current budget moment. 📰 Press release announcing the full report with ten ranked policy options -- datafoundation.org/news/pres… 📕 Full report with ten ranked options that span three categories: data infrastructure enhancements, verification system modernization, and coordination and innovation -- datafoundation.org/news/repo… 📜 Policy brief with top five options -- datafoundation.org/news/repo…

🎯 Shape AI-driven scientific discovery Join our virtual forum April 28 on the Genesis Mission Executive Order—examining university-federal research collaborations, workforce pathways, and data governance frameworks. Fast-paced format. Speaking slots open. Submit: buff.ly/KWiyo2C #GenesisMission #HigherEd

Want to know more about the TSA workforce ? According to federal open data -- they look a lot like the American working class: linkedin.com/posts/nickrhart…

Looking for a way to take action on the OPRE restructuring -- join our sign-on letter here: datafoundation.org/news/advo…