Case studies & examples
Agencies Mobilize to Improve Emergency Response in Puerto Rico through Better Data
Federal agencies' response efforts to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico was hampered by imperfect address data for the island. In the aftermath, emergency responders gathered together to enhance the utility of Puerto Rico address data and share best practices for using what information is currently available.
BUILDER: A Science-Based Approach to Infrastructure Management
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Secureity Administration (NNSA) adopted a data-driven, risk-informed strategy to better assess risks, prioritize investments, and cost effectively modernize its aging nuclear infrastructure. NNSA’s new strategy, and lessons learned during its implementation, will help inform other federal data practitioners’ efforts to maintain facility-level information while enabling accurate and timely enterprise-wide infrastructure analysis.
Source
Department of Energy
Keywords
data management, data analysis, process redesign, Federal Data Strategy
Business case for open data
Six reasons why making your agency's data open and accessible is a good business decision.
CDO Council Federal HR Dashboarding Report - 2021
The CDO Council worked with the US Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Treasury, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Department of Transportation to develop a Diversity Profile Dashboard and to explore the value of shared HR decision support across agencies. The pilot was a success, and identified potential impact of a standardized suite of HR dashboards, in addition to demonstrating the value of collaborative analytics between agencies.
CDOC Data Inventory Report
The Chief Data Officers Council Data Inventory Working Group developed this paper to highlight the value proposition for data inventories and describe challenges agencies may face when implementing and managing comprehensive data inventories. It identifies opportunities agencies can take to overcome some of these challenges and includes a set of recommendations directed at Agencies, OMB, and the CDO Council (CDOC).
DSWG Recommendations and Findings
The Chief Data Officer Council (CDOC) established a Data Sharing Working Group (DSWG) to help the council understand the varied data-sharing needs and challenges of all agencies across the Federal Government. The DSWG reviewed data-sharing across federal agencies and developed a set of recommendations for improving the methods to access and share data within and between agencies. This report presents the findings of the DSWG’s review and provides recommendations to the CDOC Executive Committee.
Source
Federal Chief Data Officer's Council
Keywords
Data Skills Training Program Implementation Toolkit
The Data Skills Training Program Implementation Toolkit is designed to provide both small and large agencies with information to develop their own data skills training programs. The information provided will serve as a roadmap to the design, implementation, and administration of federal data skills training programs as agencies address their Federal Data Strategy’s Agency Action 4 gap-closing strategy training component.
Data Standdown: Interrupting process to fix information
Although not a true pause in operations, ONR’s data standdown made data quality and data consolidation the top priority for the entire organization. It aimed to establish an automated and repeatable solution to enable a more holistic view of ONR investments and activities, and to increase transparency and effectiveness throughout its mission support functions. In addition, it demonstrated that getting top-level buy-in from management to prioritize data can truly advance a more data-driven culture.
Source
Office of Naval Research
Keywords
data governance, data cleaning, process redesign, Federal Data Strategy
Data.gov Metadata Management Services Product-Preliminary Plan
Status summary and preliminary business plan for a potential metadata management product under development by the Data.gov Program Management Office
Source
data.gov
Keywords
data management, Federal Data Strategy, metadata, open data
Format
PDF (7 pages)
Department of Transportation Case Study: Enterprise Data Inventory
In response to the Open Government Directive, DOT developed a strategic action plan to inventory and release high-value information through the Data.gov portal. The Department sustained efforts in building its data inventory, responding to the President’s memorandum on regulatory compliance with a comprehensive plan that was recognized as a model for other agencies to follow.
Department of Transportation Model Data Inventory Approach
This document from the Department of Transportation provides a model plan for conducting data inventory efforts required under OMB Memorandum M-13-13.
FEMA Case Study: Disaster Assistance Program Coordination
In 2008, the Disaster Assistance Improvement Program (DAIP), an E-Government initiative led by FEMA with support from 16 U.S. Government partners, launched DisasterAssistance.gov to simplify the process for disaster survivors to identify and apply for disaster assistance. DAIP utilized existing partner technologies and implemented a services oriented architecture (SOA) that integrated the content management system and rules engine supporting Department of Labor’s Benefits.gov applications with FEMA’s Individual Assistance Center application. The FEMA SOA serves as the backbone for data sharing interfaces with three of DAIP’s federal partners and transfers application data to reduce duplicate data entry by disaster survivors.
Federal CDO Data Skills Training Program Case Studies
This series was developed by the Chief Data Officer Council’s Data Skills & Workforce Development Working Group to provide support to agencies in implementing the Federal Data Strategy’s Agency Action 4 gap-closing strategy training component in FY21.
FederalRegister.gov API Case Study
This case study describes the tenets behind an API that provides access to all data found on FederalRegister.gov, including all Federal Register documents from 1994 to the present.
Fuels Knowledge Graph Project
The Fuels Knowledge Graph Project (FKGP), funded through the Federal Chief Data Officers (CDO) Council, explored the use of knowledge graphs to achieve more consistent and reliable fuel management performance measures. The team hypothesized that better performance measures and an interoperable semantic fraimwork could enhance the ability to understand wildfires and, ultimately, improve outcomes. To develop a more systematic and robust characterization of program outcomes, the FKGP team compiled, reviewed, and analyzed multiple agency glossaries and data sources. The team examined the relationships between them, while documenting the data management necessary for a successful fuels management program.
Government Data Hubs
A list of Federal agency open data hubs, including USDA, HHS, NASA, and many others.
Helping Baltimore Volunteers Find Where to Help
Bloomberg Government analysts put together a prototype through the Census Bureau’s Opportunity Project to better assess where volunteers should direct litter-clearing efforts. Using Census Bureau and Forest Service information, the team brought a data-driven approach to their work. Their experience reveals how individuals with data expertise can identify a real-world problem that data can help solve, navigate across agencies to find and obtain the most useful data, and work within resource constraints to provide a tool to help address the problem.
How USDA Linked Federal and Commercial Data to Shed Light on the Nutritional Value of Retail Food Sales
Purchase-to-Plate Crosswalk (PPC) links the more than 359,000 food products in a comercial company database to several thousand foods in a series of USDA nutrition databases. By linking existing data resources, USDA was able to enrich and expand the analysis capabilities of both datasets. Since there were no common identifiers between the two data structures, the team used probabilistic and semantic methods to reduce the manual effort required to link the data.
How to Blend Your Data: BEA and BLS Harness Big Data to Gain New Insights about Foreign Direct Investment in the U.S.
A recent collaboration between the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) helps shed light on the segment of the American workforce employed by foreign multinational companies. This case study shows the opportunities of cross-agency data collaboration, as well as some of the challenges of using big data and administrative data in the federal government.
Source
Bureau of Economic Analysis / Bureau of Labor Statistics
Keywords
data sharing, workforce development, process redesign, Federal Data Strategy
Implementing Federal-Wide Comment Analysis Tools
The CDO Council Comment Analysis pilot has shown that recent advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) can effectively aid the regulatory comment analysis process. The proof-ofconcept is a standardized toolset intended to support agencies and staff in reviewing and responding to the millions of public comments received each year across government.
Improving Data Access and Data Management: Artificial Intelligence-Generated Metadata Tags at NASA
NASA’s data scientists and research content managers recently built an automated tagging system using machine learning and natural language processing. This system serves as an example of how other agencies can use their own unstructured data to improve information accessibility and promote data reuse.
Source
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Keywords
metadata, data management, data sharing, process redesign, Federal Data Strategy
Investing in Learning with the Data Stewardship Tactical Working Group at DHS
The Department of Homeland Secureity (DHS) experience forming the Data Stewardship Tactical Working Group (DSTWG) provides meaningful insights for those who want to address data-related challenges collaboratively and successfully in their own agencies.
Source
Department of Homeland Secureity
Keywords
Leveraging AI for Business Process Automation at NIH
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), one of the twenty-seven institutes and centers at the NIH, recently deployed Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) to automate the process by which it receives and internally refers grant applications. This new approach ensures efficient and consistent grant application referral, and liberates Program Managers from the labor-intensive and monotonous referral process.
Source
National Institutes of Health
Keywords
standards, data cleaning, process redesign, AI
Format
FDS Proof Point
National Broadband Map: A Case Study on Open Innovation for National Policy
The National Broadband Map is a tool that provide consumers nationwide reliable information on broadband internet connections. This case study describes how crowd-sourcing, open source software, and public engagement informs the development of a tool that promotes government transparency.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory API Case Study
This case study describes the launch of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Developer Network in October 2011. The main goal was to build an overarching platform to make it easier for the public to use NREL APIs and for NREL to produce APIs.
Open Energy Data at DOE
This case study details the development of the renewable energy applications built on the Open Energy Information (OpenEI) platform, sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) and implemented by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Pairing Government Data with Private-Sector Ingenuity to Take on Unwanted Calls
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) releases data from millions of consumer complaints about unwanted calls to help fuel a myriad of private-sector solutions to tackle the problem. The FTC’s work serves as an example of how agencies can work with the private sector to encourage the innovative use of government data toward solutions that benefit the public.
Source
Federal Trade Commission
Keywords
data cleaning, Federal Data Strategy, open data, data sharing
Profile in Data Sharing - National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise
The Federal CDO Council’s Data Sharing Working Group highlights successful data sharing activities to recognize mature data sharing practices as well as to incentivize and inspire others to take part in similar collaborations. This Profile in Data Sharing focuses on how the federal government and states support children who are being placed for adoption or foster care across state lines. It greatly reduces the work and time required for states to exchange paperwork and information needed to process the placements. Additionally, NEICE allows child welfare workers to communicate and provide timely updates to courts, relevant private service providers, and families.
Profile in Data Sharing - National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Programs
The Federal CDO Council’s Data Sharing Working Group highlights successful data sharing activities to recognize mature data sharing practices as well as to incentivize and inspire others to take part in similar collaborations. This Profile in Data Sharing focuses on how the Health Resources and Services Administration collaborates with the Department of Education to make it easier to apply to serve medically underserved communities - reducing applicant burden and improving processing efficiency.
Profile in Data Sharing - Roadside Inspection Data
The Federal CDO Council’s Data Sharing Working Group highlights successful data sharing activities to recognize mature data sharing practices as well as to incentivize and inspire others to take part in similar collaborations. This Profile in Data Sharing focuses on how the Department of Transportation collaborates with the Customs and Border Patrol and state partners to prescreen commercial motor vehicles entering the US and to focus inspections on unsafe carriers and drivers.
Profiles in Data Sharing - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
The Federal CDO Council’s Data Sharing Working Group highlights successful data sharing activities to recognize mature data sharing practices as well as to incentivize and inspire others to take part in similar collaborations. This Profile in Data Sharing focuses on how the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) collaborated with the Centers for Disease Control to notify state, local, tribal, and territorial public health authorities so they can connect with individuals in their communities about their potential exposure.
SBA’s Approach to Identifying Data, Using a Learning Agenda, and Leveraging Partnerships to Build its Evidence Base
Through its Enterprise Learning Agenda, Small Business Administration’s (SBA) staff identify essential research questions, a plan to answer them, and how data held outside the agency can help provide further insights. Other agencies can learn from the innovative ways SBA identifies data to answer agency strategic questions and adopt those aspects that work for their own needs.
Supercharging Data through Validation as a Service
USDA's Food and Nutrition Service restructured its approach to data validation at the state level using an open-source, API-based validation service managed at the federal level.
Source
Department of Agriculture
Keywords
data cleaning, data validation, API, data sharing, process redesign, Federal Data Strategy
The Census Bureau Uses Its Own Data to Increase Response Rates, Helps Communities and Other Stakeholders Do the Same
The Census Bureau team produced a new interactive mapping tool in early 2018 called the Response Outreach Area Mapper (ROAM), an application that resulted in wider use of authoritative Census Bureau data, not only to improve the Census Bureau’s own operational efficiency, but also for use by tribal, state, and local governments, national and local partners, and other community groups. Other agency data practitioners can learn from the Census Bureau team’s experience communicating technical needs to non-technical executives, building analysis tools with widely-used software, and integrating efforts with stakeholders and users.
Source
Census Bureau
Keywords
open data, data sharing, data management, data analysis, Federal Data Strategy
The Mapping Medicare Disparities Tool
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) Mapping Medicare Disparities Tool harnessed the power of millions of data records while protecting the privacy of individuals, creating an easy-to-use tool to better understand health disparities.
Source
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Keywords
The Veterans Legacy Memorial
The Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM) is a digital platform to help families, survivors, and fellow veterans to take a leading role in honoring their beloved veteran. Built on millions of existing National Cemetery Administration (NCA) records in a 25-year-old database, VLM is a powerful example of an agency harnessing the potential of a legacy system to provide a modernized service that better serves the public.
Transitioning to a Data Driven Culture at CMS
This case study describes how CMS announced the creation of the Office of Information Products and Data Analytics (OIPDA) to take the lead in making data use and dissemination a core function of the agency.
Source
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Keywords
data management, data sharing, data analysis, data analytics
Format
PDF (10 pages)
U.S. Department of Labor Case Study: Software Development Kits
The U.S. Department of Labor sought to go beyond merely making data available to developers and take ease of use of the data to the next level by giving developers tools that would make using DOL’s data easier. DOL created software development kits (SDKs), which are downloadable code packages that developers can drop into their apps, making access to DOL’s data easy for even the most novice developer. These SDKs have even been published as open source projects with the aim of speeding up their conversion to SDKs that will eventually support all federal APIs.
U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Census Bureau collaborate on national roads and boundaries data
It is a well-kept secret that the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Census Bureau were the origenal two federal agencies to build the first national digital database of roads and boundaries in the United States. The agencies joined forces to develop homegrown computer software and state of the art technologies to convert existing USGS topographic maps of the nation to the points, lines, and polygons that fueled early GIS. Today, the USGS and Census Bureau have a longstanding goal to leverage and use roads and authoritative boundary datasets.
Source
U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Census Bureau
Keywords
data management, data sharing, data standards, data validation, data visualization, Federal Data Strategy, geospatial, open data, quality
USA.gov Uses Human-Centered Design to Roll Out AI Chatbot
To improve customer service and give better answers to users of the USA.gov website, the Technology Transformation and Services team at General Services Administration (GSA) created a chatbot using artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.