CDOs are a relatively new addition to most agencies under the 2019 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. But the administration expects greater access and usability of government data will mean billions of dollars in infrastructure spending, under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, having a greater impact on underserved communities.

U.S. Chief Data Scientist Denice Ross said on Feb. 10 that the federal CDO Council has been a “game changer for building government capacity to use data to improve the lives and livelihoods of all Americans.” …

Agencies, for example, are using dashboards to chart progress in meeting the Biden administration’s goal of having 15% of federal contracting dollars go to small, disadvantaged businesses by fiscal 2025 — a 50% increase from recent spending levels.

“Agencies are finding that a dashboard with current data can help them align efforts across all their divisions to meet this goal,” Ross said, adding that agencies are also creating dashboards to track money spent on research grants that go to minority-serving institutions… Read the full article here.