Related event: RSVP for a briefing on the National Secure Data Service Act, Tuesday, August 9, at 3:00 p.m. EDT.

Authors

Nancy Potok, Ph.D., Former Chief Statistician of the United States White House Office of Management and Budget and Data Foundation Board Member

Nick Hart, Ph.D., President, & CEO Data Foundation

Executive Summary

The concept of the National Secure Data Service (NSDS) has gained substantial momentum and enthusiasm since it was first proposed by the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking (Evidence Commission) in its 2017 Report to Congress and the President. Since 2017, Congress passed the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act
of 2018 (Evidence Act), which established the Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building (ACDEB) to explore questions and implementation options for the NSDS. The ACDEB is charged with providing recommendations to the Director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on “...how to promote the use of federal data for evidence building with a particular emphasis on evaluating the need for and value of a National Secure Data Service.” The ACDEB launched in October 2020 to begin considering questions related to the NSDS.

In 2020, the Data Foundation published Modernizing U.S. Data Infrastructure: Design Considerations for Implementing
a National Secure Data Service to Improve Statistics and Evidence Building, which presented a broad vision for how
to align the NSDS within the framework offered by the Evidence Commission and the Evidence Act. That vision is to build evidence that supports public policymaking in a collaborative ecosystem, including but extending beyond federal statistical agencies. The paper specifically examined four options for an overall structure and location for the NSDS, recommending that it operate as a specific type of government-owned and contractor-operated facility to accommodate public-private partnership. The paper also identified key functions of the NSDS and recommended that it be housed at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and contracted out through the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), one of the 13 designated federal statistical agencies.

This report examines three existing models in assessing the best fit for the NSDS across multiple dimensions such as a concept of operations, governance, oversight, and funding, while also building on the Data Foundation’s Modernizing U.S. Data Infrastructure report from 2020.

Download the Full Report

Acknowledgments

The Data Foundation and authors thank the Schmidt Futures for its generous support for this project. The authors
also thanks the independent reviewers who provided constructive comments on earlier drafts and the members of the Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building who convened public discussions that contributed to the ideas in this report.

Disclaimer

This paper is a product of the Data Foundation, with funding support provided by the Schmidt Futures. The findings and conclusions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Data Foundation, its funders and sponsors, or its board of directors.

Disclosure

Both authors of this paper were affiliated with the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. Dr. Potok was an appointed member of the Evidence Commission and Dr. Hart served as the policy and research director.