Our Programs Leverage Data & Evidence to Improve Lives

As data becomes an increasingly important part of our society and the global environment, the ability to effectively harness and use data is crucial for informed decision-making and positive change. The Data Foundation’s non-partisan, action-oriented programs and activities are designed to empower individuals and organizations to leverage data and evidence to improve lives and our society with a sustained impact. 

Each of our programs embodies research, collaboration, and advocacy efforts that reflect the Data Foundation’s core values and – importantly – highlight our longstanding ability to solve real problems with meaningful strategies that promote responsible use of government data and promote transparency.

Data Policy

The Data Foundation champions the development and implementation of robust, sound data policies that promote responsible data collection, management, and use. We advocate for policies that protect individual privacy, ensure data quality and reliability, and foster transparency and accountability in data practices. Priorities for this program include topics that intersect with historical areas of policy emphasis related to data sharing, data governance, data infrastructure, and privacy, while also identifying emerging themes and areas of relevance such as applications and intersections with artificial intelligence, privacy technologies, and data innovation.

Evidence and Evaluation Capacity

Using data and evidence in practice requires the capacity to implement and execute on the policies and practices embodied in laws, regulations, and guidance in recent years. The Data Foundation is supporting strategies to strengthen the capacity for data literacy, analysis, and evaluation that ultimately enable use and knowledge transfer for evidence-informed decision-making. We provide training, resources, and guidance to support capacity-building and engagement. Priorities for this program include support for evidence and evaluation policy that supports the evaluation workforce, promotes the implementation of evaluation principles and practices, facilitates the development and use of learning agendas, enables radical collaboration and identification of new engagement models with non-traditional stakeholders, encourages the use of evidence in policy making and decision-making, and increasingly supports efforts the describe how evidence is used through creative means for relevant audiences.

Special Projects

The Data Foundation tackles specific data-related opportunities or challenges by undertaking targeted projects that address critical issues. Our special projects focus on areas such as open data, data literacy, and data governance, aiming to make data more accessible, understandable, and responsibly managed. Priorities currently include support for implementation of the Financial Data Transparency Act and rapid development of resources that enable effective implementation of the OPEN Government Data Act, including support for federal chief data officers.