Not Everyone Loves The DATA Act

If President Barack Obama puts his expected signature on the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, agencies will begin actualizing what has been called everything from “transformative” to a 21st-century tool to “revolutionize federal spending.”

The DATA Act, which requires a standardized format for agency spending reports, has been hailed like a next killer app by lawmakers, transparency advocates and private-sector technology groups.

"Think of the DATA Act as sunshine goes digital,” wrote its chief author, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA).

"In the digital age, we should be able to search online to see how every grant, contract and disbursement is spent in a more connected and transparent way through the federal government,” said cosponsor Sen Mark Warner (D-VA) said.

“The federal government's antiquated document-based reporting apparatus will be transformed into an efficient flow of standardized, open data,” enthused the DATA Transparency Coalition. “Open spending data will become a public resource for citizens, watchdogs, and the tech industry.”

But deep inside the agencies that form what the coalition calls “the largest, most complex organization in human history,” a sub rosa current of resistance over the past few years has occasionally crept into the open. The Office of Management and Budget, which was slow to embrace the legislation, ended by backing a compromise that preserved some of its authority to work with the Treasury Department to set the data format standards. The agency’s post-passage comments still suggest a concern over new demands on agencies.