Christina Yancey, chief evaluation officer for the Department of Labor, said that interagency efforts to leverage data for policymaking may run into some roadblocks due to data access and security issues, Federal News Network reported Friday.Â
“It’s important to really make sure that you focus on figuring out what  specific barriers you have to accessing data linkages, because those require different conversations with different parties, all of which probably roll up to talking with your lawyers,†Yancey noted during the recent launching of a Grant Thornton and Partnership for Public Service report.
Agencies like the Department of Agriculture are looking to use available data to shed light on problems such as the lack of eligible citizens signing up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Amy Edwards, the Treasury Department’s deputy assistant secretary for accounting policy and financial transparency, noted that the department is spearheading its efforts to develop a data strategy and prototype capabilities capable of resolving cases such as improper payments.
Yancey and Edwards’ comments come after President Trump signed the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act in January mandating agencies to appoint chief evaluation and chief data officers by the end of July.
