Ensuring a Data-Driven Response to COVID-19 and Future High-Consequence Public Health Threats

2021-01-26Executive Order 13994
Signed by: Joseph R. Biden Jr.
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Headline: Federal Agencies Ordered to Share and Publish COVID-19 Data

What it does: Federal agencies must designate senior data leads and share, publish, and review COVID-19-related data, public health systems, and hiring needs.

Real World Impact:
  • Makes COVID-19 data more publicly available and machine-readable.
  • Gives state, local, Tribal, and territorial officials better data for decisions.
  • Prompts agencies to review hiring and data practices supporting pandemic response.
Topics: public health data, pandemic response, government transparency, data privacy, healthcare systems

Summary

This order requires federal departments and agencies to collect, share, and publish COVID-19-related data and to designate senior officials to lead those efforts. It also directs reviews of public health data systems, hiring capacity for IT and data roles, and government open-data practices, with guidance on de-identifying information.

The actions affect federal agencies, state, local, Tribal, and territorial authorities, and the public that relies on pandemic information.

The goal is to improve detection, decision-making, and public understanding while protecting privacy and national-security information.

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