Background

resources.data.gov is an online repository of policies, schema standards, tools, best practices, and case studies to provide agencies a one-stop shop for resources related to Federal data management and use. Resources.data.gov provides the repository requirements of the Foundations for Evidence-based Policymaking Act and supplemental materials for the Federal Data Strategy. Resources.data.gov will evolve over time as a community resource to facilitate adoption of federal data resources. To facilitate collaboration across the Federal Government and in partnership with public developers, Resources.data.gov is published on the developer social network GitHub.

As the maintainers of Resources.data.gov, the General Services Administration (GSA), the Office of Government and Information Services (OGIS) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), are dedicated to maximizing openness, participation, and collaboration while ensuring the integrity of the resources hosted within the repository. This page provides information on ways to participate in the Resources.data.gov repository and how GSA, OMB, and OGIS will govern it.

Contributing

resources.data.gov is a collaborative, open source project hosted on GitHub. Both federal employees and members of the public are strongly encouraged to improve the project by contributing. Please see our CONTRIBUTING guide for more information on how to participate.

Site owners

Resources.data.gov is managed by GSA’s TTS Solutions, OMB’s the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer (OFCIO) and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), and the Office of Government and Information Services (OGIS). The Data.gov Program Manager, the Federal CIO, the OIRA Administrator, and the OGIS Director will be actively involved, along with members of their team.

Approving changes

In GitHub speak, Resources.data.gov is actually a collection of resources managed as an open source project – i.e., users can make pull requests (suggest changes). The owners will collectively adjudicate the pull requests (accept, modify, or reject) in a public log on a standard release cycle.

  • Technical Repositories Governance & Review Cycle (e.g., tools, schema standards)– Technical repositories will be maintained by staff within the GSA and OFCIO, with support from technical staff at GSA (i.e., the Technical Review Committee). All comments and proposed changes from the public or other Federal employees will be reviewed regularly by the Technical Review Committee, on monthly intervals. Additional stakeholders will be involved in review processes based on needed subject matter expertise.
    • Metadata Schema Review Cycle Changes to the Resources.data.gov metadata schema will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Starting September 2019 new releases of the schema will only be issued every year, as needed. Suggested changes that alter implementation and structure of the schema will not be merged in-between the regular release cycles, though discussion and commenting during these periods are encouraged. Each version of the schema will have a depreciation date of one year.
    • Website Review Cycle Changes to the Resources.data.gov repository website will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Starting September 2019 new releases of the website will only be issued every year, as needed.
  • Implementation Guidance & Release Cycle (e.g., guidance) — Changes to repositories with implications for OMB and OGIS policy must be approved by OFCIO, OIRA, and OGIS policy officials, respectively. All comments and proposed changes from the public or other Federal employees will be reviewed by the appropriate staff on quarterly intervals. Additional Federal stakeholders will be involved in review processes based on needed subject matter expertise.
  • Exemplar Resources & Release Cycle (e.g., case studies, playbooks, skill builders) — Changes to repositories that feature best-in-class examples must be approved by GSA, OFCIO, OGIS, and OIRA policy officials. All comments and proposed changes from the public or other Federal employees will be reviewed by the appropriate staff on monthly intervals. Additional Federal stakeholders will be involved in review processes based on needed subject matter expertise.