Federal Data Strategy
Overview
The Federal Data Strategy ran from 2019 to 2021 and set out a mission, 10 Principles, 40 Practices, and annual Action Plans for federal data management. This page explains what it covered and where the full record is preserved.
Source
Details
| Status: | Concluded. Not current policy. |
|---|---|
| Active: | 2019 to 2021 |
| Established by: | OMB Memorandum M-19-18, June 4, 2019 |
| Former website: | strategy.data.gov, retired 2026 |
| Current data inventory policy: | DCAT-US Schema v3.0 and OMB M-25-05 |
See an error on this page or have other feedback? Email us at DataGovHelp@gsa.gov
What the Federal Data Strategy was
The Federal Data Strategy was a government-wide framework for how agencies manage and use data. It grew out of a March 2018 President’s Management Agenda Cross-Agency Priority Goal, Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset, and was formally established by OMB Memorandum M-19-18 in June 2019.
Its mission was to fully leverage the value of federal data for mission, service, and the public good by guiding the Federal Government in practicing ethical governance, conscious design, and a learning culture.
The Strategy had four components:
| Component | What it was |
|---|---|
| Mission Statement | The intent and core purpose of the Strategy. |
| Principles | 10 principles intended as lasting guidance, grouped under Ethical Governance, Conscious Design, and Learning Culture. |
| Practices | 40 practices covering data culture, data governance, and data use. |
| Annual Action Plans | Yearly plans naming specific action steps, timeframes, and responsible parties. Two were published, for 2020 and 2021. |
The Principles and Practices are reproduced in full on this site. They remain useful as reference, and agencies still cite individual practices by number.
Action Plans
Two annual Action Plans were published before the Strategy concluded. Agency progress against them was reported quarterly through 2020.
| Document | Published |
|---|---|
| 2020 Action Plan (PDF) | December 2019 |
| 2021 Action Plan (PDF) | 2021 |
| Federal Data Strategy Framework brochure (PDF) | 2020 |
Draft versions of both plans, along with the documents describing how public comment changed them, are listed on the Federal Data Strategy history page.
How it relates to current policy
The Federal Data Strategy is not current policy and should not be cited as a current requirement. Agencies looking for current direction on data inventories and metadata should start with OMB M-25-05 and the DCAT-US Schema v3.0 reference.
Several resources on this site were produced under the Strategy and remain in active use, including the Data Ethics Framework, the Data Governance Playbook, and the Curated Data Skills Catalog. Browse them under the Federal Data Strategy keyword.
Where the full record is preserved
The Strategy had its own website at strategy.data.gov, which was retired in 2026. Nothing from it was discarded. The complete site, including every news item, the agency proof point case studies, the action progress reporting, and all published documents, is preserved in two places that will remain publicly available.
| Where | What it holds |
|---|---|
| GSA/data-strategy on GitHub | The complete source of the former website, including all pages, 38 news items and proof point case studies, every published document, and the full revision history. Released into the public domain under CC0. |
| strategy.data.gov in the Wayback Machine | Captures of the live site as it appeared, from 2018 through its retirement. |
The 17 documents published on the former site are also hosted directly on resources.data.gov, so links to them continue to resolve. They are listed on the Federal Data Strategy history page.
Changelog
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| October 2026 | Page created as part of the strategy.data.gov retirement. Replaces the former site's homepage and Overview page. |