White House finalizes OPEN Government Data Act guidance, restarts CDO Council; Biden’s final stab at cyber policy is officially here

The Biden administration released anticipated guidance Wednesday for federal agencies to implement the OPEN Government Data Act and reupped the Chief Data Officers Council after it lapsed last month, completing two key actions for federal data pol icy. Under the Office of Management and Budget memo (M-25-05), commonly known as “Phase II” guidance, agencies have long-awaited marching orders on how to create and maintain comprehensive data inventories and make their data open by default. That includes requirements to create a data inventory that is interoperable with the Federal Data Catalog, conform to the metadata schema approved by the White House, and publish that inventory on the agency’s website. The memo reestablishing the CDO Council (M-25-06), meanwhile, gives the panel the ability to start exactly how it left off when its authorization lapsed Dec. 15 with the same membership and leadership. That will be important for carrying out the work under the Phase II guidance as the CDO Council is partly responsible for one of the first actions.

That cybersecurity executive order we mentioned earlier in the week is officially here. President Biden on Thursday issued the EO on Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation’s Cybersecurity, ordering additional actions to improve the nation’s cybersecurity, focusing on defending digital infrastructure, securing the services and capabilities most vital to the digital domain, and building capability to address key threats, including those from the People’s Republic of China. The order constitutes one big last stab at cybersecurity in the Biden administration’s 11th hour and is a follow-up to an order published in the first year of his presidency. It gives agencies 53 deadlines, stretching in length from 30 days to three years.

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