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Background Information
Background and Basis for CRE Interest
CRE envisions data quality as one of three points of the federal information triangle: at the apex of the triangle is OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, who oversees federal information policy. The base of the triangle has two corners; the first corner is the Paperwork Reduction Act which establishes the policy for the control of data coming into the government; the other corner is the data quality legislation which establishes the policy for dissemination of data by the federal government. The combination of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the apex of the triangle, which establishes the policy for both data coming into the government as well as data leaving the federal government, along with the mandates set forth in the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Data Quality Act, constitutes the Federal Information Triangle. To this end, CRE has been very involved in the passage of legislation dealing with data quality, completing the federal information triangle which was begun 20 years ago with the passage of the Paperwork Reduction Act in 1980. The material that follows documents actions taken to further this important program. The importance of the data quality program has become even more significant as technology such as the Internet makes the instant spread of data throughout the country and the world a commonly occurring phenomenon. Consequently, data quality is extremely important because there is a movement to utilize the concept of regulation by information, which is the subject of another issue section on this site. If the federal government is going to pursue regulation by information, it is absolutely imperative that the data be of the highest quality and that the public have the opportunity to review the data disseminated by the federal government for its accuracy and have available to it a streamlined procedure for correcting inaccuracies. |
