It is a well-kept secret that the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Census Bureau were the original two federal agencies to build the first national digital database of roads and boundaries…

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting the U.S. voluntary standards and conformity assessment system and strengthening its impact, both domestically and internationally. ANSI is…

The International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) is the central U.S. forum dedicated to creating technology standards for the next generation of innovation. INCITS is one example of the existing standards…

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the premier Internet standards body, developing open standards through open processes. IETF is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers…

The National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) is a common vocabulary that enables efficient information exchange across diverse public and private organizations. NIEM is one example of the existing standards organizations (or voluntary…

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) serves as the focal point for trade facilitation recommendations and electronic business standards, covering both commercial and government business processes that can foster growth…

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. W3C is one example of the existing…

How to use Project Open Data Metadata Schema guidelines to document and list agency datasets and application programming interfaces (APIs) for hosting at agency.gov/data and currently in use at data.gov

Reference documentation for DCAT-US v3.0, the federal metadata standard for documenting datasets, APIs, and data services. Use this reference to build or validate your agency's data inventory.

DCAT is an RDF vocabulary designed to facilitate interoperability between data catalogs published on the Web. DCAT-US (used in the Project Open Data Metadata Schema) is based on this W3C data schema.…

A list of FGDC-endorsed standards. Federal agencies that collect, use, or disseminate geographic information and/or carry out related spatial data activities should use FGDC-endorsed standards both internally and through their activities involving…

ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 164 national standards bodies. The date field in The Project Open Data Metadata Schema (DCAT-US v1.1) is one example of an…

Provides further background and resources to assist agencies in implementing the Project Open Data Metadata Schema v1.1. Maps fields from the current version of DCAT-US v1.1 to the previous version of the…

Through an open community process, schema.org creates, maintains, and promotes schemas for structured data on the Internet. The schema.org vocabulary is used along with the Microdata, RDFa, or JSON-LD formats to add…

JSON Validator is used to check your agency’s data.json against the required federal metadata schema.

An Act to enhance the management and promotion of electronic government services and processes by establishing a Federal Chief Information Officer within the Office of Management and Budget, and by establishing a…

Federal Information Processing Standards publication by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that contains standards for the categorization of federal information systems.

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) requires agencies to submit requests to collect information from the public to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. This guidance is designed…

The purpose of the CIPSEA implementation guidance is to inform agencies about the requirements for using CIPSEA and to clarify the circumstances under which CIPSEA can be used. Dated June 15, 2007.…

This bulletin establishes revised delineations for the Nation's Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas. The bulletin also provides delineations of Metropolitan Divisions as well as delineations of New…

Office of Management and Budget circular that directs agencies to use standards developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies rather than government-unique standards, except where inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise…

Directs agencies to ensure that reported small business contracts and related contract actions were actually awarded to small businesses. Each Department and agency is responsible for submitting accurate data to FPDS and…

Provides guidance on information collection for earmark reform. Dated January 25, 2007.

This Memorandum establishes new procedures and provides updated guidance and requirements for agency use of web measurement and customization technologies. The central goal is to respect and safeguard the privacy of the…

This Memorandum requires Federal agencies to take specific steps to protect individual privacy whenever they use third-party websites and applications to engage with the public. Dated June 25, 2010.

To help agencies move forward in harnessing evidence and evaluation, this memorandum (1) provides guidance for 2015 agency Budget submissions and (2) invites agencies to participate in a series of workshops and…

To encourage the greater use of administrative data for statistical purposes, this Memorandum provides agencies with guidance for addressing the legal, policy, and operational issues that exist with respect to using administrative…

This Memorandum provides guidance to Federal agencies on current reporting requirements pursuant to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) as well as new requirements that agencies must employ pursuant to…

This memorandum strongly encourages the Federal statistical agencies and units, and their parent Departments, to build interagency collaboration that will help the Federal statistical community more effectively meet the information needs of…

This Memorandum provides additional guidance to Federal agencies to support the technical operationalization of reporting to USASpending.gov in accordance with the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of20062 (FFATA), as amended by…

This memorandum establishes a Federal Data Strategy (Strategy) as a framework of operational principles and best practices that help agencies deliver on the promise of data in the 21st century. Through consistent…

Provides a schedule of release dates for principal Federal economic indicators for 2019.

Announces OMB's final decision for the 2018 revision of Statistical Policy Directive No. 10, Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Dated November 28, 2017.

Announces OMB's decision concerning the revision of Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting. Accepts the recommendations of the Interagency Committee for the Review…

This Directive affirms the fundamental responsibilities of Federal statistical agencies and recognized statistical units in the design, collection, processing, editing, compilation, storage, analysis, release, and dissemination of statistical information. Dated December 2,…

This Addendum provides Standards and Guidelines for Conducting Cognitive Interviews. Dated October 12, 2016.

As part of an ongoing effort to improve the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information collected and disseminated by the Federal Government, OMB is issuing revised Standards and Guidelines for Statistical…

The revised directive clarifies and strengthens OMB guidance to Federal agencies on the compilation and release of principal economic indicators.

Issues a new Statistical Policy Directive for the release and dissemination of statistical products produced by Federal statistical agencies. Dated March 7, 2008.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is a system for classifying establishments (individual business locations) by type of economic activity. This announces OMB's adoption of NAICS revisions. Dated August 8, 2016.…