Scaling the Use of Publicly Available Information across the U.S. Government

Abstract

The U.S. Government (USG) requires ever-increasing access to publicly and commercially available information (P/CAI) to enable the full breadth of national security, public policy, and economic objectives. Scalable and fiscally efficient access to the complex and dynamic P/CAI ecosystem is difficult across USG but remains essential to strengthen situational awareness and enable strategic decision making across a wide range of missions. This paper first assesses the challenges with acquiring and using P/CAI across the USG at scale. It then recommends centralized, shared solutions that could be employed to minimize duplicative data purchases, promote data integration and development of advanced analytics, and manage risks associated with sharing information across authorities (e.g., Titles 10, 15, 28, 31, 34, and 50 entities). Research questions focus on opportunities for enterprise coordination to centralize the collective buying power of the USG through adaptable acquisition and technical approaches that support scalability and automation, while addressing legal risks among different USG agencies in a relatively novel problem space. P/CAI is valuable to national security missions, and scalable data acquisition, data harnessing, and compliance considerations are necessary to unleash it for the USG. By leveraging centralized shared services, the USG can enhance its ability to use P/CAI effectively.