Joel Gurin
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Articles by Joel Gurin
Scientists Warn of Deepening Federal Attacks on Research
Scientists and the federal government have been close partners since World War II. A landmark report by President Truman’s chief science advisor laid out a vision for government research that shaped eight decades of federally funded science. That vision is now at risk.
Rebuilding America’s Federal Data System for Trust and Accuracy
The business aphorism, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” applies to countries as well as corporations. The U.S. has relied since its founding on accurate Census, economic, and health and scientific data to set national policy. As an earlier Fulcrum article described, the Trump administration has put many data sources at risk, and advocates are working to save them.
Let’s build the national data ecosystem America needs
From the beginning, America’s founders recognized that data, information, and knowledge are critical to a healthy and functioning democracy. The country’s commitment to national data and statistics has grown into a sprawling, complex, and decentralized ecosystem of hundreds of thousands of public data sources. This national data is essential for Americans to understand the country, assess our progress, and govern effectively. Our national data ecosystem is now at a point of transition.
America's Data Crisis: Saving Trusted Facts Is Essential to Democracy
In March 2026, more than a hundred information and data experts gathered in a converted Christian Science church to confront a problem most Americans never see, but that shapes nearly every public debate we have. The nonprofit Internet Archive convened this national Information Stewardship Forum at their San Francisco headquarters because something fundamental is breaking: the country’s shared foundation of facts.
Save public health data to save American lives
Data-driven, reality-based health science saves lives. Without it, we could not protect people from disease, cure them when they’re sick, or ensure that the places where they live promote good health. In America today, however, an anti-facts movement is eroding the data needed to protect lives.
America’s public data needs rescuing from Trump
America’s public data is part of our country’s critical infrastructure, every bit as important as our highways, bridges, railways, and dams. Roughly 300,000 public federal datasets, including GPS, weather, Census, and economic data, are an essential resource for policymakers, companies, state and local governments, and ordinary Americans. Now the Trump administration is disrupting our data infrastructure in unprecedented ways.
Opinion - America’s public data needs rescuing
America’s public data is part of our country’s critical infrastructure, every bit as important as our highways, bridges, railways, and dams. Roughly 300,000 public federal datasets, including GPS, weather, Census, and economic data, are an essential resource for policymakers, companies, state and local governments, and ordinary Americans. Now the Trump administration is disrupting our data infrastructure in unprecedented ways.
America is erasing the data the world needs
In recent months, thousands of web pages and datasets have been removed from US government websites. An informal army of “data rescuers” has emerged to download, save, and republish vital information, including some 300,000 datasets on data.gov, before it is lost. But preserving existing data is only a temporary measure. The bigger question is how future data – particularly the health and climate data that are essential to guide policy – will be produced and published.
How to save the future of federal data
The Trump administration has stunned everyone who relies on federal data — a huge group that includes policymakers, researchers, business leaders, journalists, physicians and government officials themselves. Following the president’s directives on diversity, equity and inclusion, climate change and “gender ideology,” federal agencies made thousands of web pages on dozens of websites disappear overnight, deleting large numbers of datasets in the process.
Opinion - How to save the future of federal data
The Trump administration has stunned everyone who relies on federal data — a huge group that includes policymakers, researchers, business leaders, journalists, physicians and government officials themselves. Following the president’s directives on diversity, equity and inclusion, climate change and “gender ideology,” federal agencies made thousands of web pages on dozens of websites disappear overnight, deleting large numbers of datasets in the process.
Data initiatives need to innovate on public engagement: Here’s how we can continue to improve
Collecting and using data is part of the backbone of the United States government. The Constitution includes the requirement to hold a decennial census, which was originally mandated to determine taxation and representation in the House. Since the first census was held in 1790, federal agencies have developed extensive programs to collect and publish data on demographic, scientific, economic, social, and other factors that shape American enterprise and American life.
Sustainable Development Goals and Open Data
The United Nations (UN) has developed a set of action-oriented goals to achieve global sustainable development by 2030. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were developed by an Open Working Group of 30 member states over a two-year process. They are designed to balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.
New discussion paper: How Open Data can drive sustainable development
Open Data — data that is freely available online for anyone to use and republish for any purpose — is becoming increasingly important in today’s development agenda driven by the Data Revolution, which has been recognized worldwide as the key engine for achieving the post-2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Data is probably one of the most valuable and least-utilized assets of modern governments.
How Federal Agencies Can Improve Americans’ Health and Well-Being
In 2020, U.S. life expectancy fell to its lowest level since 2003, ranking 26th out of 35 OECD nations despite having advanced medical technology and spending more on healthcare than any other country. Traditional medical care isn’t enough to improve those sobering statistics. Public health experts are now focusing on the role of the social determinants of health, factors related to where Americans live, work, and spend their leisure time.
Open data can revolutionize the climate fight for vulnerable communities
Last summer Hurricane Ida threw a harsh light on the impacts that climate change is having, and will continue to have, on our most vulnerable communities. The storm knocked out power for many in Louisiana and, combined with a subsequent heatwave, killed at least 10 elderly people trapped in their apartments. In the Northeast, Ida’s remnants caused widespread flooding, killing at least 11 people, mostly immigrants, in their basement apartments.
Why America Must Lead-and Fund-the Ocean Data Revolution
By Amy Trice and Joel Gurin Last year, before the pandemic, some of the world’s most dedicated data experts gathered at an Ocean Data Roundtable to improve the way we manage ocean data for the health of the planet and the millions who depend on it for food, their livelihoods, or recreation. Building on that meeting, Ocean Conservancy and the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE) analyzed America’s ocean data revolution in a detailed report published in May 2021.
Federal data is key to optimal governance and business - open it with public input
The Biden administration has made it clear that data is vital to achieving its top priorities.
New report: Align open data, open source and cloud policies for maximum value
Written by Joel Gurin and Matt Rumsey May 10, 2021 | FEDSCOOP For the last few years, federal data leadership has been moving in an “open” direction. Federal policies and legislation have directed agencies to make their data more open, to use open source solutions, and to use the cloud to manage and publish data more efficiently. But the potential of these new initiatives has not yet been realized.
Needed to fight COVID-19: A program for data on social determinants of health
Written by Joel Gurin Apr 21, 2020 | FEDSCOOP The COVID-19 crisis has led to an explosion of data analysis and data-driven debate, perhaps more than any other event in recent history. Government agencies, nonprofits, news organizations and ordinary citizens have collected data, published it widely and done myriad analyses to help guide decision-making about the pandemic.
Food Psych #220: Why Health At Every Size and Weight Management Can't Coexist with Deb Burgard — Christy Harrison - Intuitive Eating Dietitian, Anti-Diet Author, & Certified Eating Disorders Specialist
Psychologist, fat activist, and Health At Every Size (HAES)® co-founder Deb Burgard returns! We discuss why HAES and weight management can’t co-exist, the social-justice roots of HAES, how weight stigma intersects with other oppressions, the politics of weight science, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to navigate the food-shaming and fearmongering that’s often present in the world of food justice and environmental conservation.
How HHS Can Use Social Data for Better Healthcare
Written by Joel Gurin and Paul Kuhne Dec 16, 2019 | FEDSCOOP The social determinants of health (SDOH) — which include income, education, housing, environment, and food availability — are attracting increasing attention across the health care industry and in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Public health experts have realized that a person’s ZIP code can be just as important as his or her genetic code in predicting health risks.
Report: Why health data privacy needs more than HIPAA
Written by Joel Gurin and Paul Kuhne Sep 24, 2019 | FEDSCOOP Everyone who has an interest in healthcare data, including researchers, regulators, patients, and healthcare providers, now faces a conundrum. The increasing availability of health data from medical records, mobile sensors and apps, and public health sources is transforming the health sector. It’s becoming possible to predict medical vulnerabilities and tailor prevention and treatment to the individual more accurately than ever before.
How federal agencies can use agile development to apply open data
Written by Joel Gurin and Katarina Rebello Jun 19, 2019 | FEDSCOOP Over the past three years, a small, dedicated team of federal innovators has been steadily transforming the way government agencies apply open government data. The Opportunity Project (TOP), housed in the Census Bureau at the U.S. Department of Commerce, has adopted agile development principles to help government, communities, and the technology industry build high-impact, data-driven digital tools and platforms.
Open Data Stakeholders - Private Sector
Introduction The open data movement launched a decade ago with a focus on transparency, good governance, and citizen participation. As other chapters in this collection have documented in detail, those critical uses of open data have remained paramount and are continuing to grow in importance at a time of fake news and increased secrecy. But the value of open data extends beyond transparency and accountability â open data is also an important resource for business and economic growth.
The drive to open data provides opportunities for tech community
The open source movement can trace its beginnings to a famous strategy session held in Palo Alto, CA in February 1998, where the term "open source" was coined. That meeting led to the Open Source Definition, to advocacy for the use of open source software, and, fairly quickly, to worldwide recognition of open source principles. Almost exactly a decade later, in October 2007, another California conference—this time in Sebastopol—launched the current open data movement.
HHS survey identifies 5 big challenges to intra-agency data sharing
The Department of Health and Human Services’ 29 component agencies face a number of roadblocks to sharing valuable health data — chief among these the fact that there’s simply no standard process or protocol for such interactions. This “challenge,” and four others, are documented in a new report out of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at HHS.
HHS roundtable highlights priorities for applying data to the opioid crisis
A major objective for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is applying data to what may be America’s most urgent public health crisis: the nationwide opioid epidemic. In December 2017, the HHS Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) hosted an Opioid Symposium and Code-a-Thon, where teams used government data to develop innovative tools and platforms that tackle the opioid crisis in different ways.
Leveraging government data: How it’s making a difference
The President’s Management Agenda (PMA), released in March 2018, presents “a long term vision for modernizing the Federal Government.” As part of its focus on mission, service, and stewardship, the PMA calls for creating a Federal Data Strategy and infrastructure for the future. Earlier this week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and its government partners released an update on plans for the Federal Data Strategy, which you can read about here.
Why we need a federal data strategy
Three months ago, the White House released the President’s Management Agenda with ambitious plans for upgrading the federal government’s technical and data capabilities and the workforce to support them.
If open data sets aren't being deleted, is government data still 'endangered'?
Any large-scale deletion of open government datasets that was feared at the outset of Donald Trump’s presidency has not happened. And yet there remain sneaky ways to undermine openness, panelists agreed Tuesday at an event on endangered data. “The good news is that it’s not as bad as we feared,” New America’s Denice Ross said, talking about the concern, after the 2016 election, that the new administration would not honor President Barack Obama’s level of commitment to open data.
OMB releases initial agency guidance for MGT Act implementation
Implementation of the Modernizing Government Technology Act, which was signed into law in December as part of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, begins now. On Tuesday, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget released Memorandum M-18-12, Implementation of the Modernizing Government Technology Act.
How open data fuels key business sectors
Written by Joel Gurin Aug 16, 2017 | FEDSCOOP At the end of July, the Office of Management and Budget and the Center for Open Data Enterprise co-hosted a Roundtable on Open Data for Economic Growth. This event, previously described in FedScoop, demonstrated the Trump administration’s support for open government data as a resource for American business.
Open data for economic growth: A priority for the Trump administration
Written by Joel Gurin Aug 14, 2017 | FEDSCOOP Open government data — data that anyone can use, reuse and republish — has been recognized as a major economic resource. Studies of different sectors, including the health care, geospatial, weather and information industries, have shown that the private sector uses U.S. federal data to create hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue.
Why the Trump administration should support open data
Commentary: Open data experts from the Center for Open Data Enterprise hope President-elect Donald Trump will continue the progress the Obama administration has made around open data. Eight years ago, on his first day in office, President Barack Obama issued a Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government to set the tone for his administration. President-elect Donald Trump should maintain the commitments that launched with that memo and that have had widespread bipartisan support.
Why the Trump administration should support open data - Fedscoop
Eight years ago, on his first day in office, President Barack Obama issued a Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government to set the tone for his administration. President-elect Donald Trump should maintain the commitments that launched with that memo and that have had widespread bipartisan support.
How Open Data Is Transforming City Life
We’ve asked speakers at our upcoming Techonomy Detroit conference to share perspectives on topics they will discuss at the event relating to U.S. economic growth, jobs, and urban renewal. (To register for the conference, click here.) Start a business. Manage your power use. Find cheap rents, or avoid crime-ridden neighborhoods.
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