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America's Data Agency

World economies are driven by innovation, emerging technologies, intellectual property—and data. Creating a robust economy requires an enormous amount of data, and Commerce is the nation’s preeminent producer of public data. More than 30 million U.S. business enterprises; 325 million Americans; and 93,000 tribal, state, and local governments rely on our data to make informed decisions. The information and data we produce shape fiscal and monetary policy and operational decisions that improve the nation’s social and economic conditions. Annually, more than $1 trillion in federal funds are distributed to states and localities, in whole or in part, using data produced by the department.

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Data

In accordance with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act and associated OMB guidance (M-19-23) , and in support of the President's Management Agenda's strategic goal of Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset, the Department of Commerce designates the following officials: Chief Data Officer: Thomas Beach Evaluation Officer: Christine Heflin Statistical Official: Mary Bohman Please note...

Census Bureau Unveils 2020 Census Communications Campaign Platform

Blog
The following is a cross-post from the U.S. Census Bureau As promotional and outreach activities are ramping up across the nation ahead of the 2020 Census — from establishing local and state complete count committees, to diverse partners coming together to reduce the undercount of children and other hard to count populations — today the U.S. Census Bureau announced its long-planned communications...

Op-Ed: Countdown for the 2020 Census. We are ready!

Op-eds
Every decade, the Census Bureau fulfills its critical, constitutionally mandated mission to count every person living in the United States. As technology becomes ever more complex and we are drawn closer together through social media, the Census Bureau has adapted to the shifting landscape. In fact, the 2020 Census is engineered to be the most robust and technologically advanced census in history...

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Announces New Data Application to Help American Companies Expand Overseas

Press releases
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the release of the International Trade Administration’s new Market Diversification Tool (MDT). This unique application puts 12 million data points at the fingertips of U.S. exporters and helps them identify the top potential foreign markets for their products. “Currently, more than half of domestic exporters ship to only one...

Economic Census Goes Online: Data to Provide Timely Information on the Health of the U.S. Economy

Blog
Letters from the U.S. Census Bureau are beginning to land in mailboxes and mailrooms of businesses as the collection of data for almost 4 million business locations begins as part of the 2017 Economic Census. The Economic Census is the most comprehensive business survey in the United States. Conducted every five years, it is a cornerstone of many Census Bureau and other federal statistical...

Data and reports

The Commerce Department collects, stores, and analyzes a wealth of information, including data on the Nation’s economy, population, and environment. These data go to the core of the Department’s mission. As America’s Data Agency, the Department of Commerce is using its data to spur innovation inside and outside the Federal Government and promote greater prosperity across the country.” - Secretary...

Fulfill Constitutional Requirements and Support Economic Activity

We the People” is America’s source of strength. As mandated in Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, every 10 years, we conduct a nationwide count of every person living in the United States. Data from the next census in 2020 will be used to allocate seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the states. The demographic and housing data from the 2020 Census will also help the...

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Delivers Keynote on Federal Data at NTIS-Hosted Forum

Speeches
On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross delivered opening remarks at a public data forum hosted by the Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS) to explore how the federal government can be more effective in its data management and delivery of public services. The event also featured presentations by federal agencies including the Food and...

Fostering Innovation, Creating Jobs, Driving Better Decisions: The Value of Government Data

Reports
Everyone is talking about the importance of data to our society as data improves all of our decisions: those we make as individuals, as businesses, as governments. The federal government has been in the data business for quite some time, going back to the first decennial Census in 1790. Since then, the U.S. government has played a key role in providing valuable data to our country. Just how...

Developer resources

The Department of the Commerce is committed to the President's Open Government Initiative and has submitted high value datasets in support of the Open Government Directive. These datasets span a wide range of functions of Commerce and represent areas of continuing interest by our stakeholders.