NOAA Data Strategy: Maximizing the Value of NOAA Data 2022

NOAA-Data-Strategic-Action-Plan.pdf

NOAA Geospatial Metadata

NOAA Data Strategy: Maximizing the Value of NOAA Data 2022

OMB: 0648-0024

Document [pdf]
Download: pdf | pdf
NOAA Data Strategic Action Plan
Maximizing the Value of NOAA Data

National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Department of commerce

NOAA Science & Technology Focus Areas:
Uncrewed Systems • Artificial Intelligence • 'Omics • Cloud • Citizen Science • Data

March 2022

2

NOAA Data Strategy

NOAA Data Strategic Action Plan
Maximizing the Value of NOAA Data
Introduction		4
Scope		4
Strategic Imperative		4
Timeline, Roles, and Priorities		6
Action Plan		6
GOAL 1 – Leadership		6
GOAL 2 – Governance		7
GOAL 3 – Open Data
8
GOAL 4 – Capabilities		10
GOAL 5 – Collaboration		12
Conclusion

14

Appendix 1 – Top Priorities for FY22 and FY23

15

Appendix 2 – Definitions

16

Appendix 3 – Acronyms		19
Appendix 4 – References		20

NOAA Climate
From supercomputers and state-of-the-art models to observations and outlooks, we provide data, tools, and information to help people understand
and prepare for climate variability and change. https://www.noaa.gov/climate

3

Introduction
Data are foundational to NOAA, underpinning virtually all aspects of our
mission. This includes key NOAA priorities such as providing data and
information to the public about climate science, reducing the impacts
of severe weather events, and enabling the New Blue Economy. NOAA
is the authoritative source for multiple national datasets that form the
foundation of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, including geodetic
control, nautical charts, coastal elevation, weather and climate models,
critical habitat, and satellite and observational platforms. NOAA’s data
are a vital national asset, serving the needs of countless stakeholders in
industry, academia, other government agencies, and the public. NOAA
data derive from globally collected observations which in turn support
analyses and predictions of the earth systems, development and updates
to nautical charts, protection of life and property, sustainable fisheries
and ecosystem management, and numerous other NOAA mission areas.
Consistent and timely access to quality NOAA data significantly enhances
the value and return on the Nation’s investment.
The NOAA Data Strategy: Maximizing the Value of NOAA’s Data, published in
July 2020, describes the vision, scope, goals, and objectives for establishing
a foundation to effectively manage, share, and maximize the value of
NOAA data assets. The Strategy’s five goals are broadly applicable across
NOAA mission areas and the supporting objectives guide implementation.
GOAL 1: LEADERSHIP – Align data management
leadership roles across the organization
GOAL 2: GOVERNANCE – Govern and manage data
strategically to most effectively steward the US
taxpayers’ investment
GOAL 3: OPEN DATA – Share data as openly and
widely as possible to promote maximum utilization
of NOAA data
GOAL 4: CAPABILITIES – Promote data innovation
and quality improvements to facilitate science and
support data-driven decision making
GOAL 5: COLLABORATION – Engage stakeholders
and leverage partnerships to maximize the value of
NOAA data to the Nation

NOAA Data Strategy

Through the Strategy and this Strategic Action Plan, NOAA seeks to maximize the value of data assets by providing a consistent and transparent
approach to data governance, stewardship, access, and use. This Data
Strategic Action Plan serves as a roadmap for implementation of the NOAA
Data Strategy, beginning with the top priorities for FY22–FY23 (Appendix
1). This action plan will establish a modernized and unified NOAA data
enterprise in support of the missions across NOAA, including close
coordination with the NOAA science and technology focus areas (Uncrewed
Systems, Artificial Intelligence [AI], ‘Omics, Cloud, and Citizen Science).

Scope
The NOAA Data Strategy and Strategic Action Plan apply to all types of
NOAA data. These include environmental data, program data, statistical
data, mission-support data such as administrative, financial, performance,
and workforce data, as well as the derived information, products, and
services that facilitate the best use of NOAA data. Data collected by external
groups using NOAA funds (e.g., grant recipients, cooperative institutes)
will continue to be subject to NOAA public access requirements1. The
Data Strategy does not define specific technologies or implementations.
While all NOAA data need to be managed and are subject to open data
policies, different data will have different requirements and must be
treated differently. For example, environmental data may have different
requirements than mission support data, which often includes personally
identifiable information. Similarly archived data versus real or near-real
time operational data, or fully open data versus controlled unclassified
information may also differ.

Strategic Imperative
The NOAA Data Strategic Action Plan directly supports the NOAA Strategic
Plan and its three overarching priorities: (1) building a Climate Ready Nation
by establishing NOAA as the primary authoritative provider of climate
information and services in the whole-of-government response to tackling
the climate crisis; (2) integrating equity into our core operations; and (3)
promoting economic development while maintaining environmental
stewardship, with a focus on advancing the New Blue Economy. This
action plan supports NOAA’s objectives to accelerate growth of the New
Blue Economy with improved data access and multi-sector engagement
activities. The overarching objective of the NOAA Data Strategy is to
achieve readiness for tomorrow’s data landscape. To prepare for NOAA’s
future data needs, this action plan aligns with several levels of federal
data policy requirements while supporting the NOAA mission and bringing
value to the organization and our partners. The current executive and
See EDMC Data Sharing Directive: https://nosc.noaa.gov/EDMC/PD.DSP.php

1

4

legislative requirements for data management include: the Information
Quality Act (IQA), the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking
Act [“Evidence Act”], the Federal Data Strategy and Annual Action
Plan, the Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and
Abroad, and the Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government
Through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking.
NOAA climate data and analyses support the President’s
Executive Order 14008 on “Tackling the Climate Crisis
at Home and Abroad”
NOAA Climate.gov is a source of timely and authoritative scientific
data and information about climate. The current administration’s
Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and
Abroad only emphasizes the nation’s need for a climate specific
data portal. The urban heat island map of Richmond, Virginia
juxtaposed with the percentage of families in poverty map displays
the importance to another of this administration’s priorities: social
and racial equity. The data and analysis conducted and displayed
at climate.gov serves to keep the American people informed and
educated about the climate crisis and its subsequent impacts.

NOAA Data Strategy

The Evidence Act was enacted in 2019, and directs Agencies to manage
their data as an asset. It defines the responsibilities of the Chief Data Officer
(CDO) within federal agencies and assigns to her/him the oversight of the
full data lifecycle, data inventories, the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA),
the Information Quality Act (IQA), agency Open Data Plans (ODP), and other
related activities and policies. Many open data and data sharing directives
from the White House have been codified in the Evidence Act, with the
result being that all NOAA data assets are open by default (can be used or
reused by the public without restriction) unless such sharing is expressly
prohibited by other law, regulation, or binding agreement. These data
include NOAA environmental data as well as programmatic, financial, and
other administrative data. Documentation, code (e.g., computer programs),
data quality information, and metadata are also included.
Additionally, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum,
M-19-18 Federal Data Strategy – A Framework for Consistency, and
the Federal Data Strategy’s 2020 Action Plan support federal agencies in
fulfilling a wide array of legislative and administrative requirements while
also prioritizing foundational activities for agencies in developing a mature
data asset management environment. The 2020 Action Plan identifies
initial actions for agencies that are essential for establishing processes,
building capacity, and aligning existing efforts to better leverage data
as a strategic asset. The NOAA Data Strategic Action Plan aligns with and
complies with the Federal Data Strategy and the 2020 Action Plan. As with
the Federal Data Strategy, the NOAA Data Strategy and Strategic Action
Plan will be regularly updated for consistency with new statutory or OMB
information policy guidance.
Federal government priorities for collecting, using, sharing, and disseminating data are shifting with modern practices and policies. A critical
role for data is specifically referenced in the climate crisis2 and the racial
equity3 Executive Orders, as well as in the Memo on Scientific Integrity.4
The NOAA Data Strategic Action Plan directly supports the NOAA Science
Council’s Scientific Integrity Committee in the development of updated
IQA processes needed in order to comply with the new administration
priorities for scientific integrity.
Executive Order 14008 of January 27, 2021 (Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and
Abroad)
3
Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for
Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government)
4
“Restoring trust in government through science and integrity and evidence-based
policy making”
2

5

Timeline, Roles, and Priorities
The NOAA Data Strategic Action Plan outlines a five-year execution
timeline applying to fiscal years (FY) 22 through FY26. Milestones and
deliverables have been set for every action, each linked to one or more of
the Strategy objectives. This Strategic Action Plan reflects the many levels
of collaboration within the NOAA data community. Teams from across line
offices collaborated to create a strategic implementation (action) plan with
a set agenda and priorities. These cross-NOAA collaborations will continue
to regularly update this action plan as needed.
The priority focus in the first two fiscal years (FY22 through FY23) is
what can be reasonably achieved with no new resources. During FY22
and FY23, the NOAA CDO will begin internal NOAA data governance
planning and engagement with appropriate groups in NOAA for handling
administrative-, financial-, performance-, and workforce-related data for
years FY24 and beyond.
The NOAA Data Strategic Action Plan lays out how the NOAA CDO and
existing bodies such as the NOAA Environmental Data Management
Committee (EDMC), will make progress toward the goals and objectives
of the Data Strategy while leveraging expertise and established groups in
NOAA Line Offices and Staff Offices. The NOAA CDO will ultimately oversee
the execution of the Data Strategic Action Plan. Goals 1 and 2 of the Data
Strategy focus on establishing the NOAA CDO organizational structure,
governance, and supportive processes within the line/staff offices to
enable the execution of the actions in this plan. Therefore, the priority
actions for the remainder of FY22–23 will advance these goals.

Action Plan
GOAL 1 – Leadership
Aligning data management leadership roles across
NOAA is the critical first step to ensuring there are
authorities, organizational structures, and budgets
in place to sufficiently and transparently support
the management and maximum use of NOAA data
assets.

Goal 1 aligns NOAA enterprise data governance roles establishing collaborative leadership, empowered by policy and budget, with representation
on NOAA’s strategic and decision-making councils and advisory boards.

NOAA Data Strategy

To ensure users have the information they need, effective data management leadership requires a governance structure that starts with the NOAA
CDO and extends through NOAA Line and Staff Offices. Working toward
establishing a NOAA Data Governance structure, involving the NOAA CDO
and incorporating or interfacing with existing bodies such as the NOAA
EDMC, will ensure that data governance includes representation from
across NOAA’s diverse data management landscape.
The data governance structure, promoted NOAA-wide via a carefully
crafted communications plan, establishes a solid foundation that will
support implementation of the strategy for the next five years (and
beyond). Establishing an effective enterprise data management and
governance approach will allow the agency to effectively develop and track
data management reporting and evaluation frameworks while advocating
for the required budgets and resources needed to succeed.
Action 1) Establish the NOAA CDO organizational structure.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Define the roles and responsibilities of the NOAA CDO.
B.	 Establish a budget for the NOAA CDO to ensure the resources are
available to perform the functions of the office.
Objectives Addressed: 1.1
Action 2) Establish the NOAA CDO as a representative on the appropriate
NOAA decision-making bodies.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Analyze the charters or terms of reference of all NOAA councils,
committees, and boards to identify data connections.
B.	 Add the NOAA CDO or their representative as a member of the
appropriate NOAA decision-making and strategic bodies.
Objectives Addressed: 1.1 and 1.3
Action 3) Formalize NOAA Line Office data governance and roles.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Line Offices identify data managers, data leads, data management groups, and critical points of contact (POCs) that provide
technical and tactical input and guidance to the NOAA CDO.
B.	 Establish Line Office data management leads if not already
in place.

6

C.	 Define the relationship between of Line Office data management leads and the NOAA CDO.
D. Assist Line Office leadership in defining budget and staffing
requirements.
Objectives Addressed: 1.2
GOAL 2 – Governance
Goal 2 lays out the framework, roles, and
responsibilities of the NOAA Data Governance
Body, advancing the data governance structure
established in Goal 1.

Establishing a diverse and collaborative Data Governance Body with
cross-line office representation will ensure that sufficient human resources
are available to support data-driven agency policies, decision making, and
accountability in addition to creating direct lines of communication from
data managers to NOAA leadership and executive governing bodies.
The Data Governance Body will support and guide the development of
a more strategic approach to NOAA enterprise and line office-level data
management practices, strategies, and performance measures. The Data
Governance Body will review, evaluate, and create NOAA data policies that
are consistent with federal mandates and legislation such as the Evidence
Act, Geospatial Data Act, and the Federal Data Strategy. This new Data
Governance Body may be a modified or expanded version of the existing
NOAA Environmental Data Management Committee (EDMC), or may be a
replacement for the existing committee.
Action 4) Establish a NOAA Data Governance Body.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Recommend the establishment of a diverse NOAA Data Governance Body and seek approval to establish the new body from
NOAA strategy councils and NOAA leadership.
B.	 Establish expert teams that serve as advisory committees to the
NOAA Data Governance Body as appropriate.
Objectives Addressed: 2.1

Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Designate leaders for data governance policies5 to ensure visibility, sponsorship and progress.
B.	 Create a NOAA Data Strategy Communications Plan that includes
details about the NOAA Data Governance framework, organizational structure, and annual priorities.
C.	 Share the communication plan widely across NOAA.
Strategy Objectives Addressed: 2.1
Action 6) Harmonize existing NOAA data directives into updated and
consolidated policies that align with new federal policies and legislation.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Identify, review, and update existing NOAA administrative
orders (NAOs), Procedural Directives, and policies on environmental data management based on Federal policies and directives.6
B.	 Establish a NOAA policy and guidance for NOAA environmental
data management throughout the data life cycle, including
data archiving, and long-term preservation.
Objectives Addressed: 2.2
Action 7) Increase awareness of common NOAA data services and data
standards and evaluate their use more broadly across NOAA.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Create a baseline inventory and maintain a catalog of common
NOAA data services to provide a foundation for enterprise services that meet NOAA’s data management requirements.
B.	 Create and maintain a data standards catalog to guide best
practices.
C.	 Identify gaps in common data services and standards and leverage line office data management expertise to fill any gaps.
D.	 Recommend the use of NOAA-approved data standards that are
consistent with the Evidence Act, and implement controls to define and measure compliance.
Objectives Addressed: 2.3, 2.4, 4.1, 5.3, 4.5
E.g., NOAA Chief Data Officer, Assistant Chief Data Officers, etc.
E.g., Public Access to Research Results (PARR), the Evidence Act, Geospatial Data Act,
NOAA Records Schedules, and the Federal Data Strategy.

5
6

Action 5) Socialize and promote the NOAA Data Governance structure and
leadership roles and responsibilities.

NOAA Data Strategy

7

GOAL 3 – Open Data
Goal 3, sharing NOAA data as openly and
widely as possible, maximizing its utilization by
NOAA partners, stakeholders, and the public, is
foundational to NOAA’s mission and thus central to
NOAA’s Data Strategy.

Achieving this goal is not solely dependent on data communications and
access, as it includes building and maintaining the infrastructure, strategies, and plans necessary to ensure timely, equitable, and appropriate
access to NOAA data. Establishing the NOAA Data Governance structure
described in Goals 1 and 2, enables NOAA to more effectively achieve Goal
3 by providing leadership, reporting, and communication structures that
support development of actionable plans for open data, data security, and
NOAA’s collective data management operations. A NOAA Open Data Plan
for sharing agency data must be developed with stakeholder engagement
to ensure utility and flexibility that reflects NOAA’s diverse user community requirements. In addition, critical implementation plan components
include developing and maintaining a comprehensive data inventory,
ensuring data licensing is aligned with open data guidance in the Evidence
Act and the Federal Data Strategy, adopting tiered data access practices
that protect privacy and confidentiality, and improving communication of
data authenticity and lineage to reinforce and build trust. Footnote7: E.g.,
Agreements with the World Meteorological Organization, the International
Hydrographic Organization, etc.
Action 8) Develop a NOAA Open Data Plan (ODP) for improving public
access to priority NOAA data assets that aligns with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Department of Commerce (DOC) guidance on
the Evidence Act, as well as the Executive Order on On Advancing Racial
Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal
Government and the DOC Environmental Justice Strategy.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Establish a NOAA Open Data Plan writing team to evaluate OMB
and DOC guidance for the NOAA Open Data Plan.
B.	 Seek approval for the NOAA Open Data Plan through the appropriate governing bodies.
A NOAA Open Data Plan for sharing agency data must be developed with stakeholder
engagement to ensure utility and flexibility that reflects NOAA’s diverse user community requirements.	
7

NOAA Data Strategy

C.	 Publish and promote the NOAA Open Data Plan widely throughout NOAA and beyond.
Objectives Addressed: 3.1, 3.4
Action 9) Assess baseline compliance with Open Data requirements in
the Evidence Act.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Develop a checklist to define Open Data compliance, based on
OMB and DOC implementation guidance.
B.	 Measure Open Data compliance for NOAA environmental data
and identify compliance gaps.
C.	 Measure Open Data compliance for NOAA mission support data
and identify compliance gaps.
D. Develop a gap closure strategy and implementation plan to improve open data compliance and measure progress
Objectives Addressed: 3.1
Action 10) Maintain a comprehensive NOAA data inventory, including
standard metadata, that is published to NOAA and federal data catalogs
(data.gov) to ensure that NOAA’s data are discoverable and accessible to
external stakeholders.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Inventory NOAA data assets leveraging ongoing line office
efforts and expertise, working in close coordination with the
Commerce Data Governance Board’s (CDGB) Inventory Working
Group and existing relevant NOAA data inventory teams.
B.	 Maintain a comprehensive NOAA data inventory utilizing a
tiered structure to ensure sensitive and confidential data are
made available to the extent possible, while protected to the
extent required, in consultation with the NOAA Office of the
Chief Information Officer controlled unclassified information
(CUI) team.
C.	 Identify gaps and duplicates in the data inventory and develop
an action plan to address gaps and eliminate duplicates.
Objectives Addressed: 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, 5.3
Action 11) Develop and maintain NOAA data licensing guidance that is
consistent with Open Data policies in the Evidence Act.

8

Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Develop and publish NOAA Data Licensing Guidance that is
machine-readable and clearly defines characteristics for data
licenses that conform with and support Evidence Act requirements.
B.	 Develop NOAA policy for specifying appropriate Data Licenses
for data that NOAA creates, procures, or otherwise receives as
in the case with NOAA Data Buys from commercial or outside
vendors.8
C.	 Promote NOAA Data Licensing Guidance within NOAA and with
key partners.

NOAA Data Strategy

Objectives Addressed: 3.3, 3.4
Action 12) Develop and implement new approaches for sharing NOAA data
and update existing policies as needed to reflect these changes.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Develop a communications plan for use within NOAA for sharing
data that highlights NOAA Cloud-hosted data projects and other
data sharing strategies.
B.	 Revise the NOAA Digital Object Identifier (DOI) issuance policy
to enable expanded use of DOIs for NOAA data, to promote discoverability and help track usage and ensure NOAA researchers
receive credit for publishing their data.

Within legal authorities, NOAA still retains flexibility in establishing terms for attaining and sharing data to support its mission, constrained by budget and other factors
such as timeliness of delivery.

8

NOAA continuous data collection and management of billion dollar disasters aids in climate action
NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) tracked a record number of billion dollar disasters in 2020. These disasters pose
tremendous risks to public infrastructure, private property, businesses, environmental capital, and human lives. The totaled cost was calculated
at 95 billion dollars for these events- fourth highest cost on record. Through NCEI’s continuous data collection and management, trends can be
tracked and forecasts made for the coming years to aid in decision making regarding climate action and mitigation.
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/

9

C.	 Engage with and support NOAA programs that provide data and
planning tools that empower communities to take action on
environmental justice issues.
D. Support the development of an Equitable Data Lifecycle Strategy to be included in NOAA’s equity strategy and to inform and
support NOAA data lifecycle management.
Objectives Addressed: 3.4, 3.5
GOAL 4 – Capabilities
Innovative data solutions developed by NOAA
foster and promote agency-wide efficiencies.

Goal 4 ties together all of NOAA’s Data Strategy by calling for actions and
initiatives that build and maintain the necessary technical tools and staff
skills to support data-driven science and decision making throughout the
data lifecycle (i.e. planning, measurement, collection, documentation,
access, and long term preservation). Investing in training opportunities,
data science and analytical tools, and data communities will expand
capacity for critical data-related activities and will lead to a more
educated, empowered, and data literate NOAA workforce. Cultivating the
creativity and innovation essential for achieving these objectives demands
a workforce with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and expertise and
an inclusive work environment that drives workforce performance and
collaboration.
Building and expanding data architecture solutions that link to NOAA’s
Enterprise Architecture will be vital for the adoption and utility of
scientific data solutions, both within the agency and beyond, and are
critical to aligning synergies across NOAA’s Science & Technology (S&T)
and Information Resources Management (IRM) strategies.
Expanding data infrastructure will ensure that the data-centric needs
of NOAA’s new and expanding S&T initiatives are met, while providing
additional opportunities to leverage these technologies to maximize the
value of NOAA’s data.
Action 13) Assess NOAA’s data program maturity9 and report on progress.
See Federal Data Strategy Data Governance Playbook.

9

NOAA Data Strategy

Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Conduct regular data program maturity assessments, building
on information gained in previous assessments.
B.	 Report on increased NOAA’s data program maturity progress to
DOC and share the report widely.
Objectives Addressed: 4.1, 4.4
Action 14) Increase awareness of NOAA-developed data management
software and tools to maximize the investment and ensure sustainability.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Maintain a catalog of NOAA-developed data management software solutions.
B.	 Establish NOAA enterprise-level information technology (IT)
security review support for NOAA data management software
solutions.
Objectives Addressed: 2.3, 4.1, 4.2
Action 15) Identify enterprise platforms to support data management
requirements throughout the data lifecycle to provide flexible, adaptive
infrastructure required to meet the needs of existing and future programs.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Identify NOAA enterprise-level solutions that support the full
diversity of NOAA’s data to ensure that end user needs are met.10
Flexible, adaptive infrastructure will be required to meet the
needs of existing programs and future data-intensive initiatives.
Objectives Addressed: 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 5.3
Action 16) Assess and increase NOAA staff data literacy and data skills11 to
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of use and management of NOAA data.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Identify critical data skills needed for the agency and assess the
current staff capacity for those data skills.
B.	 Perform a data skills gap analysis to prioritize the agency’s
needs.
C.	 Identify and execute approaches to fill those needs.
E.g., latency requirements, data volumes, etc.
Federal Data Strategy Playbook: https://resources.data.gov/assets/documents/
assessing-data-skills-playbook.pdf
10
11

10

NOAA Data Strategy

NOAA’s Environmental Research
Division Data Access Program
(ERDDAP) provides interoperable data
access maximizing it’s
utilization by stakeholders
The NOAA developed Environmental Research
Division Data Access Program (ERDDAP) data server
is a highly configurable data broker that serves
subsetted gridded and tabular data from numerous
file types or other ERDDAP servers in common file
formats. ERDDAP provides human and machine
interfaces to its data serving and data visualization
functionality. This application is widely used at
NOAA and outside NOAA by U.S. and International
organizations. ERDDAP adresses a core need in data
management for interoperable data access. More
information on ERDDAP, including download links
and installation instructions are available.
https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/projects/erddap/introduction.html

Strategy Objectives Addressed: 4.3
Action 17) Recruit data professionals to infuse data science expertise and
diversity across the organization and ease the data stewardship burden
on science and support staff.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Develop Data Management/Data Scientist staff requirements
and position descriptions.
B.	 Develop and implement standardized language for new data
scientist job postings that emphasize our commitment to building a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
C.	 Define a NOAA Data Manager curriculum on the Commerce
Learning Center platform.
D. Work with the Office of Human Capital Services (OHCS) to add
Data Scientist job classifications as appropriate.
E. Utilize internship and fellowship programs to increase data
science expertise across NOAA including NOAA affiliates and
other partners.12
Objectives Addressed: 4.3
Action 18) Support the data components of the NOAA Science and
Technology (S&T) Strategies and Implementation Plans.
For example, data science specific Pathways recruitment, Cooperative Institute,
Cooperative Science Center, and other partnership program affiliates.
12

Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Provide guidance and expertise to NOAA S&T initiatives in developing Data Management Plans and templates.
B.	 In cooperation with the NOAA Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center,
define data and metadata quality, documentation, and dissemination requirements for NOAA’s AI-ready open data to ensure
consistent standards across Federal agencies.
C.	 In cooperation with the NOAA Cloud Strategy implementation,
define requirements for cloud-ready data formats and dissemination requirements when applicable to ensure the plans align.
Objectives Addressed: 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5
Action 19) Establish an appropriate lifecycle for data made available in
real and near real time that builds on past practices to meet unique data
distribution and quality control needs.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Identify examples of successful, ongoing real-time data sharing
that supports NOAA’s mission and determine characteristics that
align with open data requirements.
B.	 Collaborate with NOAA partners to determine optimal policies
that support and improve real-time data access and use.
C.	 Identify common data formats that accelerate the use of data for
specific applications that depend on data timeliness or quality.
Objectives Addressed: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 5.2

11

GOAL 5 – Collaboration
When an environmental measurement is taken,
these data become immediately invaluable,
because that instant in time and space will never
exist again and the data can never be replicated or
replaced.

The value of these data can decrease, or be lost, if the data are not secured,
publicly accessible, or ready for use when needed. Goal 5 highlights
NOAA’s responsibility to ensure that the full value of NOAA data is realized
by ensuring data readiness and actively engaging with stakeholders.
This stakeholder engagement involves establishing partnerships with
federal agencies, international partners, and industry, academic, and other
non-federal groups that utilize NOAA data and/or share data with NOAA.
Stakeholder feedback is especially important in helping NOAA design data
delivery practices that are flexible enough to optimize access for our very
diverse user communities.
Understanding and addressing the evolving needs of stakeholders is
vital to maintaining effective partnerships and to the wide, public use
of NOAA data.
Action 20) Improve internal NOAA stakeholder engagement, problem
solving, and innovation to strengthen partnerships.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Establish a process with the NOAA Science Council to align the
synergistic actions and activities of the Data Strategic Action
Plan with other NOAA S&T Strategic Plans.
B.	 Designate “change champions” focused on NOAA data stewardship.
C.	 Develop stakeholder engagement plan with existing stakeholders to gather feedback on areas for NOAA data management
improvement.13
D. Engage with NOAA’s Technology Partnerships Office, the NOAA
S&T Partnerships Working Group, the Office of General Counsel,
and others as needed to ensure NOAA’s various partnership authorities are utilized and legal requirements are met.
Objectives Addressed: 5.1
I.e., the Data Access & Archive Requirements Working Group (DAARWG), Science
Advisory Board (SAB), and others.
13

NOAA Data Strategy

Action 21) Increase engagement with stakeholders and gather external
feedback on NOAA data management.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Coordinate with NOAA External Affairs to increase stakeholder
identification and engagement, both nationally and internationally.
B.	 Chair dedicated sessions at major ocean, weather, and earth
observation conferences as well as major business and data-centric
conferences to raise awareness of NOAA data and to gather feedback
on data management and usability.
C. Improve consistency in the processes for seeking stakeholder
input on substantial changes to NOAA’s data/data services.14
D. Align coordination of data product development between the
science subject matter experts and the product user communities to enhance development to best meet users’ needs.
E.	 Coordinate NOAA’s increasing use of data from external sources
via policies and best practices, including the EDMC Data Sharing
Directive15 and new NOAA data licensing guidance.16
Objectives Addressed: 5.1, 5.2
Action 22) Track the use of NOAA data to help identify stakeholders and
end users, within the bounds of Federal law and policy, to measure the
value of NOAA data.
Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Identify NOAA and federal law and policies that pertain to tracking the use of data and establish a NOAA policy and best practices for “tracking” data use.
B.	 Partner with existing NOAA user engagement teams and efforts
to assist with developing NOAA use case examples that show
the value of NOAA data.
See NAO 216-112: Policy on Partnerships in the Provision of Environmental
Information.
15
See EDMC Data Sharing Directive: https://nosc.noaa.gov/EDMC/PD.DSP.php.
16
See Action 11: Develop and maintain NOAA data licensing guidance that is consistent
with Open Data policies in the Evidence Act.
14

12

C.	 Develop a plan to increase NOAA’s understanding of how much
our data are used, why they are being used, if they are useful,
and how NOAA can measure improvement. The plan should address the relative value of furnishing data in real time compared
to a post-collection archive.
Objectives Addressed: 5.2, 5.3
Action 23) Streamline method(s) for NOAA scientists and research
grantees (e.g., cooperative institutes) to identify NOAA data sources used
in peer-reviewed publications.

NOAA Data Strategy

Milestones and Deliverables:
A. Work with NOAA Institutional Repository to incorporate accessible
data as part of the manuscript record.
B.	 Develop a plan and procedure for dissemination of data used in
peer-reviewed research publications, or internal studies, that
would not otherwise be accessible.
C. Host workshops for NOAA grantees to raise awareness and
gather feedback on data management and usability.
Objectives Addressed: 5.1

The partnership between NOAA and Saildrone enables quality NOAA mission data collection and innovative
data delivery workflows
A saildrone is a commercially leasable uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) powered by wind and solar energy used for observing
the marine environment. In 2014 and 2020 NOAA-PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory) and Saildrone established a
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to facilitate information exchange between NOAA-PMEL and Saildrone
towards the development and evaluation of this platform for the collection of climate quality data. Over 6 years, NOAA- PMEL and
Saildrone worked together to successfully develop, integrate, test and evaluate ocean and atmospheric l sensors on saildrone and the
development of data delivery formats and workflows. This public-private partnership resulted in establishing saildone as another
viable option to meet NOAA’s environmental observing objectives (Meinig et al. 2019). Saildrone Inc.

13

NOAA Data Strategy

Conclusion
NOAA is committed to accelerate the use of data throughout the agency
and with other key partners, expand data collection with openness and
transparency, deliver on mission, and steward resources while protecting
quality, integrity, security, privacy, and confidentiality for the greater
benefit of the agency, our partners, and the Nation. This Strategic Action
Plan serves as a living document that identifies actions linked to the goals
and objectives that continue the advancement of NOAA data priorities,
while also providing a set of milestones and deliverables that show how
NOAA can reach that potential. The actions of this plan will be collectively
executed in a phased approach with the assumption of stable resources
that can be redirected when possible and new resources when available
to accelerate NOAA’s progress to meet these milestones. The actions of this
plan will continue to improve data management leadership, governance,
open data sharing, innovation, and stakeholder engagement.

NOAA data are central to emerging science and technologies and as such
the strategic action plan includes coordination of synergistic activities with
the Cloud, AI, Uncrewed Systems, ‘Omics, and Citizen Science Strategies
to fully realize the benefits of improved organizational and operational
efficiencies.
As a world leader in atmospheric and ocean sciences, NOAA has
demonstrated the value of high-quality and well-managed data to ensure
accountability, to manage operations, and to maintain and enhance the
performance of the economy, public health, and welfare.
Continued socialization and public engagement of this strategic action plan
will be facilitated through the various committees, councils, stakeholders,
and partner engagement activities identified within the plan.

14

NOAA Data Strategy

Appendix 1 - Top Priorities for FY22 and FY23

Goal 1: Leadership
•	 Action 1: Establish the NOAA Chief Data Officer (CDO) organizational structure.
•	 Action 3: Formalize NOAA Line Office data governance roles.

Goal 2: Governance
•	 Action 4: Establish a NOAA Data Governance Body.
•	 Action 5: Socialize and promote the NOAA Data Governance structure and leadership roles and responsibilities.
•	 Action 6: Harmonize existing NOAA EDMC data directives into updated and consolidated policies that align with new federal policies and legislation.

Goal 3: Open Data
•	 Action 8: Develop a NOAA Open Data Plan for improving public access to
priority NOAA data assets that aligns with the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) and Department of Commerce (DOC) Evidence Act guidance.
•	 Action 9: Assess baseline compliance with Open Data requirements in the
Evidence Act.
•	 Action 10: Maintain a comprehensive NOAA data inventory, including standard metadata, that is published to NOAA and federal data catalogs
(data.gov) to ensure that NOAA’s data are discoverable and accessible to external stakeholders.
•	 Action 11: Develop and maintain NOAA data licensing guidance that is consistent with Open Data policies in the Evidence Act.

Goal 4: Capabilities
•	 Action 13: Assess NOAA’s data program maturity and report on progress.
•	 Action 16: Assess and increase NOAA staff data literacy and data skills to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of use and management of NOAA data.

Goal 5: Collaboration
•	 Action 22: Track the use of NOAA data to help identify stakeholders and end users, within the bounds of federal law and policy, to measure the value of
NOAA data.

15

NOAA Data Strategy

Appendix 2 – Definitions
Links to sources can be found in Appendix 3: References

1

Word or Term

Definition

Source

Archivingrchiving

The set of actions of transferring, maintaining, documenting, and storing records.
Archiving ensures that information is actionable—understandable, documented,
discoverable, usable.

Dictionary of Archive Terminology

Communications Plan

Includes an engagement model for stakeholders, type of information to be shared,
and the schedule for sharing information

The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management (2nd
Edition; Earley, 2011)

Data

Recorded information, regardless of form or the media on which the data are recorded.
Ex. administrative, environmental, mission, mission-support, unstructured.

NOAA Data Strategy; Reference: Evidence Act, 44
U.S.C. § 3502

Data Asset

A collection of data elements or data sets that may be grouped together.

NOAA Data Strategy; Reference: Evidence Act, 44
U.S.C. § 3502

Data Catalog

A searchable, comprehensive data inventory available to the users.

The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management (2nd
Edition; Earley, 2011)

Data Creation

First step in the data lifecycle, congruent with data collection.

Reference: OMB Circular A-130, Managing
Information as a Strategic Resource

Data Governance

Provides direction and oversight for data management by establishing a system of
decision rights over data that accounts for needs of the enterprise.

The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management (2nd
Edition; Earley, 2011)

Data Governance Body

“The head of each agency must establish an agency Data Governance Body, to be
chaired by the Chief Data Officer, with participation from relevant senior-level staff
in agency business units, data functions, and financial management. All agencies
must include their Data Governance Body in their Strategic Information Resources
Management Plan’s Governance sections as required by OMB guidance.”

Evidence Act, 44 U.S.C. § 3502

Data Inventory

A description of the data asset and associated metadata, including all variable names
and definitions.

Evidence Act, 44 U.S.C. § 3511(a)

Data License

A license agreement is a legal arrangement between the creator/depositor of the
dataset and the data repository, signifying what a user is allowed to do with the data.
Data are then provided on demand as a service.

The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management, 2nd
Edition; Earley, 2011
Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives
(CESSDA Training)

Data Life Cycle

The stages through which information passes, typically characterized as creation
or collection, processing, dissemination, use, storage, and disposition, to include
destruction and deletion.

NOAA Data Strategy; Reference: OMB Circular A-130,
Managing Information as a Strategic Resources1

See OMB Circular A-130

16

1

NOAA Data Strategy

Data Management

The business function that develops and executes plans, policies, practices, and projects
that acquire, control, protect, deliver, and enhance the value of data and information
assets throughout their lifecycle.

The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management (2nd
Edition; Earley, 2011)

Data Program Maturity

Maturity assessments allow an organization to evaluate itself against documented best
practices, determine gaps, and identify areas to prioritize for improvement. A maturity
assessment analyzes all aspects of agency policies, procedures, and operations related
to data and data infrastructure, including data governance, data management, data
culture, data systems and tools, data analytics, staff skills and capacity, resource capacity,
and compliance with law and policy. The results of a maturity assessment feed into the
data governance and management processes to inform investment decisions and to
prioritize subsequent actions. A maturity assessment should be repeated periodically, as
determined by the agency, to measure progress and prioritize next steps.

Federal Data Strategy Governance Playbook

Data Services

Data services are a subset of Data Management and includes adherence to agreed-upon
standards; ingesting data, developing collections, and creating products; maintaining
databases; ensuring permanent, secure archival; providing both user-friendly and
machine-interoperable access; assisting users; migrating services to emerging
technologies; and responding to user feedback.

NAO 212-15

Data Stewardship

All activities that preserve and improve the information content, accessibility, and
usability of data and metadata.

NOAA Data Strategy; Reference: NOAA
Environmental Data Management Framework1

Geospatial Data

Information that is tied to a location on the Earth, including by identifying the geographic
location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on the
Earth, and that is generally represented in vector datasets by points, lines, polygons, or
other complex geographic features or phenomena; may be derived from, among other
things, remote sensing, mapping, and surveying technologies; includes images and raster
datasets, aerial photographs, and other forms of geospatial data or datasets in digitized or
non-digitized form.

Geospatial Data Act of 2018

Long-term Preservation

The set of actions for transferring, maintaining, documenting, and storing records. Data
may be “well preserved” but be poorly archived, e.g., no context, format details, etc.

Dictionary of Archive Terminology

Machine Readable

Data in a format that can be easily processed by a computer without human intervention
while ensuring no semantic meaning is lost.

NOAA Data Strategy; Reference: Evidence Act, 44
U.S.C. § 3502

See NOAA Environmental Data Management Framework

17

NOAA Data Strategy

NOAA Records Schedules

This schedule covers records created by Federal agencies in carrying out the work of
National Archives General Record Schedule;
financial management: procuring goods and services, paying bills, collecting debts,
Transmittal 31 Schedules ONLY (no crosswalks
accounting for all financial transactions, and monitoring agencies’ net worth. It does
or FAQs)
not apply to copies of records forwarded to the Department of Treasury or the Office of
Management and Budget in fulfillment of reporting requirements. These forwarded copies
serve unique business purposes at those agencies and are therefore scheduled separately
as records of OMB and Treasury.

Open Data

A public data asset that is machine-readable; available (or could be made available) in an
open format; not encumbered by restrictions, other than intellectual property rights, that
would impede the use or reuse of such asset; and based on an underlying open standard
that is maintained by a standards organization.

NOAA Data Strategy

Open License

A legal guarantee that a data asset is made available at no cost to the public; and with
no restrictions on copying, publishing, distributing, transmitting, citing, or adapting such
asset.

NOAA Data Strategy; Reference: Evidence Act, 44
U.S.C. § 3502

Public Data Asset

A data asset, or part thereof, maintained by the Federal Government that has been, or may
be, released to the public.

NOAA Data Strategy; Reference: Evidence Act, 44
U.S.C. § 3502

Real-Time Data

Data or observations for which the reporting or recording of events is nearly simultaneous
with their occurrence. It is distinguished from archival retrieval of the data.

American Meteorological Society (AMS)

Standard

A product of protocol with a publicly published definition accepted and used by a
community of practice or accredited standards organization.

Internal definition

18

Appendix 3 – Acronyms
Acronym

Definition

AI

Artificial Intelligence

CDGB

Commerce Data Governance Board

CDO

Chief Data Officer

CUI

Controlled Unclassified Information

DAARWG

Data Access & Archive Requirements Working Group

DOC

Department of Commerce

DOI

Digital Object Identifier

EDMC

Environmental Data Management Committee

FY

Fiscal Year

IQA

Information Quality Act

IRM

Information Resource Management

IT

Information Technology

NAO

NOAA Administrative Order

NOSC

NOAA Observing System Council

ODP

Open Data Plan

OHCS

Office of Human Capital Services

OMB

Office of Management and Budget

PARR

Public Access to Research Results

POC

Point of Contact

PRA

Paperwork Reduction Act

S&T

Science and Technology

SAB

Science Advisory Board

NOAA Data Strategy

19

NOAA Data Strategy

Appendix 4 – References

References to the supporting policies, legislation, and other NOAA guidance documents related to this NOAA Data
Strategic Action Plan.
•	 NOAA Data Strategy
•	 NOAA Science & Technology Focus Areas
•	 OMB M-19-18: Federal Data Strategy - A Framework for Consistency
– Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan
– Federal Data Strategy Resources
– Federal Data Strategy Governance Playbook
•	 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy Making Act (“The Evidence Act”)
– OMB M-19-23 - Phase 1 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Learning Agenda, Personnel, and Planning Guidance
– OMB M-21-XX - Phase 2 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Open Data Access & Management --- PENDING
OMB RELEASE
– OMB M-21-XX - Phase 3 - Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Data Access for Statistical Purposes --- PENDING
OMB RELEASE
– OMB M-20-12 - Phase 4 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Program Evaluation Standards and Practices
•	 OMB M-13-13 - Open Data Policy - Managing Information as an Asset
•	 Geospatial Data Act of 2018
•	 OMB Information Quality Act (IQA) Guidelines

20

NOAA Data Strategy

– NOAA IQA Guidelines
•	
•	
•	
•	
•	

Department of Commerce (DOC) Data Strategy
NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 212-15 - Management of Environmental Data and Information
Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Ocean Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (NOMEC IP)
NAO 216-112 - Policy on Partnerships in the Provision of Environmental Information
Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Science - otherwise known as Public Access to Research Results (PARR)
– NOAA PARR Plan

•	 The Data Management Body of Knowledge (DAMA DMBOK-2) - DAMA Dictionary of Data Management (2nd Edition; Earley, 2011) - [Note: available to NOAA staff only]
•	 EDMC Data Sharing Directive: https://nosc.noaa.gov/EDMC/PD.DSP.php
•	 Dictionary of Archive Terminology: archiving and preservation


File Typeapplication/pdf
File TitleNOAA Data Strategic Action Plan
File Modified2022-10-04
File Created2022-03-07

© 2025 OMB.report | Privacy Policy