1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary Government Data Act or the OPEN Government Data Act . 2. Findings (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Federal Government data is a valuable national resource. Managing Federal Government data to make it open, available, discoverable, and usable to the general public, businesses, journalists, academics, and advocates promotes efficiency and effectiveness in Government, creates economic opportunities, promotes scientific discovery, and most importantly, strengthens our democracy. (2) Maximizing the usefulness of Federal Government data that is appropriate for release rests upon making it readily available, discoverable, and usable—in a word: open. Information presumptively should be available to the general public unless the Federal Government reasonably foresees that disclosure could harm a specific, articulable interest protected by law or the Federal Government is otherwise expressly prohibited from releasing such data due to statutory requirements. (3) The Federal Government has the responsibility to be transparent and accountable to its citizens. (4) Data controlled, collected, or created by the Federal Government should be originated, transmitted, and published in modern, open, and electronic format, to be as readily accessible as possible, consistent with data standards under this Act or otherwise permitted by law. (5) The effort to inventory Government data will have additional benefits, including identifying opportunities within agencies to reduce waste, increase efficiencies, and save taxpayer dollars. As such, this effort should involve many types of data, including data generated by applications, devices, networks, and equipment, which can be harnessed to improve operations, lower energy consumption, reduce costs, and strengthen security. (6) Communication, commerce, and data transcend national borders. Global access to Government information is often essential to promoting innovation, scientific discovery,