Question Seven

Enter your discussion report-out below:

7. How can agencies best help users combine data from sources that are maintained in statutory and programmatic stovepipes?

The agencies need to establish/continue/expand open data policies to promote use. Data access is still the big issue.

BETTER Communication within and across agencies would facilitate "better" stovepipes when these cannot be avoided. Common interfaces for stovepipes, an understood standard for all stovepipes, and a careful examination of incompatibilities of datasets are all needed.

Agencies need to recognize the importance of SOA, especially as implemented across agencies.

The need for a good interoperability infrastructure within/among agencies would help.

The first step is a full inventory/analysis of the data within the stovepipes. Then the agencies need to know who needs to combine data from between/among stovepipes. The best solution is to then work with these users/user needs. The air quality working group is a good example.