Senator presses administration for improvements in stimulus data

The chairman of the Budget Committee's Task Force on Government Performance, pressed the Obama administration's top technology officials Thursday to ensure there will not be a repeat of the problems with the data posted during the first round of reporting on federal economic stimulus spending.

During a task force hearing on using technology to improve government data, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said he "didn't realize Virginia had a 12th congressional district," citing one of the many gaffes that have been reported about the data on Recovery.gov, which tracks the economic stimulus spending.

Aneesh Chopra, the federal government's chief technology officer, did not directly answer Warner's concerns. Instead, he discussed the need for data to be provided to the government in "machine-readable formats."

Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra noted that the new open government directive announced by the Office of Management and Budget this week made a point of addressing concerns with the quality of data agencies release by requiring each agency to appoint an official who is accountable for data quality. "We need to make sure data is timely, comprehensive and reliable," Kundra said.

Warner also asked about what the administration is doing to improve the transparency of the process for those who have applied for visas, green cards or other immigration-related applications.

Chopra discussed a new initiative launched by the Homeland Security Department's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau to allow people to better track their immigration-related applications as they move through the agency.

The initiative includes sending applicants a text message update when their application has moved to the next step in a seven-step process.