Recovery Act board publishes data dictionary

The board that oversees the Recovery.gov Web site used to for track spending under the economic stimulus law has published a draft list of more than 70 data elements to be used for reports.

Under the law, $787 billion is going to federal, state and local agencies, and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board is operating the Recovery.gov Web site to show how the funding is being spent, where projects are being performed and how many jobs are being created.

The board announced the release of the draft Recipient Reporting Data Dictionary on the Recovery.gov Web site Aug. 4.

The dictionary describes mandatory data elements — including the dollar amount of the contract or grant, and the prime location of work performed and number of jobs created — as well as optional information such as the names and compensation of the five most highly compensated officers of the recipient entity, agency or contractor.

The goal of publishing the data elements is to create a format for standardized reporting across agencies and state and local governments, the board said. Agencies will begin reporting the data elements starting Oct. 10.

The data elements are intended for use for spending done between June 30 and Sept. 30, 2009, the board said. More modifications may be made to the template for future reporting cycles.

Many of the data elements are numeric codes used to identify the funding agency, awarding agency and recipient, including Data Universal Numbering System numbers.