Fiscal Service Announces Launch of New Data Visualizations and Analytics Site
April 5, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) announced the launch of a new website that displays interactive data visualizations, enabling greater analysis of federal financial data.
The newly launched site, Data Lab at datalab.USAspending.gov, is a platform designed to help generate public understanding of government spending through interactive data visualizations and analyses. From the homepage, visitors can access the federal accounts dendrogram (similar to a family tree diagram) and explore nearly 2,000 federal accounts. They can also view the sunburst diagram to get a window into how nearly $500 billion is spent each year on contracts. Currently in beta, the site will be continuously enhanced. Fiscal Service will improve upon and add more content based on user feedback.
In sync with the Data Lab unveiling, USAspending.gov relaunched with an updated look and feel that reflects the clarity, transparency, and openness promoted by the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act). The newly launched site, which had been in beta since May 2017, will offer updated award and summary data on budget categories, federal spending accounts, and spending data for individual contracts, grants, loans, direct payments, and other awards. USAspending.gov allows taxpayers to examine nearly $4 trillion in annual federal spending data. The original site made huge strides toward making agency financial-account and award data searchable and accessible, and now the relaunched site has opened access to even more data.
“With Data Lab and USAspending, we further enhance the ability of citizens to examine and track federal spending data,” said Fiscal Service Commissioner Sheryl Morrow. “One of the agency’s key goals is to promote the transparency of government spending and provide users with tools that make this data easy to access, navigate and use. With better data, we can make better decisions, and enable government to better serve all citizens. I am grateful for the dedication and incredible work from the USAspending and Data Lab teams.”
USAspending.gov is the official source for spending data for the U.S. Government. Fiscal Service compiles financial data from more than 80 federal agencies, which is updated and published quarterly. Data from other pre-existing federal databases is also compiled and linked together via data standards developed by the team. Standardization of government-wide financial data allows for unprecedented insight into the spending activity of federal agencies. USAspending.gov and datalab.USAspending.gov are beginning to reveal the vast potential of open and connected data – and we’re just getting started.