UPDATE: The DATA Demo Day on July 10, 2012, featured a wide range of technology companies, each demonstrating an innovative use of standardized federal spending data - as the bipartisan DATA Act would require.

The presentations are available below:

Synteractive: Recovery Act reporting shows benefits of standardization
Teradata: Standardized reporting will enable enterprise-wide grant management
MarkLogic: The DATA Act, spending oversight and the GSA scandal
Microsoft: How XBRL reporting enables efficient financial management
Level One Technologies: Streamlined recipient reporting under ARRA and DATA
First Street: Transparent federal spending data will improve political intelligence
IPHIX: Standardized reporting could have revealed Solyndra risk
SAP: Standardized reporting will permit transaction-level oversight
Elder Research: Predictive analytics to fight contract fraud
EDGAR Online: SEC disclosure reform shows benefits of standardized reporting
Maryland Association of CPAs: How one small nonprofit adopted standardized reporting cheaply
OpenCorporates: Federal spending standardization will enhance public transparency

UPDATE: If you cannot attend, join our online meeting and teleconference to listen in and watch the presentations!

Online meeting: https://join.microsoft.com/meet/gbateman/68RYTFS4

Teleconference: 703-657-1761

Conference ID: 16180452

The DATA Act, which the House of Representatives passed unanimously on April 25th, will transform the way the U.S. government's spending information is reported, analyzed, and used. Grantees and contractors report on their receipt of federal funds to two separate databases - with agencies, meanwhile, reporting to at least six. None of these systems is comprehensive. They use incompatible data languages, which means they cannot be searched together. And because there is no automatic way to check the existing systems for accuracy, data quality is poor.

The DATA Act (video) will impose consistent data identifiers and markup languages and a single public platform for all federal spending. For the first time, citizens will be able to view internal expenditures and external grants and contracts for every agency and every program. Agencies will be able to use powerful Big Data tools to find waste and fraud. Congress will be able to follow the consequences of its fiscal decisions. If you work for a federal agency or Congress, if you deal with federal grants or contracts, or if you are a citizen who cares about how your tax dollars are spent - you will see real changes as a result of the DATA Act.

Leading technology companies are coming together to form the Data Transparency Coalition, a trade association that supports compatible data identifiers and markup languages for the U.S. government's information. The Coalition's campaign for federal data reform starts with the DATA Act, but will also include regulatory filings, legislative actions, judicial documents, and more.

You are invited to join members of the Data Transparency Coalition as they demonstrate these changes.

• The DATA Act will allow citizens and watchdogs to detect scandals like the GSA's controversial October 2010 Las Vegas conference as they happen - instead of years later.

• The DATA Act will allow inspectors general to deploy predictive analytics to find waste and fraud.

• The DATA Act will allow agencies to evaluate applicants seeking federal money by reviewing all their previous grants and contracts - instantly.

• The DATA Act's electronic standards will allow Congress to scrutinize spending - transaction by transaction.

• The DATA Act will centralize grant reporting to make compliance easier for states, universities, and nonprofits.

• By DATA Act will connect spending records with other federal data using common identifiers, allowing media and activists to compare grantees and contractors by financial health and regulatory record - automatically.
  

Confirmed participants include Microsoft, Teradata Corporation, SAP, IPHIX, Level One Technologies, MarkLogic, Elder Research, Synteractive, and EDGAR Online.