Recommendation

The White House should direct federal agencies to develop and pilot “data trusts.”

Details

Businesses, government agencies, and researchers often avoid sharing with one another data that would be mutually beneficial due to concerns about its sensitive or proprietary nature. Federal agencies, particularly the Department of Commerce and Department of Health and Human Services, can remedy this by establishing a framework of “data trusts” that have clearly defined rights and responsibilities for how the parties involved will use the data. Data trusts could greatly increase the amount of data available for data innovation and AI development in sectors such as health care, which often deals with sensitive information, and for the economy as a whole, as businesses would have greater confidence to share their proprietary data.

Keep reading:

▪ Joshua New, “Why the United States Needs a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and What It Should Look Like” (Center for Data Innovation, December 2018), https://www.datainnovation.org/2018/12/why-the-united-states-needs-a-national-artificial-intelligence-strategy-and-what-it-should-look-like/.