2026 Data Summit

The Data Foundation's 2026 Data Summit is a full-day convening bringing together researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, and data practitioners to explore the role of public data in driving informed decision-making across American society. The event features two complementary programs: a morning Symposium on Public Data as Strategic Infrastructure which will cover AI applications, public health, and fraud prevention, and the afternoon RegTech Data Summit: Managing Environmental Risk Through Better Data, which will explore the value of better data for guiding investment decisions and managing exposure to climate and environmental risks.

Together, these sessions offer a unique forum at the intersection of data policy, technology, and governance and will feature dynamic tools, frank discussion, and collaborative efforts that push us to answering four core questions:

• What is the better future we are working towards, and why?
• What are the data needs?
• Who needs the data?
• How are they getting that data?

Morning Session - Symposium on Public Data as Strategic Infrastructure

The Data Foundation Symposium on Public Data as Strategic Infrastructure will feature interactive demonstrations and formal presentations from Data Foundation Senior Fellows and other invited guest speakers. Public data collected and managed by government agencies informs decisions, markets, and forecasts, while providing the basis for insights that underlie the mechanics of daily life in the United States. Symposium presenters will demonstrate the value of public data as strategic infrastructure across sectors. Topics covered in the morning’s symposium will include the use of these data sources for training artificial intelligence applications, responding to emerging public health threats, and enabling technological solutions to detect and prevent fraud.

Government data has long been an accessible and trusted source of information for researchers, industries, journalists, policymakers, and the public. The future modernization of our data and evidence infrastructure, powered by artificial intelligence and guided by budget constraints, will require thoughtful conversations about how to improve the data we collect and maximize the impact of our data investments across American society. As needs, resources, and tools to leverage data evolve, symposium presenters will invite our audience to consider:

• What is the better future we are working towards, and why?
• What are the data needs?
• Who needs the data?
• How are they getting that data?

Public data is strategic infrastructure. How do we ensure decision-makers, researchers, and the public have the information they need for today’s questions and the future’s needs?

Afternoon Session - 2026 RegTech Data Summit: Managing Environmental Risk Through Better Data

As local communities, investors, insurers, industries, and states integrate climate, environmental, and natural disaster data into their operations and risk assessments, they face a fundamental data challenge: the information they rely on is often incomplete, inconsistent, or incompatible across sources and for differing uses. The Data Foundation’s RegTech Data Summit 2026: Managing Environmental Risk Through Better Data, hosted in Washington, D.C. on June 4, will address the questions, what is the better future we are working towards, and why; what are the data needs; who needs the data; and how are they getting that data?

Poor data quality, conflicting definitions, and fragmented systems create significant risk exposure and result in not only operational inefficiency but genuine uncertainty about whether organizations truly understand their climate-related exposures.

And yet, there are signs of collaborative and innovative efforts leading to solutions.

• The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures efforts to support data quality as a strategic public good.
• Improving firefighting effectiveness by integrating multiple data sources like historical fire perimeters, 911 calls, mountaintop cameras, lightning detection, and satellite imagery
• The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which is a cooperative, market-based effort among states in the northeastern United States
• And, the platforms and technologies developed to analyze the federated regulatory requirements for investment and risk disclosure

Thank you to our special policy partners — Centre for Public Impact, Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), Women in Data (US Federal Government Chapter), and Fulton Ring — for helping shape this important conversation!

Info: Ted Kaouk, Senior Fellow, Data Foundation

Info: Justin Marsico, Executive Director of Financial Integrity, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Info: Irma E. Arispe, Ph.D., Director, Division of Analysis and Epidemiology, National Center for Health Statistics

Info: Ken Bagstad, Senior Fellow, Data Foundation

Info: Ben Spoer Ph.D., MPH, Program Director, City Health Dashboard and Congressional District Health Dashboard

Info: Ed Kearns Ph.D., Chief Science Officer, First Street

Info: Panelists will discuss how risk assessments are developed in practice, what data sources inform planning and investment decisions, and where gaps in data quality, accessibility, interoperability, and transferability constrain implementation.

Info: Panelists will focus on how state and local leaders leverage consistent, reliable data to drive resilience planning, navigate infrastructure updates and population shifts, and ensure informed decision-making in the face of both extreme weather and potential growth.

Info: Jose Plehn Ph.D., CEO and Founder, BrightQuery, Inc.

Info: Perspectives from industry and private sector will shed light on their data needs, barriers to efficient and effective reporting, and how a better climate and environmental data ecosystem would translate into improving business operations and the public good.

Info: Ken Bagstad, Senior Fellow, Data Foundation

Info: Panelists representing philanthropies and coordinating organizations will unpack
our four core questions, discuss current efforts, and where governments, private sector, researchers, and philanthropies can work together towards a better future. What is the better future we are working towards, and why? What are the data needs? Who needs the data, and how are they getting it?

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