The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy Making Act of 2018 requires agencies to make agency data public when possible and to develop statistical evidence to support policymaking. To aid with this process, the act requires that each agency designate a Statistical Official, Evaluation Officer, and Chief Data Officer.
The Evaluation Officer
The Evaluation Officer is responsible for the agency’s assessments of coverage, quality, methods, consistency, effectiveness, independence, balance of portfolio of evaluations, and other ongoing evaluation activities. Additionally, the officer is responsible for coordinating and releasing a Department Learning Agenda that establishes priorities for evidence and evaluation development. The officer also coordinates and releases the Capacity Assessment that assesses the resources available to complete the Learning Agenda. Additionally, the Evaluation Officer leads the development of an Annual Evaluation Plan that lists evaluations that will be conducted in a fiscal year and are funded in the budget for that year.
Shawn Klimek serves as the Department’s Evaluation Officer.
Objectives
The objective of the Evaluation Officer and evaluation staff throughout the department is to facilitate the development and use of quality data, evidence, and rigorous evaluations in decision-making. Additionally, the Evaluation Officer promotes:
The primary focus of the Evaluation Officer is to ensure that Department and bureau evidence and evaluation activities are governed by leaderships’ priorities, use the best methodology, and findings are incorporated into policy and program deliberations.
The Evaluation Officer and the Chief Data Officer collaborate to promote effective data use within the Department. They identify gaps in available data to answer key policy questions and collaborate with bureau staff to develop the necessary data.
The Evaluation Officer and Chief Data Officer collaborate to streamline data access across bureaus and sub-agencies within the Department. The Commerce Data Hub was created to provide quick access to datasets and their owners.
The Evaluation Officer and Chief Data officer work with experts in the Census Bureau and the Office of Privacy and Open Government to ensure that microdata– data with personal information attached to it– is protected. This includes researching and utilizing privacy-protecting technologies. Additionally, the Evaluation Officer and Chief Data Officer are responsible for ensuring that legal and ethical restrictions on data use are followed.
Additional Information
- Bureau of Economic Analysis: Distribution of Personal Income
- Bureau of Economic Analysis: Prototype Measures of Economic Well-Being and Growth
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Survey of Employment and Wages
- Census Bureau: My Community Explorer
- Census Bureau: Community Resilience Estimates Equity Supplement
- Census Bureau: Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Program
- Census Bureau and Opportunity Insights: Opportunity Atlas
- Council on Environmental Quality: Climate and Economic Justice Tool
- Economic Development Administration and Argonne National Laboratory: National Economic Resilience Data Estimator
- Economic Development Administration and Census Bureau: Poverty Status Viewer
- Economic Development Administration and Indiana Business Research Center: Stats America
- Environmental Protection Agency: EJScreen: Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Social Indicators for Coastal Communities
- National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Census Bureau: The Digital Equity Act Population Viewer
- University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute: County Health Ranking and Roadmap
Annual Evaluation Plan
The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 requires that agency Evaluation Officers coordinate the development of an Annual Evaluation Plan that is published concurrently with the agency's Annual Performance Plan and the annual budget. The Annual Evaluation Plan describes significant evaluations and related information for the subsequent fiscal year.
FY 25 Department of Commerce Evaluation Plan
Past Evaluation Plans
- FY 24 Department of Commerce Evaluation Plan
- FY 23 Department of Commerce Evaluation Plan
- FY 22 Department of Commerce Evaluation Plan
Learning Agenda
The Department’s Learning Agenda is a companion document to the Strategic Plan. It details evidence and evaluations that will be developed to facilitate achieving the Department’s Strategic Objectives. The Learning Agenda includes:
- Policy-relevant questions that the agency intends to answer to support policymaking.
- Data that the agency intends to collect, use, or acquire to facilitate research on policy-relevant questions.
- Methods and analytical approaches that may be used to develop evidence to support policymaking.
- Challenges to developing evidence to support policymaking, including any statutory or other restrictions to accessing relevant data.
Learning Agenda, Companion to the 2022 – 2026 Strategic Plan
Capacity Assessment
The Capacity Assessment is the third document in the series that the Evaluation Officer is responsible for. It reports on the Department’s resources to carry out the Learning Agenda. The Capacity Assessment reviews and appraises the statistics, evaluation, research, and analysis capabilities of the Department. Bureau evaluation resources are reviewed to assess if they meet requirements for achieving quality, rigor, and relevance for their evidence and evaluation projects.