Data Foundation names six federal leaders for 2026 Datum Awards

The Data Foundation on Sept. 16 recognized six federal data and evidence leaders with its 2026 Datum Awards, highlighting work that improves grants standards, environmental data access, crash data and evaluation practice. The awards were presented at a Sept. 15 ceremony in Washington, D.C., and the organization says the program has now honored 41 people since 2019.

Why it matters: - The 2026 Datum Awards highlight federal data work that shapes how agencies collect, share and use evidence for public decisions. - The recognized projects affect grants administration, environmental transparency, transportation safety and evaluation practices across government. - The Data Foundation says the awards are meant to honor civil servants whose work helps government data produce results for the public good.

What happened: - The Data Foundation announced six recipients of the 2026 Datum Awards on Sept. 16, 2026. - The award ceremony and reception took place on Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington, D.C. - The recipients were Sharon Boivin and Heather Madray of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics at the National Science Foundation; Ross Williford of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Tony LaVoi of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Tiffany Boiman of the U.S. Department of Labor; and Chou-Lin Chen, retired from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The details: - Sharon Boivin and Heather Madray won the Data Innovation Award for advancing National Secure Data Service demonstration projects to operational maturity. - Their work included a functional framework for secure data linkage, AI-enabled concierge and retrieval services, and privacy-preserving technologies. - Their efforts kept bipartisan momentum for federal data integration across two administrations. - Ross Williford won the Data Innovation Award for leading the government-wide effort to turn the GREAT Act into reusable data infrastructure. - That work culminated in the June 2026 release of Grants Standard Data Elements v3.0 for the Notice of Funding Opportunity stage of the federal grants lifecycle. - Tony LaVoi won the Chief Data Officer Award for expanding the accessibility, transparency and utility of federal environmental data through NOAA Open Data Dissemination and updates to NOAA’s public access and open government data plans. - Tiffany Boiman won the Chief Evaluation Officer Award for leading the Labor Department’s Chief Evaluation Office and serving as the department’s named Evidence Official. - Boiman’s role centered on making sure evaluation research met standards of rigor, relevance, transparency, independence and ethics while informing program decisions. - Chou-Lin Chen won the Statistical Official Award for executing the second generation of the Crash Investigation Sampling System. - The new CISS collected crash data involving vulnerable road users for the first time and improved estimate precision. - The resulting data release gave policymakers more comprehensive and granular crash information for public safety decisions. - The Data Foundation Board of Directors chose the award recipients from public nominations, including nominations from members of the Data Coalition. - Since launching in 2019, the Datum Awards have recognized 41 individuals. - The full list is available here.

Between the lines: - The award slate points to a broader federal push to move data policy from concept to infrastructure. - Several honorees were recognized not just for technical work, but for turning data systems into operational tools agencies can actually use. - The inclusion of both data-sharing and evidence-evaluation roles suggests the Data Foundation is elevating the full pipeline from data collection to decision-making.

What's next: - The Data Foundation will continue to use the Datum Awards to spotlight federal data and evidence leadership. - The recognized systems and standards are positioned to shape future federal data integration, grants administration, environmental access and crash analysis work. - The organization did not announce any new changes to the award program beyond this year’s recipients.