The Need to Modernise State Data Collection
An alternative angle on last week’s CAFR demonstration taxonomy comes from Marc Joffe, a senior policy analyst at the Reason Foundation. Joffe sees the development of the taxonomy as essential for modernising the data-collection and reporting tools of state governments – and argues that XBRL implementation will actually reduce costs
Data collection in the US is underfunded, meaning the Census Bureau’s Governments Division, which collects data on state and local governments, can’t keep up with demands. Statistics often appear two years after the government’s fiscal year end, are subject to error and insufficient for municipal credit analysis. This is especially troubling in a time when it is essential for stakeholders, creditors and overseers to get accurate, timely information about local government financial stability.
Data standards are the first step towards fixing this. Using the XBRL standard to digitise state government data would allow new technologies to facilitate higher quality data collection at a lower cost and effort. Joffe suggests a private public partnership could meet the needs of collectors and consumers while reducing costs.
For more information, read Marc Joffe’s article in full on Governing.
