On Sept. 30^th, the leading authorities on the creation and implementation of open data policy for our country are gathering. Data Transparency 2014, co-hosted by the Sunlight Foundation, couldn’t come at a more critical time.

The Treasury department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are in the middle of deciding how to implement the DATA Act, which was signed into law five months ago. OMB’s Dave Mader and Treasury’s David Lebryk will appear jointly for the first time to shed light on to the progress of the implementation.

Because the cause of open data in federal spending didn’t end with the passage of the DATA Act, keeping a watchful eye on the implementation must be a priority.

Federal spending won’t be the only focus at Data Transparency 2014. As Matt Rumsey wrote last week, open data in financial regulation was dealt a setback when the House passed H.R. 5405, requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regress from collecting corporate financial statements as open data to using only plain-text documents. The House’s action was also a setback for investors, markets, public companies and watchdogs at the SEC. If the existing XBRL formats were enforced and expanded, open data would allow investors to make smarter decisions, make the markets more efficient, allow public companies to automate their compliance burden – and support analytics at the SEC to help find the next Enron.

The potential of open data in financial regulation will also be addressed at Data Transparency 2014 by Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.; SEC Chief Economist Mark Flannery; and Matt Reed, chief counsel at the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research.

The day also features two important keynote addresses from White House Deputy CTO Nick Sinai and Comptroller General of the United States Gene Dodaro.

The agenda is packed with outstanding speakers, and you can follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #DT2014. As we continue to keep a watchful eye on open data’s progress and setbacks, we invite you to join us for Data Transparency 2014 — use this link for a 10% discount!

Hudson Hollister is the founder and Executive Director of the Data Transparency Coalition. Prior to founding the Data Transparency Coalition, he served as counsel to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives and as an attorney fellow in the Office of Interactive Disclosure at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Before his government service, he was a securities litigator in the Chicago office of Latham & Watkins LLP.