Building Credibility and Improving Public Health Through Transparency and Information Sharing

Background:

The public health community faces an uphill battle for consumer trust and confidence in the face of recalls, outbreaks and the rise of misinformation. Declines in confidence and skepticism towards information means that public health professionals must strengthen their reputations as valid sources of information. The trend towards transparency is not new, but public health communicators have not fully embraced it. Professionals can earn trust and credibility by being transparent and providing the public with the raw data that is not pre-interpreted or filtered prior to dissemination. The session will examine how FSIS is building credibility through increased transparency to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for data. It will explore ways to present scientific and complex information to the public. The session will look at balancing government transparency, regulatory responsibilities, consumer expectations, actionable information and public health when making decisions about communicating with the public.

Program background:

Data sharing is one of FSIS’ efforts to improve engagement and increase credibility with its stakeholders and the public, and to ensure ongoing access to quality information. Public release of establishment-specific FSIS data, by themselves or in combination with other privately or publicly available data could yield valuable insights that go beyond the regulatory uses for which the data were collected. The goal is to ensure that programs are delivered efficiently, effectively, with integrity, and with a focus on customer service in order to build our credibility. In addition, sharing this information provides an incentive for FSIS-regulated establishments to further reduce pathogen levels.

Evaluation Methods and Results:

Data are available in PDF reports, tables of aggregate data as HTML, Excel, or PDF, and microdata datasets as Excel files so users can conduct their own analyses. Draft datasets and documentation are posted online for a six-week comment period to gain stakeholder feedback prior to each formal release. Members of the public can access and download the files for their own use.

Conclusions:

The first two datasets were posted in late 2016. To date, FSIS has 10 datasets available that capture information from approximately 6500 regulated establishments. These datasets are regularly updated, provide a window into the performance of regulated establishments and encompass more than a million possible data points. As of February 2019, datasets were downloaded nearly 4600 times. These observations suggest that the data sharing program is working as intended.

Implications for research and/or practice:

The most basic building block for forming opinions and perceptions is data and impressions. Making this data proactively available gives the public and stakeholders the ability to remove any perceived government bias by providing them the opportunity to analyze the and draw conclusions. It makes for a fascinating platform for open, informed discussions with stakeholders and the general public, and serves as a basis for framing preferred messaging. In addition to the current datasets, FSIS is expanding public access to Agency data through the online publication of the Annual Catalog of FSIS Sampling Projects—a searchable list, with project names and codes, which informs the public of sampling data available through the FOIA process.