Data.gov is a U.S. Government website launched in late May 2009 by the Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the United States, Vivek Kundra.

Jeanne Holm, Chief Knowledge Architect for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was the Evangelist and knowledge architect for Data.gov,[6] James Hendler, an artificial intelligence researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was at the time named the "Internet Web Expert" and tasked with helping Data.gov exploit advanced Web technologies.

Communities of practice were created around key topics such as climate, providing a way for researchers to ask for data and to coordinate work across government agencies.

Community led efforts like hackathons from Code for America and events such as the National Day of Civic Hacking, relied on government data provided by Data.gov.

The U.S. Open Government Directive of December 8, 2009, required that all agencies post at least three high-value data sets online and register them on Data.gov within 45 days.

[11] The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (“Evidence Act”) signed into law on January 14, 2019, emphasizes collaboration and coordination to advance data and evidence-building functions in the Federal Government by statutorily mandating Federal evidence-building activities, open government data, and confidential information protection and statistical efficiency.