July 18, 2014
Good evening from the Department of Commerce. This week,
Secretary Pritzker gave remarks at the 2014 ESRI International User’s
Conference in San Diego, California. The Secretary discussed the Department of
Commerce’s expanding role as “America’s Data Agency” and also announced that
the Department will hire its first-ever Chief Data Officer who will oversee
improvements to data collection and dissemination to ensure Commerce’s data
programs are coordinated, comprehensive, and strategic.
While in San Diego, Secretary Pritzker led a roundtable
discussion on the importance of U.S. exports with the “Global San Diego Export
Plan” team. The Secretary discussed ways the Department, through our resources,
can provide assistance to businesses and the Export Plan team to help overcome
some of these challenges. Secretary Pritzker also announced the launch of the
International Trade Administration’s “Developer Portal”, which will centralize
data vital to exporting businesses across the country.
Secretary Pritzker also traveled to Memphis for the
second “Made in Rural America” regional export forum to highlight progress on
efforts to help rural, small businesses and communities expand exports.
Around Commerce, NOAA provided guidance in improving community
resilience to coastal hazards; ITA launched a new developer portal; and the
Commerce Department released a report exploring the benefits and low cost of
government data.
Best,
Justin
Secretary
Pritzker Discussed the Power of Government Data and Announced the Department of
Commerce Will Hire Its First-Ever Chief Data Officer - Secretary Pritzker
discussed the Department of Commerce’s expanding role as “America’s Data
Agency” at the 2014 Esri International User’s Conference in San Diego,
California. To develop and implement a vision for the next phase in the open
data revolution, Secretary Pritzker announced that the Department of Commerce
will hire its first-ever Chief Data Officer.
U.S.
Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, Discussed Opportunities for U.S.
Companies to Export - Secretary Pritzker met with local private and public
sector leaders and learned more about the success of their export strategy and
the challenges they still face. The partnership-driven export and investment
strategy made a big impact on the San Diego economy, but there are still more
areas and opportunities for growth.
U.S.
Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, Announces Business Development Mission
to Japan and South Korea - Secretary Pritzker will lead a Business
Development Mission to Japan and South Korea from October 19-23, 2014, focused
on the health care and energy sectors. This will be Secretary Pritzker’s fourth
trade mission since taking office in June 2013 and will promote U.S. exports to
Japan and South Korea by helping American companies launch or increase their
business in these key markets. Interested? Apply online here.
U.S.
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker Talks About Efforts to Boost Exports in
the Rural Delta - With the recent launch of NEI/NEXT, the next phase of the
successful National Export Initiative, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Pritzker has
made it a priority to expand the U.S. export base and to help more American
businesses of all sizes – including rural businesses – capitalize on opportunities
in foreign markets.
Introducing
ITA’s Trade Developer Portal - This portal is a collection of application
programming interfaces (APIs) that allows software developers to create web and
mobile applications using information produced by ITA and other trade promotion
agencies.
New
Commerce Department Report Explores Huge Benefits, Low Cost of Government Data
- This ESA report explores the role of federal statistics in decision-making
among governments, businesses, and citizens. Examples of ESA data includes
gross domestic product, employment, consumer prices, corporate profits, retail
sales, agricultural supply and demand, population, international trade and much
more.
Building
Infrastructure to Strengthen Environmental Resiliency - As climate change
becomes more pronounced, it is crucial that communities and regions factor in new
development and infrastructure in their strategic plans to account for and
mitigate the potential environmental impact.
Guidance
Aims to Improve Community Resilience to Coastal Hazards - According to the
latest population data, more than 39 percent of Americans live in coastal
shoreline counties, with the number growing. The new guidelines under Section
309 of the Coastal Zone Management Act will ensure greater consideration of how
climate change may exacerbate challenges in the management of coastal areas.
Under Secretary Doms wrote on his blog how data uses can help
Census Bureau innovate its data products and services.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis wrote on their blog this
week about how a new
Commerce Department report explores huge benefits, low cost of government data.
U.S. retail and
food services sales for June reached $439.9 billion, an increase of 0.2
percent from the previous month.
U.S. total
business end-of-month inventories for May were $1,737.4 billion, up 0.5
percent from last month. U.S. total business sales were 1,343.3 billion, up 0.4
percent from last month.
Privately
owned housing stats in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
893,000. This is 9.3 percent below the revised May 2014 estimate of 985,000.
June
2014 retail and food services sales were $439.9 billion, an increase of 0.2
percent from May 2014 and 4.3 percent higher than June 2013. Excluding
automobiles, retail and food services sales in June 2014 were $351.9 billion,
an increase of 0.4 percent from the prior month and 3.7 percent higher than one
year earlier. For 2014 overall, total sales were up 3.6 percent from 2013.
Excluding autos, retail sales increased 2.6 percent in 2014.
May
2014 business inventories were $1,737.4 billion, up 0.5 percent from April
and up 5.6 percent from May 2013. Sales
were $1,343.3 billion, up 0.4 percent from the previous month and up 4.6
percent from one year earlier.
Building
permits in June 2014 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of
963,000, down 4.2 percent from the May rate but up 2.7 percent from June 2013.
Housing starts in June 2014 were at a SAAR of 893,000, down 9.3 percent from
May but up 7.5 percent from June 2013.
Commerce Data in the News:
U.S. News &
World Report cited a Census Bureau report based on American Community
Survey data to write that college grads with science, technology, engineering
and math degrees use their skills in a variety of fields in this article: Beyond the Headline: U.S. Census Study on
STEM Graduates.
Business Insider
cited Census Bureau population figures along with Department of Defense numbers
to show that Florida, Georgia and Maine produce the most veterans per capita in
the articleThese
States Have the Highest Representation in the U.S. Military.
Bloomberg
News cited a Pew Research analysis based on Census Bureau statistics on living
arrangements in writing that a record 57 million Americans, or 18.1
percent of the population, lived in a multigenerational household in the
article Young
Adults Stay at Home as U.S. Multigenerational Living Rises.
Secretary Pritzker announced the Economics and Statistics
Administration’s report, “Fostering Innovation, Creating Jobs, Driving
Better Decisions: The Value of Government Data,” in her
keynote address to the GIS International Users’ Conference hosted by ESRI in
San Diego, CA. Monday when she detailed the Commerce Department’s open data
initiatives.
The Secretary’s remarks and the ESA report were featured
in NextGov, the Digital Journal, San Diego Source/The Daily Transcript,
Political Pro, Fed Scoop, Fierce Government IT, GovLoop, Big DataNews as well as in an ESA blog by US Mark Doms.
Also see the ESA blog about US Mark Doms ESRI panel entitled “Calling all Business, Government and
Community Decision Makers – Help Census Bureau Innovate Its Data Products and
Services.”
Bureau of
Economic Analysis data on consumer prices are highlighted in Bloomberg
Businessweek coverage of Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony this week: Yellen
Says Weak Job Market Shows U.S. Still Needs Stimulus.
Data Releases Next Week: New
Residential Sales: June (Census); Advance Report on Durable Goods: June
(Census)
On Monday, Arun Kumar, Assistant Secretary for Global
Markets and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, will
meet with Indian government officials and industry representatives during his
first visit as Assistant Secretary to New Delhi, India.
On Tuesday, NTIA Administrator and Assistant Secretary
for Communications and Information, Lawrence E. Strickling, will deliver
keynote remarks at an event on Internet governance entitled “Who Owns the
Internet? A Conversation on Securing the Multi-stakeholder Process” hosted by
the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
Also on Tuesday, USPTO Deputy Director, Michelle Lee,
will provide opening remarks at a Software Partnership Meeting at the USPTO
campus in Alexandria, VA. Software Partnership meetings are opportunities to convene
stakeholders to share ideas, experiences, insights, and to provide a forum for informal
discussion specific to the software community.
On Wednesday, BEA Acting Director, Brian Moyer, will
represent BEA at the National Academies Transportation Research Board Workshop
in Washington, D.C. on the Value of Transportation Infrastructure.
Also on Wednesday, Deputy Assistant Secretary Chandra
Brown will deliver keynote remarks at the Southern Automotive Women’s Forum in
Nashville, Tennessee.
On Friday, Secretary Pritzker will visit the BioTechnical
Institute of Maryland (BTI) with Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez. They will
take a tour of the facility and then sit down with students, recent graduates,
local employers and BTI educators to learn about why this combination of
classroom instruction, and on-the-job work experience, enables BTI’s successful
graduates to realize employment options, while employers benefit from a stream
of ready-for-hire, well-qualified lab technicians.
Later in the day on Friday, Secretary Pritzker will speak
to participants at the 21st Century Career Counseling Jobs Data Jam in
Baltimore, Md., learning about the new tools that participants propose for
connecting youth to jobs and careers and offer a call to action to develop
those tools over the coming months.
Secretary
Pritzker discusses the power of government data at the 2014 Esri
International User’s Conference in San Diego, California.
Secretary
Pritzker met with David Spann and ITA's Commercial Service Team in Memphis
while promoting rural exports.
How
Common are Specific Disabilities? - As we approach the 24th anniversary of
the Americans with Disabilities Act, a Census Bureau graphic shows that two in the
U.S. adults live with a disability, such as vision difficulty (8.1 million) and
dementia (2.4 million).
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