What is the Data Modernization Initiative?

CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative (DMI) is at the heart of a national effort to create modern, integrated, and real-time public health data and surveillance that can protect us from any health threat. 

• Launched in 2020, DMI is a multi-year, billion-plus dollar effort to modernize core data and surveillance infrastructure across the federal and state public health landscape.
• DMI is not just about technology, but about putting the right people, processes, and policies in place to deliver real-time, high-quality information on both infectious and non-infectious threats.
• Our ultimate goal is to move from siloed and brittle public health data systems to connected, resilient, adaptable, and sustainable ‘response-ready’ systems that can help us solve problems before they happen and reduce the harm caused by the problems that do happen.
• CDC is connecting with partners from across public health and the private sector – including in healthcare, research, and academia — to make sure we get this right.

DMI is how CDC will meet its commitments to:

• Strengthen data reporting, management, and analytics across public health
• Conduct proper surveillance – not just of COVID-19 but also of future public health threats
• Support our staff in pursuing innovation and building state-of-the-art data science skills
• Deliver guidance the public can trust

It will do that through:

• Bolstering our core “early warning” systems for real-time, linked data on emerging health threats
• Innovating toward pandemic-ready solutions for timely and complete data reporting to CDC
• Building a highly skilled public health workforce
• Integrating nationwide standards for efficient, secure data access and exchange

So that when the next emergency happens, ​we will have:​

​A foundation for data sharing across all levels of public health for coordinated, scalable and timely case investigation, management, and reporting​

• Shared analysis capabilities to rapidly identify trends within and across jurisdictions, including race/ethnicity-specific trends and risk factors, as well as improved forecasting and response capabilities​

We have made incredible progress, but we still have a long way to go. 

• CDC is committed to doing the work to make sure that our nation is protected from any disease, condition, or disaster that threatens people’s wellbeing.
• By its nature, the need for modernization never stops, and CDC will need sustained support so ensure that our nation does not fall behind again.
• Whether we’re responding to new technologies or a new disease, our public health infrastructure has to be ready.