The SMARTT Framework provides government agencies and nonprofits with a practical guide on data fortification.

November 20, 2025 — Amidst growing public distrust of data collection, a group of researchers and organizations who are experts in data fortification and collection have published the SMARTT Framework.

The report, authored by Adam Beddawi, Karthick Ramakrishnan, Michele Wong, Beth Jarosz, and Jacob Pasner, introduces a “safety first” approach to data collection designed to rebuild community trust and restore participation in public programs and services. 

The framework aims to help organizations collect, analyze, and share data in ways that are:

  • Safe: Secure from misuse by third parties.
  • Meaningful: Designed to address community and government needs by ensuring that data is responsive, equitable, and trusted.
  • Accurate: Reflects true individual experiences and outcomes.
  • Representative: Portrays the full diversity of subpopulations.
  • Translatable: Understandable and accessible to various stakeholders.
  • Transformative: Drives innovation to serve community needs.

Many communities are increasingly worried about the privacy of their personal data and that their information will be misused. This growing distrust of data collections undermines the ability of policymakers, community advocates, researchers, and public agencies to effectively understand and serve the populations they work with.

To instill confidence in private data, it is vital that nonprofits and government agencies collaborate to fortify their data and dispel any constituent doubts about the safety of personal data. This framework provides a practical guide around data fortification at each step of the data collection process with the hopes of meaningfully advancing effective policy solutions at the national, state, and local levels.

Organizations supporting the framework shared the following statements as part of today’s release:

“Data equity and data integrity are key issues to the National Coalition for Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA),” said Gregg Orton, executive director of NCAPA. “We believe that the principles laid out in the framework will provide our member organizations with a clear plan to elevate data quality and restore confidence in data collection. We will continue to engage with policymakers to advocate for policies that safeguard personal data, reinforce the integrity of public data, and ensure that data collection and disaggregation is inclusive of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. 

“As an organization committed to producing the latest data about AAPI public opinion, we know that accurate data is the foundation of equitable policy and community visibility,” said Michele Wong, a postdoctoral researcher at AAPI Data. “We hope that the SMARTT framework will serve as a valuable resource for nonprofits, government agencies, and community partners working to rebuild trust in data collection.” 

“At the Massive Data Institute, we are committed to harnessing modern data and computing power to produce cutting edge social science, computer science, and data science research that improves public policy decision making,” said Beth Jarosz, senior fellow at the Massive Data Institute. “We are proud to lend our technical expertise in data governance and privacy to the SMARTT framework.”

“With decades of experience advancing accurate and equitable MENA data, the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) joined partners in shaping the SMARTT framework,” said Rima Meroueh, director of NNAAC. “The framework offers federal, state, and local governments, as well as civil society institutions, a clear path toward responsible and community-reflective data collection. Accurate and representative data is essential for informing policy, guiding resource allocation, and ensuring that community needs are neither overlooked nor misunderstood. This publication is part of a broader effort, and we look forward to creating practical tools that service providers and grassroots partners can use to enhance data quality across our communities.”