  The astronomical community is grappling with the increasing volume and
complexity of data produced by modern telescopes, due to difficulties in
reducing, accessing, analyzing, and combining archives of data. To address this
challenge, we propose the establishment of a coordinating body, an "entity,"
with the specific mission of enhancing the interoperability, archiving,
distribution, and production of both astronomical data and software. This
report is the culmination of a workshop held in February 2023 on the Future of
Astronomical Data Infrastructure. Attended by 70 scientists and software
professionals from ground-based and space-based missions and archives spanning
the entire spectrum of astronomical research, the group deliberated on the
prevailing state of software and data infrastructure in astronomy, identified
pressing issues, and explored potential solutions. In this report, we describe
the ecosystem of astronomical data, its existing flaws, and the many gaps,
duplication, inconsistencies, barriers to access, drags on productivity, missed
opportunities, and risks to the long-term integrity of essential data sets. We
also highlight the successes and failures in a set of deep dives into several
different illustrative components of the ecosystem, included as an appendix.
