

2021 APDU Conference Call for Proposals
APDU is welcoming proposals on any topic related to the privacy, accuracy, and access of public data. Proposals can be for a single presentation or panel, whether based on a particular project, data practice, or formal paper. In keeping with the theme of the conference, our interest is in highlighting the breadth of public data to both producers and consumers of public data. Deadline: February 28, 2020.

Dear APDU members, Happy New Year and thank you for either renewing or joining the Association of Public Data Users (APDU). I am honored to serve as the 2021 APDU President, and I look forward to working with you this year. I am sure many of you are happy to turn the page on 2020 and […]
Looking Back on the 2020 APDU Annual Conference
With the 2020 APDU Annual Conference in the rearview mirror, now is a good time to reflect on the week and look ahead to what’s next.

APDU Statement on Concerns Regarding the Census Field Operations Timeline
It’s necessary to extend the deadline for the Census Bureau to deliver its results. Census experts strongly believe that the Census Bureau needs extra time to conduct a complete and accurate count, as the Constitution requires.

APDU Response to Memorandum on the Apportionment Base Following the 2020 Census
On July 21, 2020 the Trump Administration issued a memorandum on apportionment counts from the 2020 Census suggesting that unauthorized migrants would be excluded from the counts. APDU has issued a statement in response.

APDU Past President: Why Attend the APDU Conference?
APDU Past President Cliff Cook encourages you to attend the APDU Annual Conference at the end of the month. In this blog post, he describes what attendees of the session “Impediments to Accurate Statistics” can expect.

APDU Member Blog Post: It’s not too late to rebuild data-user trust in Census 2020 data products
The Census Bureau is rethinking the way it will produce the data published from the Census 2020. APDU member Jan Vink gives his views on how the Census Bureau can reassure data users about the quality of their data.

The Census Bureau’s solution to protecting privacy is a new DAS based on a methodology referred to as Differential Privacy (DP). The Census commissioned the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to host a 2-day Workshop on 2020 Census Data Products: Data Needs and Privacy Considerations, held in Washington, DC, on December 11-12, 2019. This post provides an overview of the findings.

2020 APDU Conference Call for Proposals
APDU is welcoming proposals on any topic related to the privacy, accuracy, and access of public data. Proposals can be for a single presentation or panel, whether based on a particular project, data practice, or formal paper. In keeping with the theme of the conference, our interest is in highlighting the breadth of public data to both producers and consumers of public data. Deadline: February 28, 2020.

The 2020 Census is Here and Businesses can Help
The next nationwide count starts in most of the country this March, and companies can help ensure its accuracy by encouraging employees and customers to participate.

FY20 Budget Moves from House to Senate
The House has passed appropriations bills to the Senate for FY2020, and there are important developments for statistical agencies. The Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) each received modest to substantial increases in their budgets.

2019 APDU Data Viz Award Winners Announced
Congratulations to this year’s winners! Register for the 2019 APDU Annual Conference today to learn from awardees about how they created these excellent visualizations.

APDU Board Member: Why Do We Attend the APDU Conference? Our Business Depends on It.
Although many APDU Conference attendees show up to share information about their government agencies’ data products, private companies like PolicyMap have a compelling business reason to attend: it’s the easiest, most reliable way to learn about what’s in store for data, and data is our lifeblood.

APDU Board Member: Stay updated on happenings on the Hill
The 2019 Association of Public Data Users (APDU) Annual Conference, “Wide World of Data,” will be the place to be July 9-10! The meeting will not only offer attendees cutting edge information about advances affecting public data collection, dissemination, and application, but also will provide them with insights into the politics and policies affecting federal statistical agencies and surveys.

APDU Board Member: Learn about new data sources at the APDU Annual Conference
If you ask a data user to name public data sources, she might name the decennial census, American Community Survey, National Vital Statistics System, or Current Population Survey. Each of those sources provides robust, timely, accurate public data on important topics like population, housing, and employment. Yet the “big name” public data sources merely hint at the breadth and depth of data available, which includes information on consumer expenditures, healthcare access and utilization, and participation in the arts.

APDU Board Member: Register for the conference today!
Be sure to register for the 2019 APDU Annual Conference! The conference is being held at the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, VA on July 9-10. The agenda is set and there are some very exciting speakers.

APDU Conference Chair Invites You to the APDU Annual Conference
As 2019 APDU Annual Conference Committee Chair, I would like to cordially invite you to attend what is shaping up to be a fantastic 2019 APDU Annual Conference July 9 – 10 at the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, VA.

APDU Data Viz Awards: Call for Visualizations
The Association of Public Data Users (APDU) is pleased to announce the 2019 Data Viz Awards. We are once again soliciting creative and meaningful graphic designs that use publicly-available data (for example, data from the Census Bureau or Bureau of Labor Statistics) to convey a compelling point or story.
364 Days Until Census Day 2020!
APDU staff attended the Census 2020: Navigating the National and Local Challenges panel discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution to hear legal, demographic, and Census experts discuss a Decennial Census that has garnered interest both for its importance and for its controversies. Primary questions from the meeting revolved implications of including the citizenship question in the Decennial Census, cybersecurity, and how to encourage residents to respond.

Senate Confirms BLS Commissioner
After over a year of waiting, the Senate has confirmed William Beach as Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for a term of four years. He replaces William Wiatrowski, who had been serving as Acting Commissioner since 2017.

2019 Annual Conference Call for Proposals
The 2019 APDU Annual Conference is welcoming APDU members and friends to join with our theme of “Wide World of Data” by submitting a proposal for a presentation or panel related to public data. The conference, to be held in Arlington, VA in July 2019, brings together data users and data producers for conversations and presentations on a wide variety of data and statistical topics.

APDU is pleased to announce the results of the elections for our Board of Directors.

John Abowd of the Census Bureau Calls for Response to Federal Register Notice
It is imperative that sophisticated data users respond to this FRN. As John Abowd’s blog makes clear, we can control the fitness-for-use of the 2020 Census data products, but the Census Bureau cannot give every use case the same margin-of-error (just as we currently cannot give every statistic from the ACS the same MOE).

Public Data Leaders Gather to Look Ahead: Closing Thoughts on our 2018 APDU Conference
This year, in mid-July, public data collectors and users across the country gathered in Arlington, Virginia to discuss the future of public data and its promise to inform public and private sector decisions. APDU Vice President and Conference Chair Kevin McAvey gives his thoughts in this blog post.

Important Changes at the Economic Research Service
The Secretary of Agriculture announced on Thursday, August 9 that the Economic Research Service will undergo several significant changes in the coming year.

UPDATE 10/18: APDU President Calls for Members to Comment on Federal Data Policy
APDU wants to point out to our readers pending requests for comments from two groups of particular importance. We know our readers are all busy professionals, but we urge you to take the time to read, think about , and respond to at least one of these requests. UPDATE: The Department of Commerce is requesting Phase 2 comments on the Federal Data Strategy.

APDU Data Viz Award Winners Announced!
APDU is pleased to announce the winners of the 2018 APDU Data Viz Awards. Register for the 2018 APDU Annual Conference today to learn from awardees about how they created these excellent visualizations.

Why PolicyMap Loves the APDU Conference
Just keeping current isn’t enough; organizations like PolicyMap need to be ready to anticipate changes in the data universe. That’s why it’s so important to have a conference like APDU, where you can really hear what people around the country (and around the world) are talking about in the realm of public data. Experts, practitioners, data providers, and public officials are all there, discussing their work, their challenges, and their solutions. Read this article from PolicyMap’s Bernie Langer to learn more about why organizations like yours will benefit from attending the APDU Conference!

APDU Conference: Learn About Data Visualization
At the upcoming APDU conference session on “Lessons from the Data Visualization Process” we will hear from three experience and accomplished speakers who have recently developed successful data visualizations. They will talk about their experience choosing the right tools, making them work for the project, building the visualizations, and how they then used the results to communicate their work to a wider audience. Intrigued? Join us in Arlington , VA on July 17 and 18, 2018 at APDU’s annual conference to learn how to get started on building your next great data viz!

APDU Conference: Find New Data on Children
Imagine a website that brought together data from 35 public data sources with 600 measures of child health and well-being: This website exists, at Kidsdata.org. Join us in Arlington, Va. July 17th & 18th, 2018 at APDU’s annual conference to learn more about navigating the public data around us by learning how Kidsdata.org was pulled together and how it has been used to inform decision making around children’s issues in the state of California.