Congress is Stepping Up to Protect Open Data By all accounts, the open data policy implemented by the Obama administration in May 2013 has been a tremendous success. However, despite open data?s obvious benefits and wide bipartisan support, there is no guarantee that it will remain a priority for the federal government in the years to come. Fortunately, Congress now has an opportunity to ensure that open data is here to stay: the Open, Permanent, Electronic, and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act, unveiled at an April 14 event cohosted by the Center for Data Innovation, would codify the publication of open data as an official responsibility of federal agencies, signaling to businesses, civil society, and the public that open data will forever be available as a platform for innovation.
News
Understanding Census Bureau Address Ranges The Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) system is a national geospatial database of address ranges, linear features, addresses, address location points, geographic areas and boundaries.
Digging into Data Challenge The Digging into Data Challenge aims to address how “big data” changes the research landscape for the humanities and social sciences. Digging into Data challenges the research community to help create the new research infrastructure for 21st-century scholarship. Digging into Data is a grant program sponsored by several leading research funders from around the world.
Future of Economics in the Hands of Machine Learning? Economists have largely preferred to act within their own field and interpretations. However, the rise of big data challenges, data analytics, and machine learning is beginning to change all that.
Committee Chairman?s Comments Released on IPEDS HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander’s comments on the inclusion of a Pell Grant recipient cohort in the Outcome Measures survey component of IPEDS (link to Comment on FR Doc #2016-03338).
The NEW ACS Online Community The ACS Online Community has moved to a new location. The ACS Online Community is a place where ACS data users can share information and resources related to key ACS data issues and applications.
New & Updated Data Sources
New Data on Certifications and Licenses In January 2015, questions were added to the Current Population Survey (CPS) to identify persons with professional certifications and licenses. This is the first time data on the attainment of certifications and licenses have been published for the U.S. population.
An Exhaustive & Accessible Transit Database Has Arrived Using data from 800 agencies nationwide, AllTransit illuminates the economic and social benefits of transit. A joint project of the Center for Neighborhood Technology and TransitCenter, it assembles the largest collection of transit data anywhere?543,000 transit stops, 800 transit agencies, and 15,000 routes nationwide, according to the site.
Puerto Rico To Be Proving Ground for 2020 Census Tech Before each decennial census, the Census Bureau selects test locations to make sure the data collection will run smoothly. For the 2020 Census, which will employ an unprecedented scale of technology, the bureau has selected Puerto Rico as one of those test sites in the lead-up to the primetime operation.
Visualization of the Week
Visualizing Every Shot Kobe Bryant Has Ever Made To commemorate Kobe Bryant?s retirement from basketball, the Los Angeles Times has created a data visualization mapping out every shot Kobe has ever taken in his career, excluding free throws. The color-coded visualization allows users to filter the data by made or missed shots, shot type, opponent, or season. Users can click on specific points of the visualization to see additional information such as distance of the shot and date made. The visualization calls attention to some of the major highlights of Bryant?s career, such as buzzer-beaters, shots from his career-high 81-point game, and shots from his final game.
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Calls for Comment
APDU maintains a list of open calls for comment on proposed federal data collections. We periodically alert APDU members to newly added calls for comment. Over the last several weeks, calls for comment on the following proposed data collections were published in the Federal Register (with due date):
