2025 unConference Report
The federal statistical system has been struggling with budget constraints for several years. In the first six months of 2025 threats to the integrity of the system increased substantially, including cuts to staffing and contracts, data removals, revisions to data collections, and delays and missed deadlines in the publication of key information.
In light of these concerning and ongoing threats, APDU opted to turn the 2025 annual conference into an “unConference,” a format where the meeting is organized by the attendees themselves.
Ahead of the event, attendees suggested and voted on breakout discussion topics, including one notable request for “anything action-oriented, I’m done wallowing.” APDU leadership encouraged participants to carry that request through all six breakout discussions, which are listed below:
- Communicating importance of public data
- Improving transparency
- Data preservation and monitoring
- Informing 2030 Census
- What can states do?
- Anything goes (what do you want to chat about today)
Although the breakout discussions varied widely, we did find several recurring themes, and have identified some concrete action items. Those are described immediately below. This document also includes a more thorough summary of each of the breakout discussions.
Detailed notes are not verbatim nor necessarily in the order in which topics were discussed. APDU Board members and volunteers began with detailed meeting notes, then edited for clarity and flow.