Raquel Wojnar
Communications Manager
WASHINGTON (May 12, 2025) — Amid ongoing changes to how public data are collected and shared, PRB launched the Federal Data Forum, a new online hub designed to unite the diverse community of federal data users from across the nation.
A partnership between PRB and Georgetown University’s Massive Data Institute, the forum invites people across states and sectors to share data, resources, and information and to collaborate on issues related to the U.S. federal statistical system and federal data products.
The forum is an effort to support public data access, quality, and availability amidst ongoing upheaval in the federal data infrastructure, including the abrupt end of data collection activities and the removal of historical data and research from the websites of federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Education. Federal data are used to make decisions about programs and policy at the national, state, and local levels and are critical to enabling citizen participation in government, as well as government transparency and accountability.
“For more than 95 years, PRB has relied on public data to advance health and well-being—and these data are now vulnerable,” said PRB President and CEO Jennifer Sciubba. “The Federal Data Forum is one way we’re working to build community around these data that touch nearly every aspect of the American people’s lives and that are critical for a healthy democracy.”
“Data users urgently need a place to organize their efforts, and PRB and the Massive Data Institute are committed to providing that platform,” said Amy O’Hara, Research Professor at the Massive Data Institute and President of the Association of Public Data Users. “Our organizations are well positioned to offer the technical support and expert guidance needed to navigate this turbulent landscape and to promote the use of public data for public good.”
The Federal Data Forum expands PRB’s leadership in fostering data-centered communities. The ACS Data Users Group, established in 2014, brings together more than 7,000 individuals who use information from the federal American Community Survey, providing support on data analysis and liaising with the U.S. Census Bureau on how to improve the survey.
Membership in the Federal Data Forum, as in all PRB data communities, is free and open to the public. For more information, please email usprograms@prb.org.
Join the forum: federaldataforum.prb.org
Press contact: Raquel Wojnar, Communications Manager, rwojnar@prb.org
About PRB
PRB promotes and supports evidence-based policies, practices and decision-making to improve the health and well-being of people throughout the world. Find out more at prb.org. Follow us @PRBdata.