PRB Launches Federal Data Forum Amid Rising Threats to Public Data
New online community will foster connection and collaboration among federal data users across sectors and states
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.
For more on this topic, consider the following resources:
- Rose Maruru, « De l’engagement à la pratique : Comment la localisation se fait-elle localement ? », EPIC-Africa. Also available in English: “From Commitment to Practice: How is Localisation Doing Locally?”, Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation, Aug. 16, 2023. (Rose Maruru is the founder of the Dakar-based EPIC-Africa, which seeks to enhance philanthropic impact by filling critical data and capacity gaps in the philanthropic market infrastructure in Africa.)
- Adama Coulibaly, « Décoder les mots-clés du développement : Comprendre la signification de la localisation et de la décolonisation, » EPIC-Africa. Also available in English: “Decoding Development Buzzwords: Understanding the Meaning of Localization and Decolonization.” (Adama Coulibaly is Global Programs Director, Oxfam International.)
- Abdoul Karim Saidou, « La participation citoyenne dans les politiques publiques de sécurité en Afrique : analyse comparative des exemples du Burkina Faso et du Niger, » International Development Policy | Revue internationale de politique de développement 11, no. 1 (2019). Also available in English: “Citizen participation in public security policies in Africa: a comparative analysis of the examples of Burkina Faso and Niger.”
- World Bank, Engaging Citizens for Better Development Results (Independent Evaluation Group, Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018).
- Michel Maietta, “Shifting the Power: A Few Hard Truths on Localisation,” Inter-Agency Research and Analysis Network.
- Coopération Canada, Le transfert de pouvoir au sein de la coopération internationale : Etablir des liens (2023). Also available in English: Cooperation Canada Shifting Power in International Cooperation.
- Dylan Mathews, “Localization, Decolonizing and #ShiftThePower: Are We Saying the Same Thing?” June 14, 2022.
- Localisation and Decolonisation: the difference that makes the difference, Peace Direct (2022).
- Beyond the buzzwords: how can we fix localisation to shift power in humanitarian aid? September 3, 2024, Dr Hamid Foroughi, Dr Paul R Kelly
- Andrea Cornwall, Karen Brock – Beyond Buzzwords: “Poverty Reduction”, “Participation” and “Empowerment” UNRISD Nov 2005
- Localization at USAID: the vision and approach, August 2022.
- TIME Initiative: Landscape Analysis (2023).
- Dr. Allysha C. Maragh-Bass, Dr. Tamar Chitashvili – Language Matters: Core Concepts in Equity-Based Reform in Global Development.
- Moses Isooba, How Use of Language Can Breathe Life into Localization, July 2024. Moses Isooba is head of the Uganda National NGO Forum and a member of Re-Imagining the International NGO (RINGO).
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