Grand Opening for University of Maryland Research Data Center (UMDRDC) is Nov 18

Launched this fall, the University of Maryland Research Data Center (UMDRDC) is the newest facility of the national Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDC) network. A Grand Opening Ceremony will be held on Nov. 18, 2016, at the University of Maryland’s College Park campus.

The UMDRDC is a collaborative effort of three colleges: the Robert H. Smith School of Business, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, the School of Public Health, and the Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies (CES). It exemplifies the synergies that result from multi-college collaborations. Over the past year, extensive planning and execution of building renovations took place to prepare the physical UMDRDC space (located in the Robert H. Smith School of Business) for the housing of the secure computing lab. In addition, the Census IT teams worked to implement the secure network node and linked workstations.

The secure computing lab was completed at the end of the summer and was officially operational in Sept. 2016. The UMDRDC is currently open, providing researchers secure access to Census Bureau microdata for approved research projects. In addition to data housed at the Census Bureau, a variety of statistical agencies have contributed data to the FSRDC directly, including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The FSRDC provides the infrastructure and capability to engage in significant grant seeking opportunities across a variety of different discipline and program areas.  

Dignitaries and officials from the University of Maryland, the U.S. Census Bureau, NCHS, and BLS will attend the Grand Opening Ceremony. Thank you to the following for their support of this effort:

• Amitabh Varshney, Interim Vice President for Research, University of Maryland
• Alex Triantis, Dean, Robert H. Smith School of Business
• Gregory Ball, Dean, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
• Jane Clark, Dean, School of Public Health
• Nancy Potok, Deputy Director, U.S. Census Bureau
• John Abowd, Associate Director for Research and Methodology and Chief Scientist, U.S. Census Bureau
• Ron Jarmin, Associate Director for Economic Programs, U.S. Census Bureau
• Lucia Foster, Chief, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau

The Grand Opening Ceremony is open to the public. If you’d like to attend, email sandy.l.dietrich@census.gov  for details.

For more information about the University of Maryland Research Data Center (UMDRDC), visit: http://marylandrdc.umd.edu