As part of the Emergency Mobilization for Essential Research and Government-Data Equivalents (EMERGE) initiative, SSRS conducted a survey better understand the impacts of changes to U.S. federal statistical agencies on data users in various industries and sectors.
SSRS EMERGE Survey: Background and Key Results
Researchers, analysts, advocates, and other data users from academic institutions, foundations, government agencies, and more were surveyed between February and March of 2026. Questions asked respondents about concerns related to and impacts of delayed data releases, program cancellations, data quality, reduced staffing at federal statistical agencies, and more.
SSRS has just released a report of their findings titled, “Voices from the Data Community”; some results include:
- 93% of respondents reported that changes to federal statistical data impacted their ability to do their job, with more than half (54%) reporting “major impacts”
- Almost 80% of respondents are “very concerned that federal statistical data collections will be stopped”
Additionally, data users’ concerns go beyond the data itself: A number of respondents cited staffing reductions, loss of institutional knowledge, reduced access to technical assistance, and more as concerns and drivers of disruption.
SHADAC was pleased to be able to provide advisory support for this effort alongside ICPSR, the Association of Public Data Users (APDU), DataIndex.us, and the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE).
Learn more about the EMERGE survey and its results in SSRS’ full report.
State Solutions for Health Data Continuity
Are you concerned about federal data continuity? Are you having difficulty accessing technical assistance for your data needs? Not sure where to find the data you need to do your work or research? To support states and data users, SHADAC and RWJF have launched the State Solutions for Health Data Continuity Project, aiming to provide state-focused alternatives, solutions, and assistance during a time of uncertainty and volatility in federal data.
Learn more about the project here; if you need technical assistance, you can contact us directly here.