The Critical Role of Use Cases in Creating 

21st Census Curated Data Enterprise (CDE) 

Infrastructure and Capabilities

Edward Wu & Stephanie Shipp

Vicki Lancaster, Joseph Salvo, and Cesar Montalvo

University of Virginia, Biocomplexity Institute

A4: Statistical Products First – A Paradigm Shift for Federal Statistics

FCSM 2023

October 24, 2023 @ 9 am
Supporting Census Bureau for 2030 and beyond

Extending Data Commons to create Census Curated Data Enterprise

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• Census Bureau collaboration

• Alignment with Census Bureau’s 

• IT Enterprise modernization and transformation 

• Statistical Products First approach

“We are moving towards a single enterprise, data-centric operation that 

enables us to funnel data from many sources in a single data lake using 

common collection and ingestion platforms ... 

This is the essence of a curated data approach — assemble, assess and fill in 

the gaps to create quality statistical data.”

Rob Santos, US Census Bureau Director
Use Cases Guided by the Curated Data Enterprise

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What are some purposes and uses? 

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Disseminating products to meet data user needs

Climate Change Workforce Automation

Migration

Commuting Patterns

The Unhoused

Gig Economy

Elderly Residential Care

Economic Mobility

Differential Undercount

Emergency Preparedness Changing Demographics

Vulnerable Populations

Equity and Inclusion Counting Children Family Units Rural Communities Local Businesses

Tribal Areas

Broadband Deployment
Purposes and Uses

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• Research questions 

• stakeholder-driven 

• grounded in practical 

applications

• Address demand for timely 

and geographically 

granular data

• Integrating multiple data 

sources can allow for more 

comprehensive statistical 

products
CDE Framework – Guiding Principles & Research Steps

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The Curated Data Enterprise approach goes beyond statistical 

products derived from single surveys, employing data re-use and 

integration to allow for timely and granular statistical products that 

help to answer pressing societal needs

Curated Data Enterprise Framework 

Use Cases are 

CDE Building Blocks

 guided by the

CDE Framework. 

1. Art of the Possible

2. Demonstration
Art of the Possible Use Cases – What are they?

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Art of the Possible Use Cases 

• Explore topics and related research questions that 

address pressing social needs identified by 

stakeholders

• Characteristics

• Explore the current state of the topic

• Discover data sources

• Identify gaps and issues associated with 

existing data

• Propose the feasibility of a 

Demonstration Use Case

• Identifies the capabilities needed to 

develop and deploy the CDE
Art of the Possible Use Cases

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• During Listening Sessions, we 

socialized the CDE concept with 

researchers and data users

• This feedback led to an initial set 

of Art of the Possible Use Cases 

that identified purposes and uses

• Nursing Homes

• Gig Economy

• Migration due to climate 

events

• Housing Affordability

• Undercount of Young Children

Listening Sessions

Stakeholder Groups 

• Applied Demographers

• Advocates

• Economic Developers

• Economists and Business Leaders

• Public Policy Analysts

• Researchers

Topics

• Use Cases as CDE building blocks 

• Curation of statistical product development

• Local Data Partnerships

• Third-party (private sector) Partnerships

• Use of ECIDS to address Undercount of Young 

Children
Addressing the Undercount of Young Children

Art of the Possible Use Case

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The undercount of young children, ages 0-4, is a 

persistent problem in the decennial census and 

the largest net undercount of any age group. 

Purposes and Uses 

• Baseline: What data and methods can be used 

to improve the undercount of young children? 

• What policy areas can be addressed with a 

better count of young children? 

• How does the distribution of federal funds 

change if the counts of young children are more 

accurate?

• How successful is an early childhood vaccination 

program? 

• What is the cost of implementing a pre-K 

program today and moving forward?

• How to best allocate grant resources to support 

childcare for mothers of young children?
National Low Income Housing Coalition Calculations for 

Rental Homes Affordable and Available per 100 

Extremely Low-Income Renter Households

Rental Housing Affordability

Art of the Possible Use Case

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Issue

• There is a nationwide shortage of affordable housing

• Nearly half of renter households spend more than 30% 

of their income on housing

Purposes and uses - examples

• How would a change in housing subsidies affect the 

proportion of households burdened by housing costs?

• What are the effects of policies aimed to regulate short- term rentals?

• Which areas are most vulnerable to increased energy 

bills due to climate change? How will this affect the 

proportion of households burdened by housing costs?

• After accounting for income and wealth, are 

eviction rates different across demographic groups?
CDE Use Case Research Program 

Curated Use Case characteristics (to be tested)

• Engage the research community 

• Promote methodological research to develop and implement

CDE capabilities 

• Develop an end-to-end curation process for the CDE 

• Make curated documentation available 

and searchable publicly (transparency)

Program is designed to support the rapid development of statistical products

1. Criteria for selecting, deploying, and evaluating Use Cases to identify CDE capabilities

2. An End-to-End Curation process 

3. Selection and invitation of researchers to participate in the CDE Use Case program. 

4. Creating a research agenda for the US Census Bureau 

• Synthesize CDE capabilities 

• Propose statistical products

• Assess the E2E Curation Process

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