National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

America’s DataHub Consortium: 

Building Capacity for the Future

Dr. May Aydin, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) – America’s 

DataHub Consortium (ADC) as an Enduring National Asset

Dr. Heather Madray, NCSES – National Secure Data Service Demonstration (NSDS-D) Project

Mr. Mike Atkinson, ATI – Opportunities to Engage in ADC/NSDS-D Activities
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

America's DataHub Consortium as an 

Enduring National Asset

May Aydin, Science Advisor
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

National Science Foundation’s 

Statistical Agency

Located within the Directorate for Social, 

Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE)

One of 13 principal federal 

statistical agencies

Overseen by the U.S. Chief Statistician within 

the White House Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB)

MISSION

Produce policy relevant, policy neutral 

statistical information on the U.S. 

science and engineering enterprise:

• Research and development

• Science and engineering workforce

• U.S. competitiveness in STEM

• STEM education in the United States

3

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics

Measuring America’s progress in science, technology, and innovation
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Located within NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Directorate, NCSES 

is one of 13 principal federal statistical agencies

4

• Governed by legal and policy 

standards and directives to ensure 

data are:

 Accurate

 Objective

 Timely

 Relevant

 Confidential

 Accessible

• Close collaboration across the Federal 

Statistical System
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

NCSES’s areas of interest

5

Innovation and 

competitiveness

Science and 

engineering 

workforce

Research and 

development

Government 

R&D funding

Higher 

Education 

R&D

STEM 

Education
NATIO NAL CENTER FO R SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Science & engineering 

grad students

Science and 

engineering college 

graduates

Doctorate recipients Early career doctorate 

holders

Businesses Colleges and 

universities Nonprofits Federally funded R&D centers

Federal and state 

governm ents

6

NCSES collects information from people and organizations

IN DIVIDUALS

ESTABLISH M EN TS
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

The pathway to the 

 NATIONAL SECURE DATA SERVICE

2016 2018 2020 2021 2022

Commission on 

Evidence-Based 

Policymaking

National Secure Data 

Service Demonstration 

Project

7

The idea of a transformational NSDS to coordinate data linking, secure 

access, and support innovation has a distinguished lineage
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov 8

ADC Members – Access to Innovators Across U.S.

99 Members 

25 States

Non-traditional (60)

Traditional (39)
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Flexible 

acquisition process 

& mechanisms for 

delivering services

Broadened 

engagement and 

opportunities for 

innovation

Test NSDS 

features/ 

functions

Validate sharedservice model

America’s DataHub Consortium (ADC) provides experiences to inform the development 

of the NSDS Demonstration (NSDS-D) Activities 

9

NSF Strategic Objective 4.1: 

Strengthen at Speed and Scale

Pursue innovative strategies to 

strengthen and expand the 

agency’s capacity and 

capabilities.

NSDS DEMONSTRATION 

PROJECT

CHIPS Act authorizes 

5-yr NSDS Demo

FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26 FY27 FY28 +

Report due to Congress

ADC established 

August 2021 End of demo

CHIPS Act: Establish a demo project 

to develop, refine, and test models 

to inform the full implementation 

for a government-wide data linkage 

and access infrastructure for 

statistical activities conducted for 

statistical purposes.

Agility to address 

emerging 

research topics

NSDS-D 

Website
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

The Idea Bank needs your voices...

10
@NCSESgov

https://ncses.nsf.gov 11

May Aydin: maydin@nsf.gov

National Secure Data Service Demo: https://ncses.nsf.gov/nsds

America’s Data Hub: https://www.americasdatahub.org/

Idea Bank: https://www.americasdatahub.org/idea-bank-form/
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics

Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences

National Science Foundation

National Secure Data Service 

Demonstration Project

Heather Madray, Ph.D.

Program Director for Data Access, Confidentiality, and Quality Assessment
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

NSDS-D Authorizing Legislation

Section 10375 of the Chips and Science 

Act calls for the establishment of a 

demonstration project for a National 

Secure Data Service

Bi-partisan effort by Congress Per the legislation, the data service shall 

be:

Aligned with the principles, best practices, and priority 

actions recommended by the Advisory Committee on 

Data for Evidence Building (ACDEB), to the extent 

feasible; and

Operated directly by or via a contract that is managed 

by the National Center for Science and Engineering 

Statistics

13
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Scope of the NSDS-D

14

NCSES is serving as the Project Management Office (PMO) for the 

NSDS-D

To pilot potential services, technologies, techniques, and shared 

services that could be utilized within a potential NSDS

Focus is on novel research collaborations, data linkage 

methodologies, and privacy preserving technologies and 

techniques
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Overarching Goal of an NSDS

To facilitate the use of federal data for evidence-building by 

fostering an overall data ecosystem of shared services whereby 

federal agencies function as a unified evidence-building system to 

support informed decision-making.

15
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Key Aspects of an NSDS

Collaboration with federal, state, local, and tribal governments as 

well as other stakeholders

Foster a strong culture of data protection, ensuring that all data is 

used in ways that uphold privacy and confidentiality requirements 

and assurances made to the public

Promote the linking and streamlined use of data assets across 

federal agencies and, where possible, with non-federal data 

through the creation of a shared infrastructure

16
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Why a Demonstration Project?

Ultimately informs whether an NSDS will be established

• What shared services should be offered?

• What is the overall architecture?

• What are the IT Security concerns and how do we protect the data?

• What Legal concerns exist and is new data sharing legislation needed?

• How do we provide customer service for the NSDS? Concierge service?

• What kind of communications and outreach is needed?

Informs potential overall architecture for an NSDS

17
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

The Path to an NSDS-D

18

The idea of a transformational NSDS to coordinate data linking, secure 

access, and support innovation everywhere has a distinguished lineage

2016 2018 2020 2021 2022

National Secure Data 

Service Demonstration 

Project

Commission on 

Evidence-Based 

Policymaking
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Additional stakeholder engagement touch points to support the NSDS-D

19

State Agencies Federal Statistical Research 

Data Centers

Federally Funded Research and 

Development Centers

Private Sector
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

What the NSDS-D is Not

The NSDS-D is not a data 

warehouse

Data will not be collected and housed 

under the demonstration project

We will have a compute environment 

where data can be linked and analyzed

Participation in the NSDS-D by federal agencies is not mandatory

20
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

NSDS-D Governance and Oversight

NSDS-D Executive Committee

Co-chaired by Karin Orvis, Chief Statistician of 

the U.S., and Emilda Rivers, Director of NCSES.

Provide overall guidance for the demonstration 

project.

S-NSDS

Subcommittee of the Interagency Council on 

Statistical Policy (ICSP)

Develops projects to explore potential NSDS 

capabilities

Provides feedback on NSDS-D projects.

21
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

NSDS-D Timeline

22

Congress 

Authorizes NSDS-D

NSDS-D 

Activities Begin

Report Due to 

Congress NSDS-D Ends

August 2022 January 2023 August 2024 August 2027
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Demonstration Projects

An environmental scan of privacy preserving technologies and techniques.

Utilizing Privacy Preserving Record Linkage to Link Data from Two Federal 

Statistical Agencies (NCSES/NCHS)

Utilizing Privacy Preserving Record Linkage with Parent Agency Data and 

Statistical Agency to Inform Programs and Policies (NCSES/NSF)

A tiered data access framework to broaden data access opportunities, including 

the use of synthetic data and data disclosure protections such as noise infusion.

23
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

NSDS-D Projects, Continued

A use case analysis of the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology Data Protection Toolkit.

Exploration of a data concierge service to help users refine research questions, discover relevant data, 

and acquire access to data.

The establishment of a secure compute environment to serve as a sandbox to test innovative 

technologies and conduct data analysis and an environmental scan of existing compute environments. 

24

Creating and Validating Synthetic Data (NCSES/Census, Annual Business Survey)
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

NSDS-D Projects, Continued

Exploration of potential options for the development of a future publicly accessible platform that 

provides information on federal statistical data usage and publications that result from the use of the 

data. 

Exploring strategies to address equity issues within the Federal Statistical Research Data Centers.

Explore interoperability of vital statistics data (NCHS/NCSES).

25

Evaluation of Noise Infusion for Large-Scale Demographic Sample Survey (Survey of Doctorate 

Recipients)
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Organizations Collaborating on FY23 NSDS-D Projects

26

Clinovations Government + Health

Duality Technologies

HealthVerity, Inc.

ICPSR - University of Michigan

Knexus Research Corp.

Mathematica, Inc.

NORC at the University of Chicago

RTI International

The Urban Institute
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Stay up to Speed on Projects

27

Visit the NCSES National Secure Data Service 

Demonstration Project webpage

ncses.nsf.gov/nsds

Visit America’s DataHub Consortium’s Award page

americasdatahub.org/awards/
28

Thank you! 

Questions? Contact hmadray@nsf.gov
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics https://ncses.nsf.gov

Opportunities to Engage in 

ADC/NSDS-D activities

Mr. Mike Atkinson, Vice President, Manufacturing and Information Management Division

Advanced Technology International
Collaborative Public-Private Partnership

Consortium Management Firm, facilitates ADC 

collaborative activities, contractual and financial 

administration of research projects.

Industry leaders, nontraditionals, and academic 

organizations conduct the research projects.

Government PMO

Lead agency, Agreements 

Officer (AO) and AO 

Representative

“The Bridge”

Overarching 

Other Arrangement

Government (Public) Consortium (Private)

Federal Statistical Agencies

Other Federal Agencies

State/Local Agencies

Tribal Governments

Other Public Stakeholders
What does ADC offer?

Exp a n d e d Acce ss & 

Colla b ora t ion

Com m u n ica t ion & 

Tra n sp a re n cy

Fa st , Fle xib le , & 

Se a m le ss Exe cu t ion

 Stream lined acquisition instrum ent (not FAR-ba sed)

 Rapid contracting support (89 avg. days to award)

 Recruitm ent of 60 nontraditional* innovators

 12 collaboration events (topic briefs, m atchm aking)

 13 project opportunities broadly advertised

 Press Releases for new awards shared on m edia outlets 

with 64M visitors per m onth

* have not had a contract with NSF in 3 years
ADC Membership

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Academia

Large Businesses

Small Businesses

Non-Profits

Non-Traditional Traditional

Non-traditional*: 60

Traditional: 39

Total Members: 99

https://www.americasdatahub.org/current-members/

(*Have not had a contract with NSF in 3 years)

Membership Data as of October 16, 2023

ADC membership is not required to respond to a solicitation, but if selected, the must join if not already a member. 
How to Join

• Apply for membership at 

http://www.americasdatahub.org

• Complete the online application

• Membership dues are waived

https://www.americasdatahub.org/how-to-join/

Who Can Join

• Non-profit entities

• Small businesses

• Large businesses

• Academic organizations
In support of Transparency for the NSDS-D

• Project Opportunities

• Project Awards

• NSDS Fact Sheet

• Press Releases

• Events and Webinars

• Latest News and Blog
Stay Engaged

Solicitation and Contract Related Questions: ADC-Contracts@ati.org

General/Membership Questions: adc@ati.org

Join the ADC Mailing List: https://www.americasdatahub.org/adc-mailing-request-form/

Visit the ADC Website

Stay in the loop with ADC events, solicitations, 

project awards, news, members, and more!

www.americasdatahub.org
Reminder: Submit to the Idea Bank
Listening Session

• What project topic areas would be of most interest to you?

• Privacy Preserving Technologies (PPT)

• Data collection, access, linkage, and standards

• Statistical and other quantitative analyses

• Other (furthering ACDEB Year 2 Report NSDS recommendations)

• What other activities would you like ADC to undertake?

• What type of engagement opportunities are of most interest? (e.g., project updates, 

networking, one-on-ones, virtual/in-person, etc.)

• What process improvements can we make?

• How can we better serve you? 

• Legal frameworks

• User Tools

• Stakeholder Engagement

• Artificial Intelligence