Massive Data Institute drives community efforts to preserve at-risk data
The Institute is working to save data vital for shaping evidence-based public policy.
The McCourt School of Public Policy’s Massive Data Institute (MDI) is leading an interdisciplinary, community-driven effort to safeguard at-risk data critical to informing public policy. This work is crucial at a time when shifting public policy priorities and increased uncertainty put valuable federal datasets at risk of disappearing or no longer being collected or rigorously maintained.
MDI’s initiative centers on teaching students, faculty, staff and the public how to collect and preserve data to ensure that communities of all backgrounds and levels of technical expertise learn the skills needed to save public data. In its data protection efforts, the Institute collaborates with several campus partners, including Georgetown University’s Ethics Lab , the Department of Sociology, the Department of Computer Science and external partners such as the Data Rescue Project (DRP), a coordinated effort between several data organizations and higher education institutions dedicated to ensuring data is accessible to all.
The value of public data
Much of the data MDI is working to protect comes from public projects that have been defunded and relate to politically targeted topics, like the environment, vaccinations, race and gender. In the absence of accessible data on these topics, evaluating and analyzing public policy across government becomes more challenging.
“Without administrative data, we cannot understand the impact of different initiatives and policies on the public. We also do not know who is benefiting and who is being harmed,” says Lisa Singh , director of MDI and professor at the McCourt School. “Data preservation enables researchers and government officials to conduct long-term longitudinal studies that can be used to inform law, policy and the public.”
MDI Director Lisa Singh hosts a data preservation event in collaboration with DRP.
Another key value of public data is its ability to aid research across fields, including public policy, business and civic engagement. “The value of data is that it is explorable and less tied to an explicit narrative,” says Julie Dang, technical research manager at MDI. “While not completely free from bias, it’s raw material in the hands of a particular user, who can extract, query and combine it with other datasets to derive and present new insights.”
Along with informing public policy and research, the Institute’s preservation efforts further government transparency. “Publicly available and accessible data are fundamental to maintaining government accountability,” says Lia Merivaki , an MDI associate research professor and McCourt School associate teaching professor. “By preserving public data, it also allows the members of the public to access and interact with the government, which ensures public oversight.”
How you can help save the data
McCourt School and Georgetown University community members can support data preservation efforts by joining the MDI Save the Data Crew , a group of researchers, students and technologists passionate about safeguarding public data by identifying, documenting and collecting federal data. MDI also hosts a series of events aimed at teaching the Georgetown University community and general public the skills needed to preserve critical data.
Students learning about data preservation efforts at MDI’s Save the Data event, June 2025.
Explore more of MDI’s programming and initiatives and how you can contribute to data preservation efforts.