The International Conference for Administrative Data Research is a growing annual event aimed at researchers who use administrative data to better understand populations and societies.

The 2018 conference was hosted by Queen’s University, Belfast, and focused on four substantive themes reflecting core societal challenges:

• Children and Education: This theme covers research that examines the social and economic issues that determine educational, skills, well-being, and other outcomes for children as they reach adulthood and beyond.
• The World of Work: The World of Work Theme focusses on the labour market experience of those in, and out, of work.
• Growing Old: examines the social and economic issues for individuals, and for society and the economy, as people transition through the period leading up to and beyond retirement.
• Health and Wellbeing: This theme focuses on health and well-being across the life-course as an outcome of or a predictor of other socioeconomic states and trajectories. Research that considers either mental or physical health, or the relationship between them, will be in scope.

Plus two streams on methodology:

1. Methodological Challenges and Innovations: In this theme we are interested in research utilising or developing cutting edge methodology including quasi experimental design approaches, regression discontinuity, sibling studies, and instrumental variables.
2. Engagement and co-design: This theme covers research with methodologies using models of co-production: integrated multi stakeholder research teams with academia or government, members of the public and/or VCSE representatives.

IJPDS was the official publisher for the ADR2018 conference. To view the full conference proceedings click here.

This bi-annual conference is a must attend event for anyone involved in data linkage and this year, the 2018 IPDLN Conference was held at the Banff Centre, located in beautiful Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

The conference theme was Linking Data – Improving Lives, and the hosts created a forum for the presentation and discussion of research and innovation in the area of Linked Population Data Science and Policy Impact.

All abstracts from the conference were published in the International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS), the official publisher for the 2018 IPDLN Conference. To view the full conference proceedings click here.

The ADRF Network and Georgetown University’s Massive Data Institute hosted the second annual ADRF Network Research Conference on November 13 & 14, 2018 in Washington, DC.

The 2018 conference built on the previous year’s successful inaugural event which drew nearly 150 participants from academia, government, the private sector, think tanks, and other organizations to advance administrative data use in social science research. The conference program was expanded to two full days and focused on innovation in administrative data for social science. The conference served as a forum to share ground-breaking work and promote interdisciplinary and cross-sector dialogue that will shape the future of the social sciences.

Conference Tracks and Topics

The conference included three tracks with the following topics:

Track 1: What are innovations around infrastructure that support sharing, accessing, and processing administrative data?

• Emerging best practices for the secure sharing of data
• Choosing models on computing architecture for efficient data processing and management to fit organizational needs
• Choosing tools for capturing, harmonizing, and integrating data to fit organizational needs
• Developing legal infrastructure to support data sharing
• Overcoming operational, organizational, and logistical challenges

Track 2: What are innovative research methods and applications that have emerged to uniquely address the needs of administrative data research?

• Disclosure avoidance methods
• Innovative experiments and statistical analyses that may involve machine learning and other analytical methods
• Methods for weighting, imputation, and data linkage
• Uses of private sector, unstructured, and other new data sources

Track 3: Successful applications of administrative data in policymaking and decision support

• Examples in government (local, state, and federal)
• Examples in the non-profit sector and foundation space
• Multi-site, cross-country, and international examples

IJPDS was the official publisher for the ADR2018 conference. To view the Special Issue click here.