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The campus community is invited to a ribbon-cutting at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, celebrating the new at the , part of a national network of federal statistical research data centers (FSRDCs).  

As part of the grand opening event, which will be located in room 155 at the IBS building, a symposium of research presentations will showcase different types of research being conducted at FSRDCs around the country.

The first of its kind in the Rocky Mountain West, the center at IBS provides a secure environment where approved researchers can access U.S. Census and other federal statistical data to conduct analyses related to a wide range of social and economic issues. Projects approved for data access are required to advance scientific knowledge and simultaneously deliver tangible benefits to the federal statistical system.

Examples of planned projects given in a 2016 NSF award announcement related to the establishment of the center “will study how the movement of U.S. production overseas affects employment and wages across locations and occupations. Another will consider how mineral and energy extraction influences state and local economies. Spatial scientists, meanwhile, will use the data to improve population estimates for small geographic areas and methods of disseminating data for the U.S. Census Bureau.”

Over the past year, extensive planning and execution of building renovations took place, under the guidance of the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce, to prepare the physical space for hosting the secure computing laboratory.  

In addition to microdata collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, a variety of statistical agencies have contributed data to the FSRDC program including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Center for Health Statistics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The RMRDC is the collaborative effort including ��������Ƶ Boulder, the University of Colorado Denver, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, the University of Wyoming, Colorado State University, Colorado State University-Pueblo, the University of Denver and the Colorado School of Mines. It exemplifies the synergies that result from multi-institutional collaborations.  

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will include leaders from ��������Ƶ Boulder, Ron Jarmin of the U.S. Census Bureau and FSRDC Director Barbara Downs.

The grand opening and research symposium are open to the public. Email jessica.larue@colorado.edu for details.