The Cornell Synthetic Data Server, in its current format, has been used by over 300 researchers since we first started it in 2014 (8 years ago!). It has, I believe, been a very useful tool to get researcher feedback on the quality of the data, and has allowed researchers to do terrific work.
Unfortunately, the last external funding to support the SDS ended several years ago, and the server has been supported through funds from a now-emeritus Cornell faculty member. The servers are old, and no longer have active maintenance.
It is therefore with a heavy heart that I am announcing the shutdown of the current servers on September 30, 2022.
The respective data providers at the Census Bureau are looking into alternative options, including replacement server access and novel validation methods.
Please continue to submit project proposals, to identify the demand for this type of service. However, new accounts on the Cornell Synthetic Data Server will no longer be routinely created.
We thank all of our funders over the years, including NSF grants SES-1042181 and BCS-0941226, a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Edmund Ezra Day chair at the Cornell ILR School.
Lars Vilhuber, Executive Director, LDI
John M. Abowd, Edmund Ezra Day Professor Emeritus of Economics, Statistics and Data Science.
