Wendy Martinez, GSS Past Chair

The Government Statistics Section sponsored their second data challenge in 2016. The contest—open to anyone, including college students and professionals from the private or public sectors—was a success and there will be a special issue of Computational Statistics dedicated to it.

Participants were challenged to analyze the Department of Transportation’s General Estimates System (GES) using any statistical and/or visualization tools and methods. Thirteen contestants participated; the following were chosen as winners:

Professional Category

• Christopher Eshleman and Jonathan Auerbach, Port Authority of New York

Student Category

• First Place: Ryan Jarrett and Lucy D’Agostino, Vanderbilt University
• Second Place: Aditi Sharma, University of Maryland
• Third Place: Southern Methodist Statistics Class, Professor Ng

The Government Statistics Section will sponsor another data challenge in 2017. It will follow the same general format and be open to college students and professionals. For more information, visit the GSS website.

GSS is also sponsoring the Seasonal Adjustment Practitioners Workshop, a one-day conference for attendees to share their experiences in producing seasonal adjustments, describe interesting problems, discuss best practices, and present applied research.

The workshop will be November 4 from 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20212.

There is no cost to attend the workshop, but registration is required. Go to Eventbright and search for the name of the workshop.