Data Rescue Projects receives support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to support data rescue efforts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Since launching in February 2025, the Data Rescue Project has grown substantially. At this point, the DRP has enabled the rescue of more than 1,000 datasets from US Federal websites, representing over 80 statistical programs and offices, all due entirely to the work of our more than 500 volunteers. As our efforts have grown, so has our need for reliable storage to process data and to make datasets more accessible to the public by curating them, enhancing descriptions, and more.

In support of these efforts, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded the Data Rescue Project a grant of $100,000. This generous support will enable our team to secure cloud-based storage, which will assist with the de-duplication and merging of rescued data, and enable the transfer of data to long-term preservation sites. In the next six months, the Data Rescue Project will bring this storage online for volunteers to use when batch-capturing large datasets and preparing them for publication elsewhere. 

“We are deeply grateful to the MacArthur Foundation for their support of our efforts,” said co-founder Lynda Kellam. “Collaborating with an organization that is driven to enable equitable access to knowledge means that we can continue to support public access to public data.” This support from the MacArthur Foundation is also a recognition of our tireless volunteers. Their efforts, during tumultuous times, have built the Data Rescue Project into a trusted and valued partner in the federal data ecosystem. “Emergency data rescue efforts need access to large amounts of cloud storage to back up the at-risk data and make it available to the public again,” said Sebastian Majstorovic, co-founder of the Data Rescue Project and SUCHO (Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online). “It is important that we are able to store the data temporarily until we know that it is safe. The support of the MacArthur Foundation makes this possible for the Data Rescue Project.”

About the Data Rescue Project

The Data Rescue Project is a volunteer-driven organization of data librarians, researchers, and information professionals committed to ensuring public access to public data remains a public good. The Data Rescue Project is hosted by the Open Collective Europe Foundation.

Questions and comments can be directed to the Data Rescue Project at:datarescueproject@protonmail.com