McCourt School of Public Policy
Massive Data Institute
Massive Data Institute

2026 Summer Institute on Privacy Enhancing Technologies for Education Data

June 22 – June 24, 2026 in Washington, D.C.

Take part in the 2026 Summer Institute for hands-on learning about how to harness the power of privacy enhancing technologies (PETs) in education and workforce data.

Taking place at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy in Washington, D.C., this three-day program offers a deep dive into PETs with advanced introductory sessions, demonstrations, problem-solving, and networking.

Register
Agenda
Speakers
Travel
FAQs
2025 Program

What’s On the Agenda? With expert speakers and practical sessions, we’ll unpack strategies for protecting student and worker privacy using PETs, cover techniques for strengthening your data infrastructure and share lessons from peer data-sharing efforts across the country. In order to meet growing demand from our SLDS colleagues, the Summer Institute program will feature two concurrent programming tracks: one geared toward PET newbies and another for those who are already well versed in PETs. We welcome you to attend whichever track best suits your organization’s needs.

Who Should Attend? The Institute is geared toward technical and policy staff at state education agencies and those working with SLDSs, who want to:

Why Attend? If you are working with SLDSs, this course will give you the information you need to get started with using PETs to secure highly sensitive, personal data and protect student and worker privacy.

A sneak peek into what we’ll cover:

About:

The Summer Institute is hosted by the Privacy Enhancing Technology initiative at the Massive Data Institute. Learn more about MDI’s PET initiative.

2026 Summer Institute Agenda

12:00 – 1:00 pm Registration + Lunch 9th Floor
Fireside Chat with Motlow State University | Michael Torrence

1:00 – 1:30 pm Welcome Address 9th Floor
Amy O’Hara

1:30 – 3:00 pm Opening Panel: Synthetic Data 9th Floor
Andrew Rice, TBA, TBA

3:00 – 3:30 pm Coffee & Snack Break 9th Floor

3:30 – 5:00 pm Linkage Quality Presentation 9th Floor
Joseph Lam

5:00 – 7:00 pm Happy Hour Discussion 9th Floor
The Government Data Privacy Landscape | Bethanne Barnes & Maya Bernstein

8:00 – 9:00 am Breakfast 9th Floor

9:00 – 10:30 am Panel: Secure Enclaves 9th Floor
Molly Abend, Katie Weaver Randall & Baron Rodriguez

10:30 – 11:00 am Coffee & Snack Break 9th Floor

11:00 am – 12:30 pm Concurrent Sessions: Hands-on Demos Part I
A: Synthetic Data Training | Claire Bowen & Jeremy Seeman 620
B: TBA 290

12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch 9th Floor

1:30 – 3:00 pm Concurrent Sessions: Hands-on Demos Part II 
A: Differential Privacy & Noise Infusion | Joshua Snoke 620
B: TBA 290

3:00 – 3:30 pm Coffee & Snack Break 9th Floor

3:30 – 4:30 pm PET Ask me Anything: Rotating Series 9th Floor

8:00 – 9:00 am Breakfast 9th Floor

9:00 am – 10:30 am Privacy-Preserving Record Linkage Implementation 9th Floor
Aaron Bean

10:30 – 11:00 am Coffee & Snack Break 9th Floor

11:00 am – 12:30 pm  Concurrent Sessions: Hands-on Demos Part III
A: PSI Open Source with EdSim Data | Vince Dorie 620
B: TBA

12:30 – 1:00 pm Closing Remarks 9th Floor

Speakers

Speaker information will be announced closer to the meeting date

Travel

We have recommended hotels with booking links to Georgetown negotiated rates on this list. Attendees will be required to make their own bookings. The organizing team is arranging a hotel block; details will be shared shortly.

  • From Judiciary Square (±6 minute walk):
    • Exit the station on 4th St NW
    • From the escalators, turn around and head toward E St NW
    • Turn right onto E St NW
    • Enter the building on your left
  • From Union Station (±10 minute walk):
    • Exit the station on Union Station Dr NE
    • Turn right from the station toward E St NW
    • Continue on E St NW
    • Enter the building on your right
  • From Gallery Place (±12 minute walk):
    • Exit the station on 7th and F St NW
    • Turn left from the station towards F St NW
    • Walk straight to continue onto F St NW
    • Turn right onto 6th St NW
    • Turn left onto E St NW
    • Enter the building on your left

Parking is very limited. For outside visitors seeking parking near campus, we recommend the following options:

  • 99 H Street NW
  • 601 New Jersey Ave NW (across from McDonough Hall)
  • 200 Massachusetts Ave NW (Capitol Crossing) across from Law Library
  • 500 New Jersey Ave NW

There is some metered parking available around the Capitol Campus. Use SpotHero to secure your parking ahead of time.

FAQs 

The Summer Institute is open to all and is especially relevant to individuals who work with SLDSs.

Registration for the Summer Institute is $250 for general attendees. If cost is a barrier to attendance, please email mdisummerinst@georgetown.edu. 

The government employee rate is $150. If cost is a barrier to attendance, please email mdisummerinst@georgetown.edu. 

Registration covers all programmed events, including breakfast, lunch, and receptions.

Drinks and light refreshments will be provided at the evening reception on day one (Monday, June 22 from 5-7 pm).
Coffee and light refreshments will be provided in the morning of days two and day three (Tuesday, June 23, and Wednesday, June 24).
Lunch will be provided on days two and three of the conference (Tuesday, June 23, and Wednesday, June 24).

We have recommended hotels with booking links to Georgetown negotiated rates on this list. Attendees will be required to make their own bookings. The organizing team is arranging a hotel block; details will be shared shortly.

The Institute will begin on Monday, June 22 at 1pm ET and end on Wednesday, June 24 at 1pm ET.

Please send any inquiries to mdisummerinst@georgetown.edu.

Registrations cancelled before May 29, 2026 receive a 100% refund. Registrations cannot be cancelled or refunded after May 29, 2026. Refunds will be issued to your credit card and may take up to 10 business days to appear on your statement. Please contact mdisummerinst@georgetown.edu for any concerns.

2025 Testimonials

I learned a lot at the conference: there is so much technical, social, and legal nuance when it comes to weighing the pros and cons of approaches to using data. Cryptographers tend to view problems through a lens of security, so I found it eye-opening to interact with folks who are so amazingly knowledgeable, aware of the landscape, and eager to rise up to the challenge of data sharing from different perspectives.
Steve Lu, CEO, Stealth Software Technologies

The mix of presenters and attendees was a great combination of researchers, policy folks, and practitioners. I felt like I learned just as much from the other attendees as the presenters.
Seth Taylor, Senior Data Analyst, Verite Educational Services

I had a fabulous and eye-opening experience at the inaugural Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy Massive Data Institute 2025 Summer Institute! We learned a ton about Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) and how brilliant folks around the country are using them to safely and securely increase data accessibility and utility for researchers, policy makers, community members, and more!
Julie Neisler, Director of Quantitative Research & Data Science, Digital Promise