Our History

The Utah Data Research Center (UDRC) was established through the passage of Senate Bill 194 (SB194) The legislation placed UDRC within the Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS). During this critical foundation period from 2017 to 2022, DWS developed the center from its statutory creation into a fully functioning research entity, formalizing the operational, IT, and administrative infrastructure.

Senate Bill 226 (SB226) successfully transferred UDRC from DWS to the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE). This major transition fundamentally reflected a stronger alignment with USHE’s subject matter expertise, as the vast majority of UDRC longitudinal research focuses heavily on tracking education and workforce outcomes.

House Bill 355 (HB355) officially added the Utah Department of Commerce as the fifth critical data partner.

This crucial expansion enabled the deep integration of professional licensure data into UDRC’s longitudinal data system, significantly enhancing our ability to analyze the intricate relationships between education pathways, professional licensure, and long-term workforce participation. The addition of Commerce has also greatly strengthened cross-agency data coordination capabilities among all partners.

Building upon the successful implementation of its robust longitudinal data system, UDRC is now actively expanding its core scope to include massive transactional data services. The BRIDGE system is currently being developed to serve as Utah’s premier statewide transactional data platform, scheduled for production deployment in late 2027. This ambitious initiative represents a monumental evolution in the UDRC’s role—extending far beyond academic research to actively support real-time data exchange and critical service delivery across multiple state agencies.