Background
The Education Through Employment (ETE) Data System is the District’s P20W+ (preschool to grade 20 to workforce) data system. The ETE Data System integrates information from multiple agencies into one secure environment to help policymakers, practitioners, and researchers understand how residents move through education and employment over time. The system was created under formal data‑sharing agreements and aligns with national best practices, District technology guidance, and strong privacy protections.
Purpose
The ETE Data System was created to ensure secure, responsible access to cross‑agency data so DC residents, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers can better understand education and workforce pathways. It enables the District to generate timely, actionable insights while protecting individual privacy under all applicable laws.
The system delivers several important benefits:
- Clearer insights into residents’ long‑term education and workforce experiences.
- More informed decisions based on accurate, comprehensive, cross‑agency data.
- Safe research opportunities through controlled access to aggregate or de‑identified data.
- Strong privacy protections through disclosure avoidance, specific access controls, signed non-disclosure agreements, and full partner agency subcommittee input and oversight.
- System Infrastructure.
System Infrastructure
To support high‑quality analysis and safe data sharing, the ETE Data System is built using modern cloud technologies and a clear architectural framework. The system operates entirely in DC’s Azure cloud—the same cloud environment used across District government and managed by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO). The design leverages the District’s existing infrastructure to ensure security, cost‑effectiveness, and long‑term sustainability. On top of Azure, the system uses Azure Databricks to ingest, validate, clean, standardize, and prepare data for analysis. This allows ETEP to run large‑scale data processing, maintain reproducible workflows, and support advanced analytics.