The National Academies' Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics(CATS) is a primary interface between the research enterprise and federal agencies that rely on the statistical sciences. CATS organizes workshops and studies that provide objective and authoritative advice on how best to apply the tools of statistics, information analysis, and uncertainty management to practical problems of national importance. In so doing, CATS strengthens the policymaking process; increases the visibility of, and appreciation for, the statistical sciences; and identifies growth areas for the discipline.
In recent years, CATS helped initiate and steer a major Academies evaluation of the nation's forensic science enterprise, which led to a 2009 report that raised a large number of concerns and recommended a comprehensive set of federal actions. Late in 2008, CATS co-sponsored a cross-disciplinary workshop to help reduce the uncertainties associated with remotely sensed climate data; a report on that workshop is forthcoming. In August of 2009, CATS is co-sponsoring a workshop on technical and policy challenges facing large-scale integration of scientific data, which will also lead to an Academies report. CATS is currently working to initiate studies to assist the National Security Agency and the National Nuclear Security Administration in meeting their goals.
