Organizations seek insight, collaboration from Indiana Data Partnership
They came to hear about data. They came to hear about new types of data. They came to tell us about how they hoped this data could help answer the most pressing questions they have and believe the right kinds of data can provide answers.
Educators, researchers, government officials and community organization leadership recently converged on the Indiana Government Center Campus to learn more about the new Indiana Data Partnership (IDP) and how they can engage. An enhancement to the Management Performance Hub (MPH), IDP uses data to empower collaboration among government, non-profit and private sector entities to drive positive change in key challenges impacting Hoosiers. Initial topics of focus include combatting the opioid epidemic and supporting education and workforce development initiatives across the state.
One goal of the summits was to understand what one piece of insight attendees hoped to gain from interaction with IDP. Most of the answers revolved around gaining access to specific types of data or ways to partner to get the “full sets” of data they would need. Some example answers include:
- Opportunities for collaboration with community partners to improve data
- How to engage to bring our data and connect with State data
- How we may partner with each other to help share health and human service information for public use
- Learn more about the tools available
- How could the Marion County Public Health Department work through IDP to more effectively accomplish our mission?
- How Ivy Tech interaction could be in parallel with the Commission for Higher Education Submissions to MPH
- Identify opportunities to leverage the data collected. Goal - how do I make data I collect useful to others?
A significant amount of time during the summits was spent showing attendees the results of many months of work to develop organization cluster maps combined with data mining and data surveying to map focus area networks with specificity. This led attendees to provide more specific information about their current needs.
Perhaps the most compelling responses came to a question about which community based initiatives were their highest priority. Answers included:
- Student success through two-generation, comprehensive collaboration – cradle to career
- Initiatives that surround the client and use referrals, networks, big data and sharing data
- Connecting Hoosier veterans with resources in their communities
- Figuring out who are the backbone organizations in our communities
- Quality of place assets that help retain and attract businesses and talent
- Reducing violent crime, connecting citizens to needed services, mental health, employment, education, physical health trends, transportation, keeping people productive, healthy and out of jail
Honing in on the network analysis, this is what folks want to learn from using network analysis. A demonstration of the network analyses sparked several ideas on how this could be extended into the attendees’ organizations. These ideas included topics such as how to identify missing opportunities, how to strengthen engagement among related organizations and ways visualize sources and uses of funding within a network. Some attendees identified use cases specific to their domain – “understanding how communities relate to violence and health outcomes” and “identifying types and sources of veteran services.”
Next steps for MPH and the Indiana Data Partners include follow-up meetings with the participants and finalizing a data share platform that allows organizations to share their program partners, services, collaborators and more. Attendees validated the potential impact of the IDP with 90 percent of attendees expressing a desire to pursue a partnership. If you would like more information about partnering with IDP visit the How to Join IDP page or contact Ashley Hungate.