making state government data accessible and useful derek stanford, phd state representative,...
TRANSCRIPT
Making State Government Data Accessible and Useful
Derek Stanford, PhDState Representative, Washington State
It all starts with data
DataBudget (Revenues, Expenditures, Vendors)
Demographics (Population, business)
Caseloads (Education, healthcare, corrections, …)
Not just numbersHistorical, current, and forecast
Data pedigree – How was it collected?
Assumptions, models, formulae – How the pieces fit together
Narrative – Explanation of the details
In Washington State:Centrally organized (OFM and LEAP)
Strong commitment to public access (fiscal.wa.gov)
Good presentation of high level overview
Example: Budget Calculator
The state budget can be fun!
Budget calculators let people try balancing the budget themselves – hugely successful at engaging the public
The good: Interactive and engaging – makes learning about the state budget fun – amazing!
Popular - Used by tens of thousands of people
Very informative about scale and context
Developed by a third party at no cost to the state
The bad:Potential for built in bias
Incomplete
Can’t add in new ideas
No ability to ask questions or discuss each line item
Third parties are doing this now – the concept works, but imagine if this could be expanded
So what’s the problem?
We’re online. Are we done?Step 1: Put the data online
Step 2: ?
Step 3: Everyone can access, understand, and use the data they need
So what’s the problem?
We’re online. Are we done?Step 1: Put the data online
Step 2: ?
Step 3: Everyone can access, understand, and use the data they need
The audience is a spectrum with a wide variety of needsHigh level overview
Understand budget drivers
Suggest and justify budget changes
Evaluate ROI on a specific program or project
Understand the audience and let that drive our priorities
The audience problem
Detail Level Needed
Aud
ienc
e S
ize
Casual Observers
Policy Experts
The audience problem
Detail Level Needed
Aud
ienc
e S
ize
Casual Observers
Policy Experts
Unmet Need
The unmet need is both data and narrative
Solving the audience problem
Let the audience solve the audience problem through collaborationOnly the audience can determine its areas of interest
Stakeholders are already engaged
Public is hungry for collaboration – better data and tools will accelerate and empower this process
Crowdsourcing is not just helpful – it is required!
Better data
Government should focus first on being a good data providerAccess – Nonproprietary formats, APIs, collaboration with other states and data.gov
efforts on common schemas
Completeness – Allow download of full raw datasets, data dictionaries and metadata
Feedback – There will be errors
Government and others can provide collaboration toolsDiscussion of data
Sharing analytic approaches
Clarity in roles: The audience can’t provide the data, and the data provider can’t know what all the questions will be
On the horizon
Data.gov helping to drive discussion at the state level
Wiki-based legislation – Lexpop.orgNot a new concept, just using technology to remove barriers
Doesn’t have to be perfect – provides a good starting point
Good policy will always require good data
