Harnessing the Power of Data
June 03, 2022 by Seb Guerriero
State and local governments face the challenge of serving many audiences: residents and citizens, public services beneficiaries, business owners, service providers, media, volunteers, and employees. All of which possess different needs and expectations. Ultimately, anyone utilizing government data for the means of decision-making, acquiring knowledgeable insight, and or solution-finding are a user or customer of government agencies.
As each customer possesses different needs and data applications, state and local governments have a tremendous responsibility for how data is stored, accessed, and shared. Figuring out how to meet those needs in a responsive time frame and within budgetary constraints is an unrelenting task for many government agencies.
State and local governments face a vast responsibility to make daily decisions that directly impact the lives, profitability, and safety of their residents, businesses, constituents, and stakeholders. Quantitative-based decision-making begins with data, and the outcome's success is directly affiliated with the practical value of the applied data.
Ultimately, the foundation of decision-making lies in the capability to access and capitalize upon pertinent, secure data collected in real time, empowered to recognize the need, define the barriers, and derive and execute a solution. With complete data access, strategic planning, policymaking, funding, and budget planning become robust and more effective for all impacted by the outcome. Ultimately, full data access provides value and trust in decisions made and actions taken.
The accumulation of data is not the issue, securing, accessing, and interpreting it is.
We live in a world driven by metrics where impactful, life-enhancing decisions are made every day. Harnessing the power of data through the collective access and sharing of data impacts the stability, productivity, safety, and welfare of state, local governments, and communities. Having the ability to access and capitalize on information is the key to effective decision-making.
Often, data is housed in a maze of non-interactive silos without the ability to cross-communicate or be unified as a total understanding. Ultimately, data tells a story, and no one wants to read a story that is only half a book. The accumulation of data is not the issue, securing, accessing, and interpreting it is. We often find data is recognized as elusive and, at times, disparate. When access to pertinent data is limited, actions become unsupported, and solutions are limited in reaching their full potential or desired outcome.
As the needs of state and local governments evolve in a data-driven, digital age, government agencies are implementing Enterprise Data Platforms (EDP) - an integrated, secure, cloud-based infrastructure with self-service access to data-driven governance. An EDP positions data at the center of every government initiative, policy, and decision, uniting agencies through a unified data platform - centralizing data from all sources and making it accessible to other systems through API calls.
Utilizing a secure EDP enables state and local governments to modernize their enterprises' data infrastructure rapidly. It powers a repeatable process by which staff can take data from several source systems, automate its flow to the cloud, organize it uniformly, and turn it into an on-demand service data solution for reuse downstream and in real time.
An EDP can transform how state and local governments put finance data to work while improving accountability, cost efficiency, and operational insights with point-and-click, fully interactive, insightful dashboards. It can also ensure targets and measures are based on data when tracking and trending performance.
With current and comprehensive information, government agencies can link resources to outcomes and gain support for programs and initiatives. As a result, users are empowered to enable evidence-based performance management programs by creating goals, targets, and milestone dashboards and reporting on KPIs.
With internal dashboards and self-service reporting, sharing data and reports with teams and individuals becomes instantaneous. Not only elevating productivity but also creating a cross-functional, data-driven ecosystem. Integrating an EDP solution into daily operations empowers government agencies to make more informed, effective decisions, offers greater insight into agency operations, and makes for a more productive, efficient, and satisfying workforce and community.