Course

Solving Public Problems With Data

The explosion in the availability of new sources of data and the emergence of new data science technologies for making use of such data are expected to have a significant impact on public institutions and how they solve problems and make decisions. Whether the goal is improved outcomes and equities, reduced cost and inefficiency, more evidence about what works or the identification of new operational solutions, the ability to use data is becoming essential to governing well in the 21st century.

Course Description

“Solving Public Problems with Data” examines how data can be used to improve decisionmaking and problem solving in the public sector. Through real world examples and case studies, we discuss the fundamental principles of data science to help foster a data analytic mindset. The goal is to enable you to define and leverage the value of data to achieve your public mission. No prior experience with computer science or statistics is necessary or assumed.

“The world’s national, state and local governments don’t have the right digital skills in the right quantities to meet the challenges of the coming century,” declared mySociety Founder Tom Steinberg in his Manifesto for Public Technology. With “Solving Public Problems with Data” public entrepreneurs have a chance to make up lost ground. This and other data primers and lecture series can also spark movement. We can lament the dearth of data scientists in government, or refocus our efforts on arming public entrepreneurs with tools they need to build a data-driven public sector.

Course Format

Online Lectures, 4.5 Hours of Video, 3 Additional Resources

Syllabus

Description

Introduction to Why Data Matters? Why Data Science Matters? Led by Ben Wellington

Examples and stories of how can data and data science help solve Public Problems.

Introduction to Evidence-Based Decision-Making: Examples in Economic Development Led by Quentin Palfrey

If you invest in things that do not work rather than those that do, real people’s lives may be affected in dramatic ways. However, how do you know what works? Through real-world examples and contemporary debates (e.g., the expansion of health insurance, or crime and violence prevention), you will understand the basic principles of evidence-based decision making, how this relates to “counterfactual” reasoning, and frameworks for thinking about how to apply rigorous, scientifically-based methods to solve problems in ways that are both effective and cost-effective.

Read: “Introduction to Evaluations” by JPAL - an overarching summary of “impact evaluations”, their history, how to randomize effectively in experiments, why randomization is important, and common concerns in study design “Promoting Policies that work: Six steps for the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking” by Quentin Palfrey - a list of six concrete steps policymakers “can take to institutionalize the use of administrative data to support policy-relevant research and evidence-informed policymaking.” “Incentives for Immunization” by JPAL - a write-up of a study referenced in Quentin’s lecture, on how using costly incentives in an evaluation may actually decrease the marginal cost of participation in a social program.

Watch: Watch “Social experiments to fight poverty” by Esther Duflo, Professor of Economics at MIT, explain in further detail why social experiments may help policymakers with poverty alleviation, and why experimental designs provide compelling and unforeseen insights where other study approaches may fail.

How-To: Utilize the Methods Guides an online experimental Tools written by Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP). These guides provide both technical and non-technical discussions on challenges commonly faced in causal inference, why randomization is important to experimental design and causal attribution, but also cases when of non-experimental designs may lead to causal insights. Example code, written in the R programming language, is accessible here online, as well as example vignettes.

Data Analytical Thinking and Methods I: How To Define a Research Question and Introduction to Statistical Approaches to Draw Inference Led by Julia Lane

During this session you will learn about quantitative data—including so-called “big data”— and some of the statistical techniques researchers and policy officials use to derive value from it. The lecture emphasizes the broad structure and necessary steps needed in any data-related inquiry: define a research question, formulate a testable hypothesis, think about what data is available, what data is missing, issues of measurement error, and other applied concerns, such as how to link datasets. At the end, we will discuss some of the statistical paradigms that can be used to draw inferences, as well as some of the key ideas when addressing the privacy and confidentiality issues.

Read: Big Data and Social Science: A Practical Guide to Methods and Tools by Ian Foster, Rayid Ghani, Ron S. Jarmin, Frauke Kreuter, and Julia Lane How-To: For an in-depth training, check out the Applied Data Analytics Training Program, the first-of-its-kind program to give working professionals an opportunity to develop the key computer science and data science skill sets necessary to harness the wealth of newly-available data and to creatively address real civic problems.

Machine Learning Applications for the Public Sector Led by Gideon Mann

Oftentimes a business or organization may wish to do the same task over and over again, and there is a lot of data at its disposal. In such settings, machine learning algorithms may be a useful way forward to help solve many problems that would be too burdensome for humans to do each time by hand. The lecture discusses differences between prediction systems and recommendation tasks, supplemented by examples from industry that include e-commerce applications, language modeling, and image analysis. The lecture discusses challenges machine learning algorithms face when the underlying data collected are “biased” or not representative of your target population or problem.

Read: A visual introduction to machine learning by R2D3 - machine learning explained in interactive visualizations. An executive’s guide to machine learning by McKinsey - read how are traditional industries using machine learning to gather fresh business insights? Automation Beyond the Physical: AI in the Public Sector by Government Technology - 26 ways artificial intelligence is, or could, help government do its job.

Discovering and Collecting Data: Practical Advice for Government Managers Led by Carter Hewgley

This session will focus on strategies for identifying, finding and getting data: where to locate information; when and how you can collect your own data internally and externally (e.g. through FOIA requests or crowdsourcing) as well as techniques to verify and validate your data sources. We also discuss questions of data quality and how to identify what skills you need to have access to in order to make use of the data you need.

Read: Data for Development: The Case for Information, Not Just Data by Daniela Ligiero - an article that explores the importance of not only having more and better data, but also the need to make better use of the data we already have, transforming it into useful information to guide action for the betterment of people and planet. Innovations in Federal Statistics: Combining Data Sources While Protecting Privacy by the National Academies of Sciences’s Panel on Improving Federal Statistics for Policy and Social Science - a report that examines the opportunities and risks of using government administrative and private sector data sources to foster a paradigm shift in federal statistical programs that would combine diverse data sources in a secure manner to enhance federal statistics.

Platforms and Where to Store the Data? Led by Arnaud Sahuguet

In this session, we discuss the state of the art in technologies for collecting, storing, analyzing and visualizing data. In particular, we focus on four hypothetical applications for each topic in order that you understand what’s possible and what options are available for you to be able to perform each activity.

Read: Open Data Resource Kit by Jun Matsushita and Arnaud Sahuguet - Everything you ever wanted to know when starting your open data project… but were too afraid to ask.

Data Analytical Thinking and Methods II: Correlation, Causation and Decision-Making Led by Daniel L. Goroff

This lecture discusses common inferential challenges and risks people face when working with data, including: thinking about conditional probability, the distinction between association (or correlation) and causation, what it means for events to be “independent,” and how to claim a result is “statistically significant” is related to an implicit theory of randomness. The lecture closes by giving some practical advice about how to think through these concepts in your own domain.

Barriers to Building a Data Practice in Government Led by Beth Blauer

During this session we will discuss the risks of collecting and using data in government including financial costs, lack of institutional readiness, lack of skills and available talent, lack of a governance framework, ethical concerns including privacy, security, confidentiality, and questions of how to share data between organizations and with researchers. We discuss strategies for overcoming these risks.

Read: Selected Readings on Data Governance by The GovLab - an annotated and curated collection of recommended works on Data Governance.

Data Collaboratives and Corporate Data Philanthropy Led by Stefaan Verhulst

Much of the data that would be valuable to access and analyze resides with the private sector—in the form of, for instance, Web clicks, online purchases, sensor data, and call data records. With consumers connected to more and more platforms as well as the increasing prevalence of sensing technologies (i.e. the Internet of Things), data on how people and societies behave is becoming even more privately owned. In this session, we discuss private sources of data to solve public problems and best practices for how data can be shared between private and public organizations.

Read: Data Collaboratives: Exchanging Data to Improve People’s Lives, by Stefaan Verhulst and David Sangokoya - an essay on leveraging the potential of data to solve complex public problems through data collaboratives and four critical accelerators towards responsible data sharing and collaboration. Data Collaboratives: Matching Demand with Supply of (Corporate) Data to solve Public Problems, by Stefaan Verhulst, Iryna SUsha and Alexander Kostura - a report describing emerging practice, opportunities and challenges in data collaboratives as identified at the International Data Responsibility Conference. Data Responsibility: A New Social Good for the Information Age, by Stefaan Verhulst - an essay offering a new understanding of data responsibility comprising a duty to share, a data to protect, and a duty to act. More readings at Data Collaboratives section of the Open Governance Research Exchange. Watch: Watch “Your Company’s Data Could Help End World Hunger” by Mallory Soldner, UPS Advanced Analytics Manager, explain what is data philanthropy and how the next generation of corporate social responsibility is using data and companies’ decision-scientist expertise to solve the big problems our world is facing. How-To: Thinking about designing your own Data Collaborative? Use our canvas and find out what would be your next steps.

Strengthening a Data Analytic Culture Led by Amen-Ra Mashariki

This session will cover how to institutionalize and build a culture of data analytics in your organization and how to engage stakeholders in the creation of data governance policies and frameworks.

Read: Changing Culture by GovEx - a practical guide to help governments advance open data, analytics and performance management practices by shaping their organizational culture.

Objectives

At the end of this course you will be able to…

Articulate the value-proposition for using data to solve the problems you work on in your job, including how to leverage data to improve decision-making Understand the data science techniques and tools that can be applied to transform data to information and insights Understand how data may be used in your work to determine the costs and benefits of important decisions Identify the benefits and risks of collecting, processing, using and sharing data Know the questions to ask when deciding which platforms to use for storing and publishing data Know how to craft a data sharing policy to facilitate use of data across agencies and sectors Know how others are collecting, using and sharing responsibly by other public and international entities

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