2000115-Strengthening-Communities-with-Neighborhood-Data

The Potential and the Way Forward 401
motivation and support are provided. In this section we recommend a
program with seven elements that together would constitute a national
support system to accelerate effective local data development and use
[adapted from ideas discussed in Kingsley et al. (2013)]:
1. Inform local civic leaders about the potentials of a more effective
data environment.
2. Develop and connect networks to document and disseminate local
best practices and provide technical assistance and training to local
data intermediaries.
3. Expand access to data from governments and private firms.
4. Expand data transformation and visualization tools to facilitate
local data use.
5. Develop capacity to educate future policymakers and practitioners
in the methods of data-driven decisionmaking.
6. Establish a network to strengthen neighborhood research.
7. Provide funding to catalyze local institutional development and
incentivize innovation.
Before reviewing the recommendations in each area, we explore how
a group of institutions might collaborate to begin to implement them.
In most successful local data environments today, progress has occurred
primarily under nonprofit-sector leaders who are able to build strong
collaborative and ongoing relationships with government agencies. We
think the development of a national support system for community
information is likely to evolve in the same way.
No single institution is an obvious starting place. Rather, we believe
that a number of national groups with interest in this field should work
together to form a coalition to carry this work forward. NNIP is already
carrying out aspects of the field-building work that is required (the basic
functions of the NNIP network are summarized in chapter 2), but it
now serves only a segment of the broader market. Although NNIP might
convene and help to launch such a coalition, many more organizations
should be involved, especially those whose missions focus on local
governance and community improvement.
As noted in chapter 2, many national organizations already support
strengthening local data capacity in various ways and would be candidates
to participate. This includes groups working in particular issue areas as
well as those focused on broader social justice agendas. Representatives