Episodes

Budgets are often long, complicated, and difficult for the average city resident to understand. But they don't have to be. Participatory budgeting is a tool growing in use that helps residents understand and actively contribute to budgeting decisions in a city. Since it started in Brazil in the 1980s, participatory budgeting has spread around the world. In this episode, we talk with representatives from two organizations using different participatory budgeting mechanisms to explain the why, wha...

Budgets are often long, complicated, and difficult for the average city resident to understand. But they don't have to be. Participatory budgeting is a tool growing in use that helps residents understand and actively contribute to budgeting decisions in a city. Since it started in Brazil in the 1980s, participatory budgeting has spread around the world. In this episode, we talk with representatives from two organizations using different participatory budgeting mechanisms to explain the why, wha...

Budgets are often long, complicated, and difficult for the average city resident to understand. But they don't have to be. Participatory budgeting is a tool growing in use that helps residents understand and actively contribute to budgeting decisions in a city. Since it started in Brazil in the 1980s, participatory budgeting has spread around the world. In this episode, we talk with representatives from two organizations using different participatory budgeting mechanisms to explain the why, wha...

In honor of Open Data Day 2018, cohosts Sharon Paley and Eric Reese bring you this special mini episode of Data Points. We share our three favorite (and quick) tips for opening data in your government. Let us know how you are celebrating Open Data Day and if you enjoy this extra short version of the podcast by email us at govex@jhu.edu.

In honor of Open Data Day 2018, cohosts Sharon Paley and Eric Reese bring you this special mini episode of Data Points. We share our three favorite (and quick) tips for opening data in your government. Let us know how you are celebrating Open Data Day and if you enjoy this extra short version of the podcast by email us at govex@jhu.edu.

In honor of Open Data Day 2018, cohosts Sharon Paley and Eric Reese bring you this special mini episode of Data Points. We share our three favorite (and quick) tips for opening data in your government. Let us know how you are celebrating Open Data Day and if you enjoy this extra short version of the podcast by email us at govex@jhu.edu.

This week we talk with Dr. Marc Gourevitch and Dr. Jessica Athens, professors at New York University’s School of Medicine and Public Health. They’ll talk to us about the city health dashboard they’ve been developing for cities across the US. The City Health Dashboard is a web resource that enables community leaders and advocates for health, education, housing, and other policy areas in four pilot cities to easily see where they stand on 26 key measures of health and drivers of health. The site ...

This week we talk with Dr. Marc Gourevitch and Dr. Jessica Athens, professors at New York University’s School of Medicine and Public Health. They’ll talk to us about the city health dashboard they’ve been developing for cities across the US. The City Health Dashboard is a web resource that enables community leaders and advocates for health, education, housing, and other policy areas in four pilot cities to easily see where they stand on 26 key measures of health and drivers of health. The site ...

This week we talk with Dr. Marc Gourevitch and Dr. Jessica Athens, professors at New York University’s School of Medicine and Public Health. They’ll talk to us about the city health dashboard they’ve been developing for cities across the US. The City Health Dashboard is a web resource that enables community leaders and advocates for health, education, housing, and other policy areas in four pilot cities to easily see where they stand on 26 key measures of health and drivers of health. The site ...

The Fighting Irish are fighting poverty at the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (otherwise known as LEO) at the University of Notre Dame. The center is identifying the data-centric, effective and scalable programs that help people move out of poverty. LEO’s research is conducted by Notre Dame faculty "as well as scholars from across the country with expertise in designing and evaluating the impact of domestic anti-poverty programs." In this episode, we talk to James Sullivan, the R...

The Fighting Irish are fighting poverty at the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (otherwise known as LEO) at the University of Notre Dame. The center is identifying the data-centric, effective and scalable programs that help people move out of poverty. LEO’s research is conducted by Notre Dame faculty "as well as scholars from across the country with expertise in designing and evaluating the impact of domestic anti-poverty programs." In this episode, we talk to James Sullivan, the R...

The Fighting Irish are fighting poverty at the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (otherwise known as LEO) at the University of Notre Dame. The center is identifying the data-centric, effective and scalable programs that help people move out of poverty. LEO’s research is conducted by Notre Dame faculty "as well as scholars from across the country with expertise in designing and evaluating the impact of domestic anti-poverty programs." In this episode, we talk to James Sullivan, the R...

Cities use data to tackle almost every problem imaginable. This includes the serious issue of opiods and overdoses. Using data to tackle serious issues in a public way is a great benefit of open data and performance analytics work and this week we dive...

It’s always good to pause and reflect. As the calendar page turns from 2017 to 2018, Eric and Sharon take time out to wrap up 2017 and discuss everything that’s happened on the Data Points podcast in the past year.

Many people know about algorithms. But we often don’t know much about them and how they work. In Episode 39 Weapons of Math Destruction, guest Cathy O’Neill described the basics of applications of algorithms in government. Today,

This week, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the selection committee for its fourth US Mayors Challenge. The Mayors Challenge will invest $17.5 million in American cities to test and implement innovative and shareable solutions that tackle today’s tou...

Data standards — what are they, where do you find them, and how should you use them? On this week’s episode of Data Points, we are highlighting the launch a new data standards directory which has be cocreated by GovEx and GeoThink at McGill University....

The Federal Reserve is a key part of the US financial infrastructure. But how does it work? And how does it make decisions using data the affects local, state, and federal government agencies and millions of Americans? In this episode,

If you’re interested in pursuing an advanced degree in public health, this is the podcast for you! The Bloomberg American Health Initiative is an unprecedented investment to tackle health threats in the US.

Linking data from one place or system to another is often key to putting data to use. But few people understand what it takes to integrate and combine data in a useful way. Enter the integrated data system. In this episode,

It’s common knowledge that cities are made up of individual neighborhoods. But thinking about data at the neighborhood level is difficult. Often data is not granular enough to get to the neighborhood level and sometimes we can’t even clearly define dif...

Algorithms are complicated. Yet they are used all the time in our daily lives, including by governments, to perform basic functions. From determining what web page advertisements we see to timing traffic lights,

Algorithms are complicated. Yet they are used all the time in our daily lives, including by governments, to perform basic functions. From determining what web page advertisements we see to timing traffic lights,

Organizing a hackathon is common concept for the civic tech movement. Bringing people together to solve a problem in a short period of time creates urgency, community, and a sense of shared purpose using data. However,