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Sarasota News Leader December 7, 2012 OPINION Page 64 NEWS FROM THE FRONT: COMMUNITY DATA By Allison Pinto and Tim Dutton Guest Columnists GUEST COLUMN the PolicyLink Promise Neighborhoods Initiative) said, "We make the aspiration real when we begin to do the work." In Sarasota County, we are not there yet. It is time to start using community data. There are times when it is especially helpful to reconnect with a broader network of thought leaders to "see beyond the horizon" on issues we are focusing on here in our home • Challenge the status quo. Are we using community. data in creative and provocative ways for the sake of positive community change? Such was the case this month when we parAs Bryan Sivak (chief technology officer of ticipated in the 2012 Summit of the Commuthe U.S. Department of Health and Human nity Indicators Consortium, an international Services) said, "Innovation means chalconference held at the University of Maryland. lenging the status quo wherever it exists." We presented local efforts and also listened to This means addressing power dynamics, a diverse group of colleagues who are at the both locally and beyond. It means experts forefront of what is now being referred to as acknowledging the tyranny of experts. It the "data revolution." means spotting and rallying around positive deviance. It means focusing on issues This article is a way of "looping back" with of equity and equality. Who here is ready our home community — a sharing of informaand willing to challenge the status quo? tion from the frontlines. Here are some of the messages we found most • Generate data for neighborhoods. The amount and variety of data we generate compelling: as a society have increased profoundly in • Focus on change. It is not sufficient to focus recent years. As Robert Groves (former on increasing community awareness of the director of the U.S. Census Bureau) said, value of data or on making data available. "We have a data ecosystem now." These This is time for everybody to use data on a data offer tremendous potential for generregular basis to bring about change. Becomating knowledge and informing decisions; ing a robustly data-informed community is however, there still is not much available at possible, but it requires an active committhe neighborhood level. Within-city or withment to use local data each time we face in-county data are still typically organized decisions. As Michael McAfee (director of by the boundary systems of policymakers