GovEx Data Points

Latest Episodes:

#84 - Women’s History Now: The Women Behind the Coronavirus Resource Center Mar 22, 2024

Show notes

--- In this episode, we celebrate Women’s History Month by talking to some of the women who made history by leading the development of the Coronavirus Resource Center, or “CRC.” Launched in January 2020, the CRC became the indispensable source for data about COVID-19 for government officials, academics, journalists, and the public, surpassing 2.5 billion website views before winding down last year.

--- Our history-making guests include:

Dr. Lauren Gardner, Alton and Sandra Cleveland Professor in the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering,
Beth Blauer, Associate Vice Provost for Public Sector Innovation at Johns Hopkins University and founder of GovEx,
Dr. Sara Bertran de Lis, Director of Research and Analytics at GovEx, and
Mary Conway Vaughan, Deputy Director of Research and Analytics at GovEx.

--- We discuss the origins and ongoing relevance of public-facing data dashboards like the CRC, look at some of the challenges involved in capturing and reporting public data, and unpack if and how the fact that women led most facets of this project impacted the project. We will also hear about how these women balanced their essential work with the uncertainty and chaos that COVID-19 brought to all of our lives.

--- Learn more at govex.jhu.edu

--- Fill out our listener survey!

#83 - City AI Connect: Risk vs. Opportunity in Government AI Feb 01, 2024

Show notes

--- In this episode, we discuss City AI Connect, a global learning community and digital platform for cities to trial and advance the usage of generative artificial intelligence to improve public services.

--- Generative AI, powered by advanced machine learning algorithms, has the potential to analyze vast amounts of data to predict trends, helping cities improve emergency response, mitigate severe weather events, and target resources for infrastructure enhancements. The technologies might also be harnessed to design creative solutions that could transform government delivery by reducing processing delays, eliminating cumbersome paperwork, and expanding multi-language access to reach many more residents with vital, public services.

--- To maximize the potential and expand the availability of generative artificial intelligence learning for local governments, City AI Connect might offer locals officials a single destination to ideate, develop, and test new utilizations with peers across cities. Through social networking features, digital forums, virtual events, and a repository of blueprints and resources, city leaders might have the opportunity to exchange strategies and work with data and technology experts brought together by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University to accelerate implementation in their city halls.

--- We're joined by Beth Blauer, Associate Vice Provost for Public Sector Innovation at Johns Hopkins University and the founder of GovEx; Mary Conway Vaughan, Deputy Director of Research and Analytics at GovEx; and Denise Reidl, the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of South Bend, Indiana.

--- City AI Connect

--- "Gen AI: Get Ready!" Webinar (City AI Connect Members Only)

--- Fill out our listener survey!

#82 - A Year In Review: A conversation with GovEx Executive Director Amy Edwards Holmes on her first year of leadership Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

In the latest Data Points Podcast from the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University (“GovEx”), GovEx Chief of Staff Dr. Rudy de Leon Dinglas talks to Amy Edwards Holmes, who recently completed her first year as the center’s Executive Director. Amy came to GovEx with years of public service experience in both the non-profit and government sector. In this podcast, Amy explains the origin of her passion for helping cities use data to improve people’s lives. She and Rudy also review the past year of GovEx programming and discuss future engagements with partner cities across the Americas, including those engaged with the center’s flagship program, the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance.

To learn more about GovEx, Amy, or any of our programming, please visit us at govex.jhu.edu. We would also love to hear from you! Fill out our listener survey at https://forms.fillout.com/t/tvfZVqXrqXus

#81 - Democratizing Data in City Workforces: A conversation with Baltimore Chief Data Officer Justin Elszasz Jul 10, 2023

Show notes

In the latest Data Points podcast from the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University (GovEx), GovEx Research Manager Jacquie Greif talks to Justin Elszasz, Chief Data Officer for Baltimore City. Elszasz describes the city’s long-standing partnership with GovEx, including the collaborative development of the ground-breaking Baltimore Data Academy, which is providing city staff in every department with the opportunity to learn about data and use it to improve their work and, ultimately, the lives of Baltimore residents. In a wide-ranging discussion, Elszasz also touched on the role of the CDO, how to incentivize good data practices in cities, and how AI is already shaping the way cities work.

To learn more about our work, visit us at govex.jhu.edu

#80 - Food System Resilience: A Planning Guide for Local Governments Feb 20, 2023

Show notes

Among the lessons many cities learned from the COVID-19 pandemic was that local governments need to be better prepared for disruptions to the food system caused by public health crises and other natural and man-made disasters. To help local leaders address this need, the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) and Johns Hopkins’ Center for a Livable Future (CLF) developed a new tool, Food System Resilience: A Planning Guide for Local Governments, in collaboration with five cities: Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Maryland; Denver, Colorado; Moorhead, Minnesota; and Orlando, Florida. In this episode, two authors of the planning guide, Meg Burke, a Researcher with GovEx, and Elsie Moore, a PhD candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discuss their approach to researching the guide, the data about food resiliency, and the ways different cities can and should support resilient food systems. To learn more, visit govex.jhu.edu

#79 - The Charge to Invest in Intersectional Culture Change in Cities Nov 09, 2022

Show notes

The past several years have revealed a major shift in the way we relate to our jobs, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing political and civil unrest. Increasingly, the roles of social and emotional wellbeing in the workplace have taken center stage as we negotiate our return to the office. This changing paradigm about our relationship to our work has prompted employers to re-evaluate the workplaces they create for their workforces, and cities are no exception to this phenomenon.

Today, we’re joined by Mykella Auld, an instructional designer for GovEx and Co-author of The Social Emotional Learning Handbook: Practical Applications for Trauma-Informed and Anti-Racist Social Emotional Learning in Educational and Communal Settings, to explore this topic more deeply.

To learn more, visit govex.jhu.edu

#78 - It Takes a Village: The Value of Place-Based Partnerships in Racine, WI Sep 01, 2022

Show notes

Place-based partnerships can serve a major role in supporting governments’ commitment to serving and improving the lives of residents. But partnerships on a city-wide scale rely on good data governance practices in order to be successful, data-driven, and self-sustaining. In particular, collaboration between government and non-government organizations (NGO’s) poses an extra layer of complexity, and successful service delivery through these partnerships demands robust data governance and open communication between all participants.

Today, we’re joined by Jenelle Zito, Director of Continuous Improvement for the Racine, WI Unified School District, Geoff Zimmerman, a consultant with StriveTogether, a nation-wide network of cradle-to-career place-based partnerships, and Ben Taft, Data Impact Manager of Higher Expectations, a collective impact organization local to Racine and member organization of Strive Together. We’ll explore the needs of the Racine Unified School District and how collaboration with Higher Expectations and StriveTogether to address these issues was made possible through a shared responsibility for data governance and communication by all three organizations.

If you’d like to learn more, come visit us at govex.jhu.edu.

#77 - Public Health Data Lessons Learned: The Pandemic Data Initiative Jul 01, 2022

Show notes

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how unprepared our public data reporting practices were to handle such an event. Incomplete, poorly-formatted, or irregularly-released datasets were a norm, and drawing useful insights from these data presented a major challenge for governments seeking to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

While working on the Coronavirus Resource Center, GovEx analysts took note of the many data governance problems they encountered. These thoughts were given voice through the Pandemic Data Initiative, a component of the Coronavirus Resource Center aimed at driving the national and international conversations on public data, how to best respond to the COVID-19 pandemic data issues, and how to prepare for the next public health crisis through modernized data systems.

We’re joined by Dr. Joshua Porterfield, Content Lead for the Pandemic Data Initiative, to discuss the origins of the initiative and explore the practices that presented the greatest challenges.

You can find the Pandemic Data Initiative at http://coronavirus.jhu.edu/pandemic-data-initiative. To learn more about our work at the Johns Hopkins Center for Government Excellence, please visit http://govex.jhu.edu.

#76 - From the “Start” of Innovation to a New Center for Innovation – A Conversation with Amanda Daflos Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

Innovation is about solving problems. Every problem and crisis a city encounters can unlock new opportunities to innovate and create better results for residents. In this episode, Amanda Daflos, the new Executive Director of the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins, shares her thoughts on the role of innovation in government, the data and innovation connection, and how the early success of i-teams in cities like Los Angeles paved the way for the a Center and better results for the more than 200 million individuals impacted by its work today.

#75 - “Did you get my email?”: A conversation on collaboration Feb 04, 2022

Show notes

When tackling society’s big challenges, we often find ourselves collaborating with other departments or organizations external to our own. But as any siloed government employee will tell you, building the relationships needed to rise to the occasion, and sustaining those relationships, is often no easy task.

Today, we’re joined by two individuals familiar with this reality: Ryun Jackson, Special Assistant to Mayor Strickland in Memphis, TN, and Sagar Desai, Managing Director of Innovation at Strive Together. We’ll explore situations where they have faced this challenge and discuss strategies they have relied on to keep collaborative relationships healthy and active.

If you’d like to learn more, please visit us at govex.jhu.edu.

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