Seeing Is Believing: Visualizing Data for Evidence-Based Policymaking

While many industries have increasingly turned to data science to make informed business decisions, social service organizations and government agencies have been slower to fully embrace the potential of current and emerging data science methods. The challenges are real. How do you make highly technical data accessible and actionable for non-technical audiences? How can you showcase insights in a way that is intuitive and engaging? What’s really needed are innovative ways to visualize data that helps tell a story, inform decisions, and make an impact.

Join Mathematica and Data Community DC for a mini-hackathon, where we will shine a light on how data visualization techniques can help service providers, program administrators, policymakers and the public unearth new insights to make evidence-based decisions. We’ll walk through two data visualizations created by Mathematica to help better understand the implications of proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s eligibility rules as well as highlight the unique ways in which the Opioid crisis poses health risks for women of child-bearing age. We’ll then turn you loose to prototype your own approaches to the same policy and program issues, using real data. Are you up to the challenge of developing a visualization that showcases a fresh perspective on data, opens up new feedback loops, informs policy, and improves program implementation for the public good?

The event will be held at Mathematica’s Washington, DC office (1100 1st Street, NE). Following this event, please join us for a gathering at Wunder Garten.