https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QXYCTqGc3oDMrwgOZlRV8stf5K_3dswEqN0GS-HLFqY/edit

Contact Andrew Yaspan - andrew@codeformilwaukee.org for more information.

And take our quick survey to share what data you would like to see out of the portal, and learn how to get involved!

What is a Data Walk?

• “The idea comes from a pedagogical technique that exposes small groups of students to large amounts of information in a variety of media posted on classroom walls for the students to tour, similar to attending a museum exhibit (Francek 2006).  Students share ideas and responses to target questions in small groups as they view the material, and afterward, they synthesize the information they have just encountered through a facilitated discussion with the teacher.  Similarly, in Data Walks in community settings participants rotate through ‘stations’ where data is displayed visually and textually to tell a story for participants to interpret, discuss, and reflect on in small groups.”
• In our case, it seems to make sense to take a resident through “the journey” of the data
  • Questions related to this include:
    • Why was the data collected?
    • What data fields are in the dataset (and currently collected)
    • What instructions were given to people entering the data
    • Given a specific field or set of fields, how might a community member use this data field and what other information would supplement their understanding if it?
    • Other ideas can come from: https://nces.ed.gov/FCSM/pdf/DataQualityAssessmentTool.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,-106,794
  • I think we could benefit from creative solutions to how we present these questions for discussion

Goals:

• Build capacity of non-traditional participants in the refining, understanding, and employment of data to drive decision making
• Invite residents to participate in a process that values peoples’ struggles and achievements
• Develop dialogue over the use of technology to drive decisions or monitor efficacy
• Improve residence understanding of data privacy, security, and access

Ideal Outcome:

• Develop a dataset and begin to understand what accompanying products (infographics, articles, blog, dashboard) that are meaningful to community stakeholders 
• Understand what functionalities are crucial to a useful open data platform
• Develop relationship between City IT and residents to continue this sort of engagement

Preparation:

• Narrow in on a particular program or set of goals for a department that are directly tied to the release of open data 
  • What sort of data? Commonly requested data, data used for the public to monitor city service efficacy,...
  • Develop a “How might we _____” statement in regards to the release/use of a dataset(s)
• Compile any existing documentation or memos on why and how the data is collected
• Compile any existing documentation or memos on how the public may want to use this data
• Identify what/how a sample of the data can be shared
  • This can include raw data, aggregate tables, and potentially some visualizations
• Identify existing partnerships between the participating department and other stakeholder groups that could benefit from this process
  • Understand the stakeholder group(s) orientation to the goals the department has for releasing the data, and level of data literacy (it is possible that a department is meeting a goal that is requested by a stakeholder group)

Inspiration, Motivation, Facilitation:

• There are local experts/data analysis (“local data experts”) or science practitioners who have either knowledge or open source tools to share that can increase the interpretability and value of data portal data
• What role can they play in inspiring the creation of other useful open source tools, which could be a goal of City IT or some other civic tech, social impact, data intermediary (etc.) organization derived from their participation in this activity?
• What information could the “local data experts”  get from their participation that would inspire the development of more open source tools?
• How would this inform how an open source tool is created or intended to use?
• How can the involvement of “local data experts” as serve to motivate learning about and participating in the development of open data and its uses?
• How can “local data experts” facilitate the conversation about what the City’s role can be and how it can improve it’s open data offerings?

Idea:

• Everyone can self-identify as some type of “expert” -- or “phile” as Data You Can Use does
• We can give ppl some examples of all the types of “experts” someone can consider themselves, but ultimately they will self-label
  • This can also be data for the planning team to use to learn from later

Considerations:

• Barriers 
  • Cultural
  • Mathematical
  • Linguistic
  • Experiential 
• Target Participants
  • May be beneficial to think about different time horizons
    • Near-term, mid-term, long-term
• Entrenchment & Pessimism vs. Creativity and Optimism
• How many events is this?  1, more?
• How do we make this virtual?
• Partners x Recruitment
• Supplemental outside datasets
• Creating a culture for the event
  • “Leave titles at the door, but not perspective”
• Provide context for event to participants
• Follow-up with discussion/focus group?
• Is focusing on messier pre-prep data even the right thing to focus on?

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/16Dz8TTDjrBT6kv6MDtBy0XUXDs9q6YmMy07KojdTdsg/edit

Who is affected by this project?
- Information is power, and open data is a publicly-facing, publicly available trove of information that can be used to identify neighborhood or city-wide issues, highlight successes/accomplishments, develop business plans and strategies, and provide an evidence-base for policy or programs. Developing or an improving an open data portal can positively impact the entire city, especially the most vulnerable.  It will be important to keep in mind, however, that data can also entrench/perpetuate harms, and so having a diverse set of voices and perspectives will be pivotal to doing this right.

Some high level questions":
This group originally met around the questions: 1) What would be the best platform for open data from the City of Milwaukee? 2) What improvements could be made to the current portal offering in terms of functionality, data quality, data coverage? 3) What sort of real-time activity/process for residential engagement could both improve visibility/usability of the open data portal and help develop a relationship between MKE residents and the city office of Information Technology Management Division for greater digital engagement and constant feedback loops?
 
Goals:
Build capacity of non-traditional participants in the refining, understanding, and employment of data to drive decision making
Invite residents to participate in a process that values peoples’ struggles and achievements
Develop dialogue over the use of technology to drive decisions or monitor efficacy
Improve residence understanding of data privacy, security, and access

Ideal Outcome:
Develop a dataset and begin to understand what accompanying products (infographics, articles, blog, dashboard) that are meaningful to community stakeholders 
Understand what functionalities are crucial to a useful open data platform
Develop relationship between City IT and residents to continue this sort of engagement