How (and Why) to Start a Local Data Intermediary

A new guide helps communities set up groups that can help analyze their neighborhood data and put it to good use.

1 minute read

June 3, 2016, 6:00 AM PDT

By Elana Eden


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"Local data intermediaries" work with raw government data to produce accessible neighborhood indicators, which residents and stakeholders can use to fuel the changes and improvements communities want to see.

A guide to creating the intermediaries was published May 31 by National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP)—a network of more than 20 such groups—and the Urban Institute.

Two scholars from the Institute explain in Next City that liaising between government and communities requires "trust, technical expertise, knowledge of the local context and coordination among multiple stakeholders." But if successful, they say, intermediaries can help "surface, explain and address the issues distressed communities face."

They give special note to NNIP's Baltimore chapter, which was able to add to the national discussion about the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in police custody by drawing on 15 years' worth of data about his neighborhood.

Tuesday, May 31, 2016 in Next City

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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