In February, Steve Lohr, writing in the New York Times, captured how the explosion of availability and usage of data is revolutionizing practices in the private and social sector across the nation. Providing “a new approach to understanding the world and making decisions,” big data is used to create robot cars roaming the streets in California, facilitate compatible dating matches online, and predict crime hotspots in New York City. More effective tracking and usage of data is helping organizations across the country, and the world, better understand and predict behaviors, trends and outcomes—and the possibilities appear to be endless.

Lohr points out that “the impact of data abundance extends well beyond business,” as is powerfully felt and visible in the civic sector today. On March 1st, NCoC attended the open session of a National Academy of Sciences Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) panel, recently convened to analyze what information the government currently collects on civic engagement and social capital, in order to inform collection of this data moving forward. Awareness of the big data revolution was central to the dialogue that day. Panelists and presenters discussed the wealth of information available that could potentially help better understand civic engagement and social cohesion, as well as the merits and challenges of the federal government’s evolving role in data collection.

Just two days later, on March 3rd, a group gathered for the D.C. Data Dive Weekend—an informal meeting to connect organizations with measurement needs to “data enthusiasts” who could help. The weekend was co-convened by the 2011-2012 American Express NGen Fellows, who have embraced “Leading Through Data” as their cohort’s focus, and Data Without Borders, an organization whose purpose is to capitalize upon the abundant data expertise of the private sector to meet the social sector’s data needs.

The response to the event was stunning. Workforce consultants, financial analysts, academic researchers, and countless others traveled from across the Eastern seaboard to volunteer their weekend. Nonprofit leaders raised questions around how to develop effective frameworks for measuring the impact of environmental education, how to analyze data to make better predictions about nonprofit organizations’ viability, and how to better leverage existing data sets to predict outcomes for kids growing up in poverty. The room was abuzz for the weekend as volunteers formed teams to tackle these questions—presenting new findings and recommendations by weekend’s end.

NCoC has used civic health data for years to understand civic life in communities across the country, and to take an evidence-based approach to inform policies, programs, and initiatives that advance civic engagement and social connectedness. We’ve seen first-hand what can happen when thoughtful organizations use civic health data to better their communities—their results include new civic education legislation, statewide voter engagement initiatives, citizen-driven grant making programs, and more. We currently work on these civic health initiatives in 25 communities across the country and continue to grow this network each year.

This spring, we also aim to understand and visualize this data in new ways by launching our Civic Data Challenge —which will bring new eyes, new minds, new findings, and new skill sets to the field of civic health. Challenge participants will be provided with civic health data, as well as data on public health, public safety, education, and economic vitality. They will discover new connections and create visual representations to showcase their findings which may include infographics, apps, animations, videos, or other innovations.

For every person in the room at the Data Dive weekend, we know there are countless more with the skills and talents to help us better understand the connections between civic health and other social outcomes and to help us bring these findings to life in new ways. The Challenge will launch at the Data 2.0 Summit on April 3rd.

As Lohr wrote, “Good with numbers? Fascinated by data? The sound you hear is opportunity knocking.” We hope you’ll join us in answering the call.

Learn more about how to bring civic health data to your community.