NYC School of Data 2020

Learn how the New York City Council’s new Data Team uses a data-driven approach to improve the New York City Council’s policy making process. The New York Council Data Team answers policy questions and informs laws. The Data Team also uses data to conduct oversight of City Agencies. We source datasets, create data analysis and models, maps, and dashboards to assist Council staff and Council Members to use data to make decisions. Our unique strength is in marrying data with public policy making. At School of Data, we'll talk about how the New York City Council Data Team uses data to make informed decisions and how you can too.

Join us for a lively discussion and office hours session with The Mayor’s Office of Information Privacy (MOIP) who works to protect the privacy of New Yorkers’ identifying information, while maximizing data sharing across agencies where permitted by law. In doing so, MOIP aims to increase access to and strengthen coordination of services for individuals and families, and to encourage innovative projects throughout the city that advance equity and opportunity. The Office is headed by the City’s Chief Privacy Officer (CPO), who works to strengthen and coordinate responsible citywide data-sharing practices. In collaboration with agencies, the CPO will also work to improve the way the City uses data to inform fair, equitable policies and best practices.

New York's public spaces are increasingly privatized and policed. As a result, people experiencing homelessness are often removed from public view and excluded from participating in acts of everyday life that most of us take for granted. Inviting the most frequent users of public space into the process to envision an alternative, inclusive, future shouldn't be a radical act. Yet it is.

Madison, Margaret, Nikita, and Eric will share their approaches to participatory research and design, and talk about the work they conducted as a part of a partnership between the Urban Design Forum and Picture the Homeless, a grassroots advocacy organization run by people currently and formerly experiencing homelessness.

Everyone is a stakeholder in the data game, whether you’re the owner of a local bodega, or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. But finding data insights that push your organization to the next level can sometimes feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack — having to string along the right balance of technical analysis, data assets, and effective communication. This session will guide the audience through a case study to help dismantle these roadblocks by focusing on the intersectionality between psychology and consulting frameworks that merge technical and creative approaches on how to identify relevant data tools, formulate impactful questions, and present findings using data visualization and design principles.