Purpose and Objectives

This planning study will provide insight into technical challenges and opportunities involving the collection, interchange, management and dissemination of data needed for effective policy- and decision-making in Indiana. It will also gather insights and ideas from key stakeholders in data collection, analysis and dissemination that will help in planning and implementing a state data initiative.

Methods Employed

Indiana’s data users, sources and intermediaries are a broad community with both common interests and unique perspectives and needs. The IDI planning study will ensure that the needs and views of this diverse community are reflected in its ultimate recommendations. To achieve this goal, the study will employ the following approaches (and possibly others):

  1. Interview administrators of key state agencies involved with generating, maintaining and/or using data. These interviews will focus on (1) determining which data are available and usable and which data are not, (2) identifying and understanding obstacles to sharing data and (3) eliciting their recommendations for improving the data situation in the state.
  2. Begin development of an inventory of key data—including information on variables, collection forms, platforms, metadata, etc.— that are currently collected and maintained by state agencies. This inventory should be maintained and updated in the future to support any data initiative implemented in Indiana.
  3. Conduct small group discussions with administrators of key data intermediaries in Indiana (public and private research centers and organizations that maintain significant data resources relevant to public policy analysis) to identify ways they can collaborate with each other and with data users and generators to improve availability, accessibility and usability of needed data.
  4. Prepare a detailed database of Indiana researchers and data intermediaries that are actively engaged in generating and using the kinds of data examined in the Hogan report. This database will include information on the types of data managed, accessibility of the data by other users, etc.
  5. Compile information on technology resources, including database formats and standards, of key Indiana data sources and intermediaries to identify opportunities and challenges for integration and collaboration across databases.
  6. Convene a conference of the state’s data users and data generators to elaborate on Indiana data-and-analysis needs, elicit suggestions and recommendations, etc.
  7. Research best-practices used in other states and by federal agencies with respect to streamlining data collection, enhancing capabilities for data interchange, security and confidentiality issues, and other matters germane to improving Indiana’s data situation.