Data for the people

I stole this title from a session at last week’s Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) Annual Conference. “For the people” is a great way to think about economic development and, really, all government services. In this case, it refers to using business, economic, and workforce data the government collects to provide better services for the people.  

For example, many conference attendees manage and use federal and state-level labor market information (LMI). We discussed how researchers deploy this data for decision-making and to help states design workforce development programs for greater impact, including:

• Upskilling 
• Attaining industry credentials
• Career education
• Job match
• Planning for jobs of the future
• Responding to job losses

At the actual Data for the People session, speakers described how the California Employment Development Department’s LMI Division has used labor and business datasets to inform the response to wildfires that have affected jobs and businesses. In Georgia, the Center for Economic Development Research at Georgia Tech brought together a variety of datasets to help communities in the vicinity of the Hyundai Metaplant understand the local impacts of the anticipated growth. Both initiatives are helping local leaders decide how to respond to change and direct their programs and resources where they are most needed. 

Meanwhile, leaders from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Census Bureau, and Bureau of Labor Statistics affirmed their agencies’ commitment to maintaining critical federal data sets and statistics while continuing to innovate and become more efficient in producing the data products that businesses, policy makers and researchers rely on to understand the economy.

Finally, the Fiscal 50 project from The Pew Charitable Trusts is a great example of a third party bringing together a variety of public datasets for the people, in this case to illuminate state fiscal trends. This free, online, interactive resource helps both citizens and policymakers understand what’s in state budgets, tax trends, and other fiscal issues that are important to constituents and communities.   

Thanks to host Sacramento and C2ER for bringing us all together!