News & Updates
The Hawai‘i Variable: COVID-19 Dashboards Workshop
On January 21, 2021, Civil Beat's data reporter, Yoohyun Jung moderated a panel of experts as they explored Hawai‘i's COVID-19 data dashboards during an in-depth workshop and discussion.
Panelists included:
Nick Redding, Hawai‘i Data Collaborative
Joshua Quint, Hawai‘i Department of Health, Disease Outbreak Control Division (DOCD)
Niea Gardner, Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA)
Victoria Fan, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and Hawai‘i Pandemic Applied Modeling Work Group (HiPAM)
Panelists demonstrated how to navigate Hawai‘i’s many COVID-19 data dashboards and figure out how to extract the most important, and interesting, information out of them.
“We Don’t Feel ‘Poor’”: How Vibrant Hawaii’s Lived Experience Data Is Shaping Community Understanding and Decisions
Following a deep study of the Hawaii ALICE report, community members across the Big Island were initially struck by what the data showed about Hawaii County: a staggering 61 percent of the county’s households were categorized as struggling to meet basic needs. In some county districts, more than three-fourths of households were labeled as struggling.
Through a series of listening sessions across the island, Vibrant Hawaii’s leadership council met with more than 30 cross-sector leaders and 90 stakeholders, both to share the report’s findings, and to learn about people’s experiences living within ALICE communities. What they heard surprised them. Many community members in attendance expressed that they didn’t, in fact, feel “poor,” despite the ALICE reports findings. In particular, three key conditions countered residents’ perceptions of being poor or struggling…
The Danger of Letting Data Define the “Thing”
There is growing interest from a broad range of local stakeholders in better understanding our local challenges through data. This cadre of stakeholders believes that making community indicators more accessible will be incredibly useful for building a better understanding of well-being – and that understanding can shape the actions we take to improve our communities. If decision makers can get a high-level sense of conditions and outcomes related to health, education, economic opportunity, housing, etc., they can make more informed decisions regarding how to allocate resources to improve disparities.