News & Updates
Using Data to Democratize Education on Hawai‘i Island
Chancellor Rachel Solemsaas of Hawai’i Community College (HCC) is clear about her priority when it comes to serving students in need: democratizing education. She defines democratizing education as open access, equity, and commitment to success. To make these priorities a reality, we’ve partnered with Chancellor Solemsaas and her team to leverage existing data while also cultivating a data culture at HCC that not only informs decision-making, but teaches students how to be data literate as well.
The Chief Data Officer: An Opportunity For a New State Data Strategy
In Hawaiʻi, we now have the opportunity to appoint a Chief Data Officer (CDO) and data task force to create a strategic approach that leverages data to improve government efficiency, services, decision making, and policy. If set up well and leveraged appropriately, the CDO and data task force could have a significant impact on not only the effectiveness of our state government, but on all organizations that rely upon – or, are relied upon – by state government to serve the public interest at large.
“The New Data Culture for Hawaiʻi” Discussed at the 2022 Hawaiʻi Book and Music Festival
Nick Redding, Executive Director of the Hawai‘i Data Collaborative, joined the Innovation Panel at the 2022 Annual Hawai‘i Book and Music Festival to discuss “The New Data Culture for Hawaiʻi,” highlighting the need for quality, timely data, our over-reliance on lagging national data sources, and how the Ko‘olau Housing Hui demonstrates investing in data capacities serves all stakeholders working to address housing security on the Windward side.
A Report on Hawai‘i’s Data & Evidence Landscape
We are excited to share a report that summarizes what the Hawai‘i Data Collaborative has learned directly, and indirectly through interviews with key stakeholders, about the the data landscape in Hawai‘i, offering a guide to moving forward. Our sincere hope is that this report catalyzes the collective and collaborative effort needed to foster a thriving data culture, ready to confront the challenges of 2021 and beyond.
TRUE Insight: Tableau Success Stories in Hawai‘i
Insight from data has made an impactful difference in Hawai‘i’s response to COVID.
On January 27, 2021, Deena Tearney, CEO of Pacific Point, moderated a panel that discussed how:
Successful response requires everyone to come together and rapidly innovate in times of crisis
Data, data visualizations, and data integration with other system increases decision making value
You can create and foster a data culture at your organization
Panelists included Jeremy Blaney of Tableau; Erin Hughey of Pacific Disaster Center; and Nick Redding of the Hawai‘i Data Collaborative.
Hawai‘i Economics and Economists In the Spotlight
In Hawaii Business Magazine’s December 2020 issue, Hawai‘i Data Collaborative’s Nick Redding and Kendrick Leong were featured in “Hawai‘i Economics and Economists in the Spotlight” by Sterling Higa, where they discuss how HDC first began as a project intended to produce an index of well-being for Hawai‘i, how the learnings from the project expanded HDC’s work to include unlocking the potential of publicly available data to support better decision-making, vulnerabilities in the state’s data culture that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to bear, and why we must be thoughtful with the economic indicators we focus on as it relates to how we define “economic recovery” (as discussed in a previous post).
HiPHI's COVID-19 Public Health Action Webinar: Utilizing Data to Drive Re-Opening Decisions
Hawaii Data Collaborative’s Executive Director, Nick Redding, joined the Hawaii Public Health Institute (HiPHI) and other panelists to discuss how COVID-19 data is informing the City and County of Honolulu’s re-opening strategy, tier system, and other related policy decisions. Some of the main points Nick highlighted were Hawaii Data Collaborative’s mission to elevate critical data to address Hawaii’s most pressing challenges; how the coronavirus pandemic amplified the urgency of that mission; and, some of the collaborative efforts that emerged to support the state’s response. Moderating the discussion was Stephanie Moir, from the HiPHI team; other panelists included Dr. Mitchel Rosenfeld, Program Manager with the City and County of Honolulu, and Hirokazu Toiya, Director of the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Emergency Management.
Why We Are Working to Track Hawaii's COVID-19 Federal Funds Spending
Recently, our work to track the State’s progress in spending down federal funds awarded to the State in response to COVID-19 have been highlighted by the House Select Committee on COVID-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness and recent news accounts. The Hawaii Data Collaborative strives to promote a culture of data-informed decision making in Hawaii, by making data that is relevant to our most pressing challenges accessible, relevant, and meaningful.
Given the urgency of need as we continue to navigate post-COVID stresses on our families and communities, and the looming end-of-year timeline for spending down $1.25B in Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF), we felt the need to work quickly to make sure information about our spending is available on a timely and insightful platform. Equally important are the partnerships that make this possible.
Instead of Relying on Stories, We All Need Access to Better COVID-19 Data
The potential of data lies not in its ability to reinforce stories — that leaves us reliant upon the storytellers. Instead, comprehensive and readily available data facilitate conversations that allow the broader community to see exactly what is happening and, if necessary, question assumptions about our current situation and what lies ahead. Over the last two weeks, it has become clear that state and county leadership do not have full access to the data and expertise needed to manage the disease. And neither does the public.
The Importance of Leading and Lagging Indicators for Ongoing Monitoring of COVID-19 in Hawaii
While it likely makes sense to most of us that these indicators measure different components of COVID-19 management – i.e. new cases, daily test rates, hospitalizations, etc. – it might be more difficult to understand how they all fit together, and why it is important to have a balance of indicators that represent the range of relevant factors for managing COVID-19 locally. One important frame to consider is distinguishing where data points fall along the continuum of leading to lagging indicators.
Where Does Hawaii Stand in Terms of Publicly Available COVID-19 Data?
Earlier this week, a New York-based nonprofit, Resolve to Save Lives (RSL), headed by the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), released a report outlining “15 essential indictors” that should be reflected in every State COVID-19 dashboard, including in what format the data should be reported and how the data should be stratified by age, sex, ethnicity and geography. Based on this framework, RSL inventoried each State in terms of the data that is currently publicly available. The results for Hawaii are not flattering. Out a possible 100%, Hawaii currently scores at 13%, making available (to RSL’s satisfaction) four out of the 15 recommended indicators:
Fly on the Wall: A Glimpse into Developing a COVID-19 Modeling Tool for Hawaii
During a HiPAM convening, the group discussed how to respond to requests from local decision-makers for models and metric guidelines that would help determine when to lift local and domestic travel restrictions, as well as indicators of when restrictions may need to be re-imposed. The subsequent discussion demonstrated the complex array of factors that our state officials and senior executives must consider…
Dr. Thomas Lee, HI-EMA's Lead Modeler & Forecaster, Discusses Reopening Hawaii to Travel and More
Dr. Thomas Lee, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, also an US Army Medical Officer from the 1984th US Army Hospital Pacific, 9th Mission Support Command, currently serving as lead modeler and forecaster for Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) COVID-19 Emergency Response Team, discussed how he applies modeling to forecast and advise policymakers in their decisions, the potential and efficacy of testing and screening of inbound travelers, a basic explanation of “R naught,” and more.
A Missing Piece to Hawaii’s COVID-19 Response: The Hawaii Pandemic Applied Modeling Work Group
The Hawaii Pandemic Applied Modeling (HiPAM) Work Group originally formed out of a collective concern that our state’s decision makers lacked a Hawaii-specific, data-driven modeling tool to inform their decisions in response to COVID-19. Originally comprised primarily of academics and faculty from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, HiPAM has grown to include representatives from the Hawaii Department of Health, major local hospitals, and community nonprofits focused on Hawaii health and well-being.
Anonymized Testing Outcomes Database (ATOB) Could Increase Precision of Reopening Policies in Hawaii
An anonymized testing outcomes database (ATOB) that provides daily aggregated counts of asymptomatic as well as symptomatic cases could save Hawaii an additional $300 million in economic costs over non-ATOB reopening strategies.
Finding the Trade-Off Sweet Spot: Relatively Modest Health System Investments Could Reduce Hawaii’s Economic Losses by Billions
We used our Hawaii Population Model to explore the interplay between the medical resources needed to combat COVID-19 and their associated economic impacts, given current conditions over the next two months. We ran scenarios of every possible combination of health system parameters, with their associated economic costs, iterating and reiterating the model until every combination of infection mitigation strategies had been tested.
Ongoing and Comprehensive Information Key to Reopening Hawaii
More importantly, some communities reported higher rates of COVID-19 related symptoms compared to their response rate (e.g. Waianae and Maui)—an indication that these communities may require additional information and resources to mitigate the impacts of the virus. Conversely, communities with lower reported symptoms relative to their response rate may have greater access to information that is helping to protect its citizens (e.g. East Honolulu).
Local Expert-Driven COVID-19 Models for Hawaii Are Long Overdue
We learned the hard way that modeling COVID-19 forecasts is not one-size-fits-all. Recently, we wrote about the advantages of the University of Washington IHME model for understanding peak hospital demand in Hawaii, only to shortly thereafter advise caution in interpreting the model because the projected hospital capacity peak had suddenly shifted by three weeks [link]. A closer inspection of the model revealed problematic assumptions, and underscored a real vulnerability for Hawaii in not having a valid local model.
Three Questions to Ask Before You Start Collecting Data
Whether it’s talk of “big data” in the business world, predictive data analytics in the public sector, or data-informed program strategy among nonprofits, data collection and analysis are increasingly seen as requirements for savvy organizations. As our reliance on technology continues to grow, you might be feeling a sense of urgency about jumping on the data train. Identifying the right tools for data collection suddenly feels critical to your company’s success. But where to begin?