In 2023, the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE) continued to pursue our mission to maximize the value of open and shared data for the public good. We dug further into our core areas of climate, health, and equity while exploring new ways to democratize data access and use. We continued to refine our unique engagement methodology and develop our ability to put insights - and data - into action.
Throughout the year, we were lucky to work with diverse partners, including Esri, the IBM Center for The Business of Government, the National Academy of Public Administration, PARIS21, Open Data Watch, the Data Foundation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), MITRE, Guidehouse, and more.
As we kick off 2024, here's a recap of our work in 2023 and some exciting initiatives and events we have planned for the year ahead.
Climate
- We launched the Climate Data for Adaptation and Resilience Typology (DART), in partnership with Open Data Watch and PARIS21, to facilitate the use of global and local data for climate action.
- We published two online hubs with a total of about 700 resources based on an earlier roundtable with the Bezos Earth Fund: one focused on data portals and datasets and the other on organizations and resources.
- We supported FEMA with a roundtable and three workshops to gather input on FEMA’s flood risk information and risk communication in partnership with Guidehouse. The project has focused on the needs of disadvantaged and historically underserved stakeholders to help FEMA better meet their flood information needs.
- We co-hosted two panels with the NAPA Standing Panel on Technology Leadership to explore data for global climate knowledge and how to solve the local data problem for climate action.
- We have just begun collaborating with Climate Change AI on a project funded by the Bezos Earth Fund to conduct a landscape study of grand challenges on applications of AI for climate change globally.
Health
- We are supporting work on the National Public Health Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Vector-Borne Disease in Humans, in a project with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). With the CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, and in partnership with MITRE, we will be hosting a Roundtable in the spring to gather additional public input on the national strategy.
- The population health management company ZeOmega, a longtime partner of CODE, is exploring how new federal policies can help provide funds for health-related social services. We are planning a roundtable with them to explore how data and analytics can identify the individuals and communities most likely to benefit, highlight states that have managed these new payment models successfully, and develop a Toolkit that state governments and their partners can use to channel federal health funds to social services effectively.
Equity
- The IBM Center for the Business of Government published our report on Data for Racial Equity in Workforce Opportunity. This was the third of our reports on data for racial equity published by the IBM Center, following our earlier reports on healthcare and housing.
- In collaboration with Esri and using their StoryMaps technology, we launched a new website, Mapping Racial Equity: From Data to Communities. This website presents CODE’s three years of work in our Open Data for Racial Equity program - including work on environmental justice, policing, healthcare, housing, and workforce opportunity - to share what we have learned and highlight the power of data to improve equity outcomes.
Democratizing data
- This year, we’re launching new work in a fourth area, democratizing data, which will explore the prospect of using emerging technologies like AI to revolutionize the use of open data.
- This new initiative builds on CODE's many years of stakeholder engagement to promote the use of open data by individuals and organizations as well as our recognized expertise on open data policy. For example, in the past few years, we have pushed for the Executive Branch to fully engage data users in new programs and crystallized our learnings about best practices in a Stakeholder Engagement Toolkit for Evidence Building, developed in collaboration with the Data Foundation.
What’s new at Team CODE?
- Joel Gurin was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and recognized as one of the FCW 2023 Federal 100 - one of the five nonprofit organizations recognized last year with this award, which goes primarily to Federal officials and industry representatives. The Federal 100 award citation noted that CODE has “zeroed in on the use of data for the public good and social justice.”
- Paul Kuhne was promoted to Director of Programs to manage CODE’s increasingly diverse portfolio, lead the development of project management practices across CODE, and work with the CODE team to develop new initiatives.
- Matt Rumsey was promoted to Director of Research and Strategy to oversee business development, research activities, and organizational strategy as CODE develops new programs.
- Temi Afolabi continues to work with CODE part-time as our Senior Research Consultant as she manages a USAID conflict prevention project to reduce the threat of extremist violence in Northern Ghana. She will soon be returning to CODE full-time.
- Muneeb Malik completed his Atlas Corps Fellowship with CODE and has now joined CODE as Project Manager, Data and Innovation Initiatives full time from Islamabad, Pakistan.
- Paul and Muneeb earned their Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute. This widely recognized credential validates CODE’s expertise in project management for both partners and funders.
- Vandana Yadav, an Atlas Corps / AIF Banyan Impact Fellow, joined CODE in Washington, DC to support communications, outreach, and business development.
