This month, we highlight a cold case dataset published by the State of Virginia. Can you maximize the potential of your data by treating it like a commercial product? An article from the Harvard Business Review discusses what successful companies are doing. Want to improve data literacy within your agency? An article from CDO magazine highlights six principles or lessons to improve data literacy within the public sector.
Also, check out upcoming live training sessions to improve your data skills, and as always explore the on-demand training options.
News, Updates & Tips
Data Highlight: Virginia State Police Cold Cases
data.virginia.gov
This data is a compilation of information from Virginia State Police investigators and local law enforcement used for soliciting tips on unsolved cases throughout the Commonwealth on the Virginia Cold Case Database. The data covers unsolved homicides, missing persons cases, and unidentified remains. It includes incident date, location, victim information and point of contact for the case.
A Better Way to Put Your Data to Work
Harvard Business Review
Successful companies capture the potential of their data by treating it like a commercial product. By doing so, they can reduce the time it takes to implement it in new use cases by as much as 90%. They do this by developing a base product that can be customized for different users.
Six Lessons Learned to Improve Data Literacy in the Public Sector
Chief Data Officer Magazine
This article highlights several principles identified in interviewing several pioneering public sector organizations that have initiated data literacy programs. The principles include:
- Programs succeed when senior leadership champions the effort
- Understand the gaps before beginning any training program
- Establish clear, consistent, and common terminology
- Improve the access to data
- Align data governance and data literacy
- Incentivize staff to embrace data literacy
Upcoming Live Training
Get trained! The table below highlights upcoming live training available to state employees with an account on the Enterprise Data Platform.
| Date | Start Time | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 7 | 3 PM | Clean and Tidy Data |
| Aug 9 | 3 PM | Create and Manage Your Dataset |
| Aug 11 | 12 PM | Transform Data with Socrata Query Language |
| Aug 14 | 10 AM | Explore Data with Charts |
| Aug 16 | 3 PM | Map Your Data |
| Aug 18 | 3 PM | Create Performance Measures |
| Aug 21 | 12 PM | Tell a Story with Perspectives |
| Aug 23 | 3 PM | Collaborate with Enterprise Data |
| Aug 25 | 12 PM | Data Automation with Gateways and APIs |
| Aug 28 | 3 PM | Create and Manage Your Dataset |
| Aug 30 | 3 PM | Shape & Join Data in the Exploration Canvas |
| Sep 1 | 3 PM | Tell a Story with Perspectives |
View on demand training & access the training portal (Log-in Required).
Data Assets
Browse the catalog on data.iowa.gov. The catalog allows for searching, filtering, and sorting of available data assets, which is important as the number of assets available to the public continues to grow. Learn how to use the catalog.
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