Data & Innovation
Who We Are: Data & Innovation Leaders, Nurturers, and Doers
We are a central City resource aiming to further data-informed decisions by helping partners take full advantage of a top strategic asset – data.
As leaders, we help guide City data governance and stakeholder convenings.
As nurturers, we are data cheerleaders, helping create a cultural and technological environment for data work and use of all kinds to flourish.
As doers, we act as in-house consultants, taking on some of the City’s most complex issues through analysis, design, and innovation.
Our Approach: Lead by Doing
We focus on quantitative data analytics and qualitative human-centered design and innovation, with an emphasis on equity.
We are dedicated staff, with relational skills, technical chops, and institutional knowledge. We create real results, prototyping quickly and iterating often. We prize partner collaboration and relationships.
We are part of the Finance Department’s Budget and Program Evaluation Section. Working with the only annual City-wide planning and review process – the budget – gives us an unbeatable view of needs.
Featured Projects & Resources
- Track Madison’s community and economic recovery with our COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard
- Alcohol Density Study: report (link to be added) and storymap
- Metro Transit Staffing Study (link to be added)
- City Open Data Portal
Our History
This team began in 2015 with a newly created position, the Data Projects Coordinator. This was envisioned in the 2013 Racial Equity and Social Justice resolution as part of a move toward using data to better understand resident needs and impacts.
Since then, the Finance Department has invested in scaling up the team’s capacity by reallocating two existing positions as analysts, and adding an internship program. We also participate in the Bloomberg Innovation Team track and the What Works Cities data-informed governance initiative.