LED BY: Eric Jackson, Digital Services Architect, City of Asheville DESCRIPTION: We often prefer to focus on the more upbeat uses of open data, like powering entrepreneurship, informing the public, and improving government services. But the data that garner the most interest can also be data that touch on deep divisions in our communities: issues of policing, of economic and racial disparity, and of the best uses of our scarce resources. Putting the data out there invites the community to use it to challenge what government is doing.
We faced such challenges in Asheville in 2017, with data-centered discussions of arrests of homeless members of our community and racial disparities in traffic stops. Code for Asheville members were in the thick of it, both as members of the community and members of City staff. In this session, we’ll talk about that experience and then lead a conversation on ways to turn difficult discussions about difficult data into constructive engagement that helps our communities move forward.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Government staff, community activists, and brigade members working in areas where data-driven conversation is both needed and challenging (e.g., policing, economic development, housing, transportation, etc.)
