A Practical Guide to Analytics for Governments

Analytics can make government work better this book shows you how A Practical Guide to Analytics for Governments provides demonstrations of real-world analytics applications for legislators, policy-makers, and support staff at the federal, state, and local levels.

Legislators, agency leaders, and support staff at federal, state, and local levels have unprecedented access to information and data on citizens. Advances in analytics, modeling, machine learning, reporting, and other technologies give civic leaders the power to better understand how government affects citizenry at every one of life’s touchpoints, from childhood into adulthood. A Practical Guide to Analytics for Governments shines a light on the best practices used by public service professionals at every level who are making better decisions through analytics.

From public health and child well-being to transportation and fraud fighting, this immediately useful guide shows how analytics are already transforming the way government works. Each one of the exceptional contributors—including a teacher, councilwoman, transportation secretary, doctor, criminal justice expert, and others—shares the strategies and techniques that can improve results with informed decisions.

Analytics can take the guesswork out of government programs and enable government leaders to enhance quality of life for citizens. This single resource describes how data and analytics can help:

• Social services be proactive in assisting youth and families by identifying the most at-risk children, as well as address internal concerns such as high turnover and caseworker safety
• Public health and substance abuse workers customize care and interventions, and combat the opioid epidemic from the abuser and provider sides
• City leaders turn their municipalities into “smart cities” by choosing the right projects that support a long-term strategy
• Public leaders craft a step-by-step plan to create a government data analytics center to serve as a streamlined, more cost-effective platform for data-driven solutions

The answers to better governance are out there, and A Practical Guide to Analytics for Governments shows you how to find them in the data.

Analytics can make government work better—this book shows you how

A Practical Guide to Analytics for Governments provides demonstrations of real-world analytics applications for legislators, policy-makers, and support staff at the federal, state, and local levels. Big data and analytics are transforming industries across the board, and government can reap many of those same benefits by applying analytics to processes and programs already in place. From healthcare delivery and child well-being, to crime and program fraud, analytics can—in fact, already does—transform the way government works. This book shows you how analytics can be implemented in your own milieu: What is the downstream impact of new legislation? How can we make programs more efficient? Is it possible to predict policy outcomes without analytics? How do I get started building analytics into my government organization? The answers are all here, with accessible explanations and useful advice from an expert in the field.

Analytics allows you to mine your data to create a holistic picture of your constituents; this model helps you tailor programs, fine-tune legislation, and serve the populace more effectively. This book walks you through analytics as applied to government, and shows you how to reap Big data's benefits at whatever level necessary.

• Learn how analytics is already transforming government service delivery
• Delve into the digital healthcare revolution
• Use analytics to improve education, juvenile justice, and other child-focused areas
• Apply analytics to transportation, criminal justice, fraud, and much more

Legislators and policy makers have plenty of great ideas—but how do they put those ideas into play? Analytics can play a crucial role in getting the job done well. A Practical Guide to Analytics for Governments provides advice, perspective, and real-world guidance for public servants everywhere.