The state’s new data hub aims to serve as a centralized place for leaders to share information to support both policymakers and the public. It will initially display dashboards leveraging data provided by the North Dakota Department of Commerce’s State Data Center but going forward, multiple state agencies will provide data and resources. One goal of having this data centralized is to offer insight into “demographics, economic development, and socioeconomic factors,” the state said Wednesday in announcing the hub’s launch.
“The State Data Hub enables agencies to collaborate with the use of trusted data — essential to creating a government that is not just efficient, but also responsive to the needs of its citizens,” North Dakota Information Technology’s (NDIT) Chief Data Officer Kim Weis said in a statement.
The hub includes data sorted by eight topic categories such as housing, tourism, workforce and education. There are also several dashboards displaying data by geography, with the option to view it by legislative district or by county. The hub also connects people to the North Dakota GIS Hub, a longstanding source of information about the state.
Notably, the hub includes a report of population projections for the state between 2020 and 2050, prepared by the State Data Center.
Data is an important tool to drive the state decision-making process. The state’s new CIO, Corey Mock, is leveraging his policy expertise from his experience in the state legislature to lead NDIT, the office that led the State Data Hub initiative. Mock has said that having worked on public policy helped shape his perspective on how the state can better manage and protect data. Former state CIO Greg Hoffman also highlighted the role of data and related governance in serving residents, underlining data as the foundation for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
