>>PIONEER VALLEY DATA IS UP AND RUNNING.
THE WEBSITE IS DESIGNED TO BE A USER-FRIENDING TOOL TO EXAMINE
AND ASSESS A WIDE RANGE OF REGIONAL METRICS ON EDUCATION,
LABOR, EMPLOYMENT, CIVICS AND MORE.
THE INFORMATION DEPARTED BY THE PIONEER VALLEY PLANNING
COMMISSION IS SEARCHABLE, CUSTOMIZABLE AND FREELY
AVAILABLE.
I SPOKE WITH KATIE ZOBEL, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS AND MOLLY
GOREN-WATTS, PRINCIPAL PLANNER OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION ABOUT
THE DETAILS.
>> THE PIONEER PLANNING COMMISSION MANAGES A REGIONAL
CENTER THAT HAS BEEN A HOME FOR COLLECTING DATA FROM A LOT OF
DIFFERENT SOURCES AND HELPING OUR COMMUNITIES, NONPROFITS,
FOUNDATIONS WITH HAVING ACCESS TO DATA ABOUT THE REGION NO ONE
CENTRAL PLACE PEOPLE CALL US FOR DATA, FOR STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT,
EVALUATION.
AND AS TECHNOLOGY HAS EVOLVED, WE'VE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT
HOW TO MAKE THAT DATA BETTER ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC AND
GIVE THEM MORE WAYS THEY CAN ACTUALLY MANIPULATE THE DATA AND
LOOK AT THE DATA AND HAVE IT BE USEFUL INFORMATION.
>> SUPER SLICK, VERY USER-FRIENDING WEBSITE, I HAVE
TO SAY AND AS A JOURNALIST, I APPRECIATE HAVING A DATA PORTAL
THAT'S REALLY USER-FRIENDLY BECAUSE AS YOU'RE BOBBLING
AROUND ON CENSUS DATA, SOMETIMES IT'S HARD TO INTERRUPT OR
UNDERSTAND.
ALSO, THE PIE GUY, HE'S SUPER CUTE.
>> WE WERE EXCITED ABOUT THAT IDEA.
>> THAT WAS A FUN PLAY ON PIONEER VALLEY, PIE --
>> PIE CHARTS AND WE'RE DATA GEEKS.
>> ALL SORTS OF NERDY JOKES HERE.
>> EXACTLY, BUT WE WANTED TO MAKE IT FUN AND ACCESSIBLE AND
MAKE IT SEEM ANYBODY CAN USE DATA AND ACCESS THIS AND DO
SOMETHING INTERESTING WITH IT.
>> FOR YOUR PART, THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE
WORKING WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT ENTITIES ACROSS THE REGION.
BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU HEARD THE IDEA THE PIONEER PLANNING
COMMISSION WAS LAUNCHING THIS NEW SITE?
>> WE WERE THRILLED TO BE PARTNERS WITH THEM.
WE HAVE BEEN PARTNERS ALONG WITH MANY OTHER FUNDERS ON THE STATE
OF THE PEOPLE REPORT THAT THEY'VE BEEN PUTTING OUT EACH
TIME THE CENSUS DATA WAS AVAILABLE.
AND THAT IS ACTUALLY WHEN IT STARTED, THE FIRST CONVERSATION,
AROUND PRODUCING THIS HUGE REPORT WHICH IS IN A BOOK FORMAT
IN 2011, SOMETHING LIKE THAT, 2012.
AND WE KEPT THINKING, THIS IS TERRIFIC, BUT IT'S NOT
ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE IN REAL-TIME WITH UPDATED
INFORMATION AND SO, A NUMBER OF VENDORS WERE GETTING TOGETHER
AND WE WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PVCP ON A NUMBER OF PROJECTS AND
SAID, OK, WE HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS.
IT TOOK A FEW YEARS OF CONVERSATIONS BUT THANKS TO THE
PIONEER PLANNING COMMISSION AND THE OTHERS YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING
WITH PEOPLE PROVIDING AND THINKING ABOUT DATA FOR ALL OF
US.
AS A COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE ENTIRE
VALLEY AND TO THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
SO JOURNALISTS, INDIVIDUALS, THE PUBLIC, AS WELL AS THE
NON-FOR-PROFIT SECTOR ALL OF US NEED ACCESS TO DATA.
>> IT'S ALL ONLINE AND FREELY AVAILABLE.
NOT LIKE YOU HAVE TO PAY A SUBSCRIPTION OR HAVE A COUPON
CODE OR A PASSWORD TO ACCESS THE DATA.
YOU JUST GO, BROWSE, GRAB EITHER BY EITHER TOPIC, INFORMATION,
DATA SET.
SO LOTS OF DIFFERENT WAYS YOU CAN LOOK AT THE DATA.
WHERE DID YOU PULL FROM?
I MEAN, I IMAGINE THE CENSUS BUREAU GAVE YOU A LOT OF THE
INFORMATION BUT WHERE ELSE DID YOU PULL FROM?
>> WE GET A LOT OF DATA FROM THE CENSUS BUREAU, THE BUREAU OF
LABOR STATISTICS, STATE EXECUTIVE OFFICES OF DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION AND EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF LABOR WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT, EPA.
WE ALSO HAVE LOCAL DATA SOURCES THAT WE WORK WITH LOCAL
ORGANIZATIONS TO DEVELOP AND TRACK.
>> SO WHEN YOU RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THIS CONCEPT TO THE
PUBLIC, YOU DID SO IN A FUN WAY, AGAIN, USING THAT PIE, SO PEOPLE
GOT SERVED PIE.
BUT ALSO, YOU HAD A GAME SHOW.
SO I'LL RIP OFF THAT IDEA AND BE COMPLETELY UPFRONT AND PLAY THAT
HERE.
SO I WILL ASK A FEW QUESTIONS AND WE'LL SEE WHAT THE ANSWERS
ARE.
SO ONE OF THE QUESTIONS, WHICH OF THESE COMMUNITIES IN THE
PIONEER VALLEY HAD THE HIGHEST VOTER TURN-OUT RATE IN THE 2016
ELECTION?
REGISTER VOTERS WHO TURNED IN BALLOTS.
WAS IT HADLY, NORTH HAMPTON, LYDEN OR MOUNT GOMEREY.
I KNOW YOU KNOW THAT NOW BUT BEFORE YOU KNEW THE ANSWER, WHAT
DID YOU THINK IT WAS?
>> I THINK MY ANSWER WAS NORTHAMPTON.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE WHOLE AUDIENCE WAS SAYING.
I WASN'T PRIVY TO THE ANSWERS BUT I THOUGHT I BET YOU THE
SMALL TOWN ENGAGED WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE.
>> THE ANSWER IS LYDON, ALMOST 88%.
>> THAT'S A GOOD TURN-OUT.
>> SO I THINK THAT'S A GOOD PLACE TO SAY, THE DATA ISN'T
ALWAYS WHAT YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE.
>> EXACTLY.
AND THAT WAS ONE OF POINTS IN HAVING THIS KIND OF GAME SHOW,
TO SHOW THESE AREN'T QUESTIONS THAT YOU SHOULD AUTOMATICALLY
KNOW THE ANSWER TO.
THERE ARE FACTS AND WE DON'T HAVE THEM ALL IN OUR HEAD AND WE
NEED A GOOD RESOURCE TO BE ABLE TO GO FIND THOSE ANSWERS.
>> ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY TO CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS THAT EACH
OF US MIGHT HAVE ABOUT A REGION, A PARTICULAR COMMUNITY, ET
CETERA.
OK, LET'S MOVE ON.
ANOTHER QUESTION, WHICH OF THESE COMMUNITIES -- I WANT TO BE A
GAMESHOW HOST -- WHICH OF THESE COMMUNITIES IN THE PIONEER
VALLEY HAD THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF FOREIGN-BORN
RESIDENTS?
WAS IT WEST SPRINGFIELD, SUNDERLAND OR HOLYOKE?
>> THIS IS A GREAT CHALLENGE BECAUSE NOBODY IN THE AUDIENCE
AND NONE OF THE PLAYERS COULD GUESS IT AND I DIDN'T KNOW IT
WAS SUNDERLAND WITH 18%.
>> AGAIN, ONE OF THOSE SMALL COMMUNITIES STANDING OUT.
>> OUT OF 69 CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE REGION, WHO WOULD HAVE
THOUGHT IT WAS SUNDERLAND?
>> THAT WAS NOT MY GUESS.
>> THAT'S WHY WE NEED DATA AND ACCESS TO IT.
ONE OF THE THINGS TO BRING ULTIMATE OUT,
WE'RE LAUNCHING THIS TOGETHER AND THIS IS THE STARTING POINT.
SO ONE EVER THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO LET PEOPLE KNOW IS
GOING ON THE SITE AND THEN GIVING US FEEDBACK.
THERE'S ACTUALLY A TOOL ON SITE TO GIVE FEEDBACK SO THAT WE CAN
CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE AND GATHER THE BEST DATA THAT BE CAN FOR
THIS REGION.
WE NEED THAT ACCESS.
>> AND HOW OFTEN WILL THAT DATA BE UPDATED?
BECAUSE SOME OF IT IS REALLY, REALLY TIMELY DATA.
>> SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE UPDATING ALL OF THAT DATA, BASICALLILY ON
AN ANNUAL BASIS BASED ON THE DATA IN THERE IS ANNUAL DATA.
BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE DIFFERENT UPDATES THAT HAPPEN
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR BASED ON WHERE IT COMES FROM.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP IT AS FRESH AS IT CAN BE AND THERE IS
CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY WE MIGHT HAVE QUARTERLY OR MONTHLY DATA
FROM OTHER SOURCES AS WELL.
>> I NOTICED NOSING AROUND ON THE SITE, THERE'S A TERMS OF USE
AN AGREEMENT.
IS THAT BECAUSE WHEN YOU SELECT THAT, WILL PIONEER VALLEY
PLANNING COMMISSION BE TRACKING WHAT IS BEING RESEARCHED SO THAT
YOU KNOW OR HAVE A SENSE OF IT?
>> WE WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
RIGHT NOW, WE DON'T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO SEE EXACTLY WHICH
DATA SETS ARE PEOPLE DOWNLOADING.
WE'RE JUST TRACKING HOW MUCH PEOPLE ARE USING IT.
BUT THE REAL PURPOSE OF THAT IS WE WANT EVERYBODY TO BE ABLE TO
ACCESS AND USE THIS DATA FOR WHATEVER PURPOSES THEY WOULD
LIKE TO USE IT FOR AND WE ALSO WANT TO MAKE CLEAR THAT WE'RE
PROVIDING THE DATA AND WHATEVER PEOPLE DO WITH IT IS UP TO THEM
AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY.
>> SO TO THE POINT ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE DO WITH IT, YOU CAN MAKE
MAPS, DIFFERENT PRESENTATION TOOLS.
THAT SEEMS PRETTY COMPLICATED AND HOW WAS THAT ELEMENT ADDED
TO THE SITE?
>> ACTUALLY, IT'S USING ONE SOFTWARE THAT WAS REALLY
EFFECTIVE FOR THIS PURPOSE, TABLO SO PEOPLE CAN DOWNLOAD
IMAGES OF THE MAPS AND GRAPHS.
THEY CAN MAKE THEIR OWN CUSTOMIZED GRAPHS.
THEY CAN SHARE IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND PUT THOSE IMAGES INTO
THEIR OWN PRESENTATION OR EMAIL IT TO SOMEONE.
SO WE JUST WANTED TO MAKE IT AS USEABLE AS POSSIBLE, THAT PEOPLE
DIDN'T HAVE TO HAVE THEIR OWN TECHNICAL SKILLS AND IT LOOKS
NICE AND HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH DATA WITH OTHER PEOPLE.