IJPDS International Journal of Population Data Science

The team at Iowa’s Integrated Data System for Decision-Making has created a solution to help decision-makers at state and local levels identify community needs and service use patterns. Where data have become more readily available across the globe from a multitude of sources, it is often difficult for local executives and public service leaders to find what they need in an easy-to-use format and all in one place. The IA Data Drive solves this by bringing disparate sources together, with a focus on information programs routinely used.

A recently published article in the International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS) showcases the development of this tool, using a participatory approach with community partners to ensure the information being generated would be most useful.

Dr. Rouse explains the impetus for creating the IA Data Drive. “Our partners want to use data, but when they need it for strategic planning once or twice a year, finding the most reliable or up to date resources and knowing how to pull the right information is cumbersome and time consuming. We built the IA Data Drive to streamline this for them, bring all the data sources they regularly use together in one place and standardize the dashboards so they are easier to use.”

Read more about this new tool and how the team worked in partnership with state and community leaders to build it to best meet the needs of important decision makers.

 

Click here to read the full article

Associate Professor Heather Rouse, Director, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, USA

Rouse, H., Zanti, S., Kim, H., Dorius, C., Abraham, W. and Chighladze, G. (2025) “Building the Iowa Data Drive: A Participatory Approach to Developing Early Childhood Indicators for State and Local Policymaking”, International Journal of Population Data Science, 10(3). doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v10i3.2969.