Welcome!
Welcome to the website of the Community Data Collaborative of Sarasota County. We are a growing network of
people from various local neighborhoods and institutions throughout Sarasota County, coming together on a regular basis to develop user-friendly processes, resources and technologies that make it possible for everyone in Sarasota County to effectively use "community data for community change." The Collaborative includes neighbors from North Port, Sarasota, Venice, and other areas throughout the county, and institutions including the school district, housing, economic development, health and human services, environmental services, the sheriff’s department, city and county government, and the media. Everyone who lives and works in Sarasota County and believes in developing open data resources for the sake of well-informed community decision-making and action is welcome to get involved.
people from various local neighborhoods and institutions throughout Sarasota County, coming together on a regular basis to develop user-friendly processes, resources and technologies that make it possible for everyone in Sarasota County to effectively use "community data for community change." The Collaborative includes neighbors from North Port, Sarasota, Venice, and other areas throughout the county, and institutions including the school district, housing, economic development, health and human services, environmental services, the sheriff’s department, city and county government, and the media. Everyone who lives and works in Sarasota County and believes in developing open data resources for the sake of well-informed community decision-making and action is welcome to get involved.
WHY WE FORMED A COMMUNITY DATA COLLABORATIVE:
In 2001 the community of Sarasota County started investing in community data efforts in a big way in the form of Community Report Cards. Over the course of the next decade, six of these Report Cards were created, and they included over 150 indicators of community well-being across a variety of domains: indicators of social well-being, civic involvement, learning/education, health, culture/recreation, economic vitality, transportation, and the built/natural environment. There also have been report cards generated by various local agencies/networks about particular dimensions of well-being such as health, mental health, and economics.
What many have discovered (in this community and elsewhere) is that the data included in traditional community report cards are too general and too infrequent to well-inform local community decision-making. Most indicators have been tracked at the whole-county scale, which makes it possible to compare the county to other counties in the state or country, but does not clarify within-county patterns. Also, data points tend to be reported annually, which makes it possible to track trends over decades, but is not very helpful in trying to navigate local community change in more real-time ways. Finally, data are typically organized according to the boundary systems of professionals (e.g. data by zip codes, voting or police precincts, and school attendance zones), rather than by neighborhood boundaries. As such, the data are not as relevant to how we live in relation to one another as fellow community members.
A growing number and diversity of people have come to realize that we need OPEN data and data resources as a community, meaning they are accessible, connected, transparent and interactive, enabling truly democratic deliberation, in which everyone can participate. Thanks to Brad Schuette of the City of North Port for sharing this graphic, which elegantly communicates the philosophy of the Community Data Collaborative: