Policy & Practice August 2018

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strategies policymakers have used to successfully overcome those challenges. Governments Are Using Data More Effectively Governments already collect a large amount of adminis- trative data, mostly for routine reporting and compliance purposes. And states have recently begun finding more advanced and useful ways of leveraging these data to better allocate resources, measure success, and improve the efficiency of government-administered programs. For example, during Hurricane Harvey last September, Texas saved millions of dollars—and, potentially, thousands of lives—because the state had built sophisticated new data

very day, human services professionals in the public sector make complex policy decisions that affect citizens, such as how to improve service delivery, allocate budget dollars, and respond to crises. Increasingly, they use insights gleaned from massive amounts of data—originally collected by governments for reporting purposes—to make strategic decisions. Researchers at The Pew Charitable Trusts 1 published a report in February 2018 examining how state governments are taking advantage of data analytics to improve outcomes for their citizens. Based on interviews with more than 350 officials in all 50 states, the report, “How States Use Data to Inform Decisions,” 2 also describes the biggest chal- lenges agencies face in using data effectively and offers

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