CIVIC-PG Track B: Understanding Native American Tribal Residents Needs through Better Data and Query Systems

小川印第安人小特拉弗斯湾乐队(LTBB)政府目前正在处理拼凑而成的数据孤岛，这限制了他们识别和满足居民需求的能力。该项目定义了一个中央“记录数据库”，其中包含关于LTBB居民及其社区的一套全面的指标，如他们的人口、健康、教育、经济、自然环境、就业、住房、公共安全和交通。除了标准的社区指标外，该数据库还包括部落知识，并包括部落语言中的关键术语。该项目是支持部落国家努力制定数据战略和数据主权的重要组成部分。该项目纳入了该数据库设计方面的技术进步，包括：整合差异较大的现有数据集；插入缺失的值；解决数据公平问题，利用该数据库为今后的数据收集战略提供信息，并使该数据库便于多个部门的部落政府雇员和具有不同技术水平的人员使用。数据收集是昂贵的，因此必须谨慎使用。该项目使用集成和内插的智能组合，以最大限度地减少对新数据收集的需求。它建立在团队过去在数据公平方面的工作基础上，以确保获得的结果是公平的。在过去的研究中，有许多最新的技术进步促进了数据的收集、集成和分析。然而，这样的进步通常涉及数据驱动的决策过程的一个组成部分，将多个这样的进步集成到一个数据项目中可能是具有挑战性的，因为在大多数学术研究中，许多现实生活中的“皱纹”都被假定为没有。该项目确定并解决了学术研究环境中经常遗漏的关键考虑因素，从而通过在具有高社会价值的情景中的实际部署来提高研究的普适性。在该项目的第二阶段，该小组将建立一个记录数据库，以及易于使用的查询设施。由此产生的记录数据库将推动部落政府的战略方向，包括通过更有针对性地努力寻找和分配资源，以及通过更好地识别有未得到满足的需求的公民。该项目是对公民创新挑战计划的回应-轨道B-弥合基本资源与服务和社区需求之间的差距-是NSF、国土安全部和能源部的合作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBB) administration currently works with a patchwork of data silos that limits their ability to identify and address the needs of their residents. This project defines a central “database of record” containing a comprehensive set of indicators about LTBB residents and their community, such as their demographics, health, education, the economy, the natural environment, employment, housing, public safety and transportation. The database incorporates tribal knowledge in addition to standard community indicators, and includes key terms from the tribal language. This project is an important component of supporting tribal nations’ effort to develop data strategies and data sovereignty. The project incorporates technical advances in the design of this database, including: integrating existing data sets with large variations; interpolating missing values; addressing data equity, using this database to inform future data collection strategies, and making the database easy to use by tribal government employees in multiple departments and with varying levels of technical skills. Data collection is expensive, and hence must be used sparingly. This project uses a smart mix of integration and interpolation to minimize the need for fresh data collection. It builds upon the team's past work on data equity to ensure that the results obtained are equitable. In past research, there have been many recent technical advances that facilitate collecting, integrating, and analyzing data. Nevertheless, such advances often address one component of the data-driven decision making process, and integrating multiple such advances into a data project can be challenging because of the many real-life “wrinkles” that get assumed away in most academic research. This project identifies and addresses key considerations that are often missing in an academic research environment, and thus advances research generalizability through real-life deployment in a scenario with high social value. In Stage 2 of this project, the team will build a database of record, along with query facilities that are easy to use. The resulting database of record will drive the strategic direction of the tribal government, including through better targeted effort in seeking and allocating resources, and through better identifying citizens with unmet needs.This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program—Track B. Bridging the gap between essential resources and services & community needs—and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.