The CTDC Toolkit | Sustaining the Gain
Tools for maintaining your civic tech and data ecosystem
The Civic Tech and Data Collaborative Toolkit — compiled by Living Cities, the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership and Code for America — is a collection of resources and tools for anyone interested in unleashing the power of local data and civic technology in their community. We’ve divided the tools into five categories: Ingredients of a civic tech collaborative, engaging low income residents, mobilizing collective action, and resourcing collaboratives, and sustaining the gain.
Connecting to Change the World
Peter Plastrik, Madeleine Taylor, John Cleveland, 2014
https://www.amazon.com/Connecting-Change-World-Harnessing-Networks/dp/1610915321
Social entrepreneurs, community-minded leaders, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropists now recognize that to achieve greater impact they must adopt a network-centric approach to solving difficult problems. Few resources offer easily understandable, field-tested information on how to form and manage social-impact networks. Drawn from the authors’ deep experience with more than 30 successful network projects, Connecting to Change the World provides the frameworks, practical advice, case studies, and expert knowledge needed to build better performing networks. Use this guide to help create collaborative solutions to tackle the most difficult challenges you and your partners face.
Results-Based Accountability: The Road to Better Results
Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2012
http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-RBAraodtobetterresults-2012.pdf
Building capacity means improving the ability of an organization to produce a desired outcome repeatedly, at a consistent level of desired quality, over time. This report tells the story of funders and nonprofits using capacity building more effectively to improve results for children and families living in areas of concentrated poverty. Learn how you can employ Results-Based Accountability to improve your organization’s performance, transform culture, and achieve better results.
Monitoring Impact: Performance Management for Local Data Intermediaries
Jake Cowan, G. Thomas Kingsley; NNIP, 2015
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/monitoring-impact-performance-management-local-data-intermediaries
How do data intermediaries know their work is making a difference? Answering this question calls for carefully defining and measuring performance and communicating answers to funders and constituents. This guidebook introduces ideas about measuring impact across the different types of activities data intermediaries perform. It offers suggestions for an overall process of performance management and describes techniques for documenting and measuring the performance of data intermediary work.
So You Want to Start a Data Academy…
Eric Reese; GovEx, 2017
https://govex.jhu.edu/wiki/start-data-academy/
Data can be powerful. But to really harness your data, you need people skilled in analysis, data management, and data-informed decision-making. Many cities are taking that lesson to heart and launching their own data academies to help employees learn to use data better. These tips will help ensure that you engage in the careful planning and execution necessary to launch your own data academy and see desired results.
Ways to Train Your City to Use Data
Eric Reese; GovEx, 2016
https://govex.jhu.edu/wiki/3-ways-train-city-use-data/
To make raw data useful, people need skills and tools to understand it, analyze it, and act upon it effectively. There are many ways government employees can be trained in data usage, from traditional classes, to city run “academies,” to a DIY model. This blog provides an overview of these three approaches to help you find the right training for your city.
Data Culture Project
MIT Center for Civic Media and Engagement Lab, 2018
https://databasic.io/en/culture/
Many organizations struggle to build their employees’ capacity to work with data. Use the free tools and activities in this hands-on learning program to introduce your staff to working with data and kickstart your data culture.
NNIP Data and Tech Training Catalog
NNIP/Urban Institute, 2016
https://www.neighborhoodindicators.org/data-tech/training
This catalog highlights examples of training courses from around the country that advance data and technology literacy. It includes descriptions and downloadable materials for primarily in-person trainings that have been conducted by local data intermediaries, nonprofits, universities, government agencies, and others. NNIP also published two resource documents — a persuasive brief on the importance of training and a guide to community data and tech training.
Resources for Keeping Up with Innovations
The data and tech fields are fast-paced and require continuous learning to stay abreast of frequently emerging new practices and resources. This entails meeting people outside of one’s own community to engage in national conversations and learn from peers in other places.
This can be done virtually by monitoring news from sources like:
- Governing Magazine (@GOVERNING)
- GovLab (@gov_lab)
- Data-Smart Cities (@DataSmartCities)
- What Works Cities (What Works Cities)
- Center for Government Excellence (@gov_ex)
- Sunlight Foundation (@sunfoundation)
- Living Cities (Living Cities)
- Code for America (@codeforamerica)
- National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP HQ)
Or through in-person gatherings hosted by national organizations such as:
- Summit on Government Performance and Innovation
- Code for America Brigade Congress
- Code for America Summit
- PolicyLink’s Equity Summit
Local communities should also hold their own events to catalyze and share local innovations.
Explore the rest of the CTDC Toolkit:
