2015 DSSG Data Fest: Team Labor

Summary

The video script addresses unemployment disparities within the Chicago area, highlighting the need for real-time, locally relevant data to aid job seekers. Organizations like City Colleges of Chicago and Bet on New Life are striving to prepare individuals for the evolving economy. The script proposes a solution involving policy support, data sharing agreements, and the creation of a real-time business indicator and labor dynamics database. This infrastructure aims to provide developers with access to integrated data via API, enabling applications that can enhance labor market efficiency.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Unemployment is a national issue but starts as a local one, varying greatly across different areas within a city like Chicago.
• 🗺️ The map of Chicago shows a stark contrast in unemployment rates, with green areas having less than 4% unemployment and red areas having more than 15%.
• 🚸 Local barriers to employment include transportation costs and lack of information about job availability and skills required by employers.
• 🏫 Organizations like City Colleges of Chicago and Bet on New Life are actively preparing individuals for the changing economy.
• 📊 The data needed by these organizations is often outdated, not locally relevant, and scattered across various sources.
• 🔍 The goal for the summer is to address these data issues by making it real-time, locally relevant, integrated, and standardized.
• 🏛️ Obtaining policy support and data-sharing agreements from government and private companies is a crucial first step.
• 💡 An infrastructure called 'Rebuild Real Time Business Indicator and Labor Dynamic Database' is proposed to integrate data from multiple sources.
• 🛠️ Data will be passed through an analytics engine to create a public database accessible via API for developers to use.
• 📈 An application has been built to display employment trends across industries in the Chicagoland area, aiming to improve labor market efficiency.

Q & A

What is the main issue addressed in the Chicago area regarding unemployment?

The main issue is the wide variation in unemployment rates across different areas within the Chicago area, with some regions having unemployment rates as high as over 15%.

What are the local barriers preventing people from obtaining quality work in the Chicago area?

Local barriers include transportation costs and lack of information about available jobs and the skills employers are seeking.

Which organizations are mentioned as working to prepare individuals for the changing economy in Chicago?

City Colleges of Chicago and Bethel New Life, a vocational training program located on the West Side of Chicago, are mentioned.

What are the three major problems with the data that organizations need to address unemployment issues?

The data is outdated, not locally relevant, and scattered across multiple sources.

What is the proposed solution to the data problems mentioned in the script?

The proposed solution is to make the data real-time, locally relevant, integrated, and standardized.

How do they plan to obtain the necessary data for their solution?

By obtaining policy support from various levels of government, data-sharing agreements with private companies, and policy implementation partners with nonprofit organizations.

What is the name of the infrastructure they plan to build to integrate data?

The infrastructure is called 'Rebuild Real Time Business Indicator and Labor Dynamic Database'.

How will developers be able to access the integrated data?

Developers can access the integrated data via an API that connects to the public database.

What application was built to demonstrate the potential of the new infrastructure?

An interactive map application was built that shows employment trends across time, broken down by industries, for a single census tract.

What is the ultimate goal of the infrastructure and applications built on top of it?

The ultimate goal is to improve labor market efficiency and empower the next generation workforce.

What type of data does the interactive map rely on to show employment trends?

The interactive map relies on exhaustive and administrative level data.