Central Massachusetts DataCommon Website Goes “Live”,

Receives Phase-2 Funding from Greater Worcester Community Foundation and The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts

[Worcester, Massachusetts] The Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) is pleased to announce that the Central Massachusetts DataCommon and Indicators Project, an interactive, web-based data mapping and visualization tool packed with information on topics from health care and education to economic development and transportation, has completed Phase 1 development. Completion of Phase 1 has resulted in the DataCommon website and database went live on Friday, January 16, 2015.  The DataCommon site can be viewed at:

http://centralmass.datacommon.org.

The project is entering Phase-2 development having received another year of generous funding from Greater Worcester Community Foundation and The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts CMRPC is grateful for the continued support of these sponsors and is continuing to seeking funding for the remainder of Phase 2 activities. Larry Adams, CMRPC’s Executive Director, stated: “We’re thrilled that our DataCommon accomplishments have engendered the Foundations’ continued confidence. Because the DataCommon has the potential to improve every social service and health agency in the Region, we consider this is an essential project. This generous support enables us to take the project to the next level.”

DataCommon is poised to put hundreds of data layers at the fingertips of health care agencies and institutions, public officials, non-profits, grant-makers, residents, colleges and universities – literally anyone and everyone. As Glenn Eaton, Executive Director of the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission notes, “Professionals from multiple sectors, economic development, local government administration, and healthcare will have 24/7/365 access to data that is so critical to developing strategies addressing local community needs.”  DataCommon allows users to analyze data and access preexisting visualizations or create their own visualizations to meet their unique needs. The project has the potential to improve understanding of local trends, help service providers identify populations and areas disproportionately affected by cross-sector conditions, promote economic development, and bring increased effectiveness and equity to populations and communities throughout Central Massachusetts.

A member of the project Advisory Committee, Tim McGourthy of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau views the DataCommon and Indicators as “critical resource[s],” explaining they will allow the Research Bureau and other organizations “to access data more quickly and efficiently, portray data more easily and in a compelling format, and perform complex analyses to inform our policy recommendations.”