The Role of Data in Times of Crisis and Recovery

At the October 2017 NNIP Partner's Meeting, Partners from New Orleans, Baltimore and Houston shared how they contributed to response and recovery efforts when their cities faced natural disasters and social upheaval and offered lessons for other Partners.

In NNIP’s model for local data intermediaries, a trusted organization builds a set of multi-topic data over time and nurtures ongoing relationships with local nonprofits and government agencies through technical assistance on using data for better decisions. Most of the services that NNIP Partners provide operate on longer-term time schedules, but natural disasters or social upheavals can shift the nature and pace of a Partner’s data services. In New Orleans, Baltimore and Houston, NNIP Partners were already in place to leverage their existing data and relationships to meet new types of information needs and serve additional audiences.