Community Information Now

COMMUNITY INFORMATION NOW (CINOW) PROVIDES DATA, TOOLS, ANALYSIS, AND TRAINING TO INFORM DECISIONS TO IMPROVE TEXAS COMMUNITIES.

DATA INTEGRATION, ANALYSIS, VISUALIZATION, AND TRAINING FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC:THROUGH FREE ONLINE TOOLS AND PRINT MEDIA, COMMUNITY INFORMATION NOW (CINOW) MAKES LOCAL DATA AND HELP UNDERSTANDING AND USING THAT DATA WIDELY AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. CINOW EXPANDS PUBLIC ACCESS TO DATA THROUGH ITS VIZ-A-LYZER AND OTHER DATA TOOLS, COMMUNITY ASSESSMENTS AND OTHER REPORTS, DATA DASHBOARDS AND INDICATOR PROJECTS, DATA LITERACY RESOURCES, AND ITS CURATED DATA EXPLORER WEBSITE THAT HELPS PEOPLE FIND TRUSTWORTHY DATA PUBLISHED BY OTHERS. CINOW DEVELOPS LOCAL DATA TOOLS AND CONTENT TAILORED TO PUBLIC USERS OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL. THE DATA CONTENT ITSELF COVERS A WIDE VARIETY OF ISSUES LIKE DEMOGRAPHICS, INCOME AND POVERTY, EDUCATION, HEALTH, HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, AND NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION.

DATA INTEGRATION, ANALYSIS, AND/OR VISUALIZATION FOR TARGETED PARTNER NEEDS:COMMUNITY INFORMATION NOW (CINOW) PROVIDES MISSION-FOCUSED DATA SERVICES TO LOCAL NONPROFITS, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, AND COLLABORATIONS TO IMPROVE THEIR ABILITY TO SERVE THE PUBLIC GOOD. KEY SERVICES INCLUDE:1. DATA SUPPORT TO COLLABORATIVE AND COLLECTIVE IMPACT INITIATIVES, SUCH AS STAFFING RESULTS-BASED ACCOUNTABILITY AND OUTCOME-FOCUSED PLANNING PROCESSES; DEVELOPING OUTCOMES AND INDICATORS; IDENTIFYING APPORPRIATE DATA SOURCES; ANALYZING, MAPPING, AND OTHERWISE VISUALIZING THE DATA; AND ASSISTING THE PARTNERS IN UNERSTANDING AND USING THE DATA. 2. EVALUATION AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT, INCLUDING DEVELOPING EVALUATION PLANS AND PROGRESS METRICS; ACCESSSING APPROPRIATE DATA SOURCES; INTEGRATING DATA ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS; ANALYZING AND COMMUNICATING THE DATA; AND ASSISTING PARTNERS IN USING THE DATA TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE.3. OTHER TARGETED-NEED COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, GEOCODING, MAPPING AND PRESENTATIONS.

NATIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD INDICATORS PARTNERSHIP (NNIP):COMMUNITY INFORMATION NOW (CINOW) IS AN ACTIVE LOCAL PARTNER IN THE NATIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD INDICATORS PARTNERSHIP, A NETWORK OF LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT CONNECT PEOPLE WITH NEIGHBORHOOD DATA. SUPPORTED AND COORDINATED BY THE URBAN INSTITUTE, NNIP NETWORK ACTIVITIES BUILD LOCAL PARTNERS' CAPACITY TO DEMOCRATIZE DATA TO INFORM LOCAL DECISIONMAKING AND SUPPORT RESIDENTS WORKING TO STRENGTHEN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES. CINOW CONTRIBUTES TO AND IS STRENGTHENED THROUGH NNIP THROUGH PEER LEARNING BY ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN-PERSON MEETINGS AND WEBINARS, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CALLS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITTEN AND ONLINE TOOLS AND GUIDES. CINOW'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ALSO SERVES IN A THREE-YEAR TERM ON NNIP'S EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, WHICH SETS NETWORK POLICY, PLANS MEETINGS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES, AND MONITORS NETWORK PERFORMANCE.