DIGIT Lab and BEBR Answer Utah's Call for New Technology
With the discontinuation of the Census long form in 2010, Geography’s Digitally Integrated Geographic Information Technology (DIGIT) Laboratory and the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) from the business school have been working in a collaborative effort to build an online system that will serve as a portal for a variety of community-level demographic, housing, and socioeconomic estimates, datasets, and other products. This system, known as the Utah Community Data Project, could mean great things across a number of fronts for the state of Utah.
The objective of the Utah Community Data Project will be to offer crucial information to the public and organizations to improve decision-making on plans, projects, policies, and programs. It will provide the basis needed to highlight populations and community conditions otherwise rendered invisible by standard federal government datasets—i.e. the 2010 Census data. Though it provides information about race and ethnicity, it lacks necessary information on nativity or ancestry. The Utah State Office of Education survey reports more than 130 languages spoken in the homes of students, which means that there are immigrant groups that aren’t being represented. Fortunately, this information will be part of the Utah Community Data Project once it is complete.
Information of this kind is in high demand, and although similar systems have been implemented in other states across the U.S., it will be the first of its kind for the state of Utah. The information collected will be vital in supporting the capacity of local communities and organizations to discover, highlight, and understand the changing spatial variation in neighborhood conditions, characteristics, accessibility, and opportunity.
Over the past two years, DIGIT and BEBR have been working nonstop to gain community support, establish agreements with data providers, and secure funding. Their hard work is paying off as community engagement for the project is building, with pledges received from University Neighborhood Partners, the University of Utah’s lead organization for campus-community connections, and an ever-expanding group of data providers. Data-sharing agreements have also been made with the Utah Department of Health and the Utah Tax Commission.
The project has received funding from the University of Utah, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, and the HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grant. In all, the project has received upwards of $760,000—$300,000 of which comes specifically from HUD. It will allow for the development of the core database and products providing a solid foundation for small area estimates and projections work.