Local Resident Named to State Data Technology Advisory Board

Michelle Riordan-Nold, Executive Director of the Connecticut Data Collaborative, has been appointed to serve on the newly formed Connecticut Data Analysis Technology Advisory Board.

The Advisory Board was created by the state legislature during the 2018 session, with a mission to advise the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government and municipalities regarding data policy, including the use of data to grow the economy.

The Board has the authority to request information and assistance from the state’s executive branch, provide advice to the state legislature to enhance their data capabilities, and request agency data officers or agency heads to appear before them. The Board, which may publish reports and issue recommendations, held its inaugural meeting on July 31.

Riordan-Nold, a Glastonbury resident, has been Executive Director of the Connecticut Data Collaborative since 2014. Previously, she served in a research capacity for the Connecticut Economic Resource Center and the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee.

The Connecticut Data Collaborative (CT Data) is a public-private partnership that advocates for the public availability of open and accessible data, serving nonprofits, advocates, policymakers, community groups, and funders in using data to drive policy and improve programs and services, budgeting and decision making at the state, regional and local levels.

CT Data recently announced a partnership with Trinity College’s Liberal Arts Action Lab to work on projects of mutual interest, including health and housing data visualization and analysis of Hartford neighborhoods, and moved into new offices on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford.

CT Data strives for informed decision-making across Connecticut, empowering an ecosystem of data users by democratizing access to public data and building data literacy skills. CT Data convenes data forums and conferences, and increases data literacy through its CTData Academy. Activities of the CTData Academy include monthly open data calls, monthly Data Basics workshops, Data Storytelling workshops, and quarterly data meetups.

The Connecticut Data Collaborative and its website ctdata.org has been highlighted by the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society for its efforts developing a public-private data partnership in Connecticut that is “improving decision-making across the state.”