Chicago School of Data Survey

The Chicago School of Data or "the ecosystem project" was founded to advance the discipline of using data to make lives better. Ecosystems emerge around data intermediaries who serve as the conveners and providers for neighborhood groups, nonprofits, and other institutions. In any city, a number of organizations hold, describe, or interpret data, rigorously analyze data. As these varying practitioners have emerged in Chicago, there has also emerged a need for alignment between the users and development of data, particularly data that can be used to serve the people of Chicago.  

The survey fielded by the Smart Chicago Collaborative to gather data about Chicago's practitioners starts with the line, "If you use data and work to improve lives in Chicago, then you are part of the Chicago School of Data." The survey asks for basic logistical information, organization, and a few questions about the respondent's reasons and capacity for using data. The final question allows respondents to decide which level of involvement they would like to have with the Chicago School of Data moving forward. The survey was created and administered using WuFoo. 

Some specific resources that could be helpful:

• The raw responses from the Chicago School of Data survey.The names of the individual respondents and organizations have been removed. 
• The agenda from the conference held in September 2014 was informed by the survey results. All the session notes and videos are linked from that agenda and are also posted in a Google Folder.
• The list of participating organizations