Governments are using data more than ever before, both to make decisions and to share information with citizens. Budget transparency efforts within state and municipal governments mean agencies are putting tax and spending data online. Public safety agencies are using data visualizations to share information on everything from their crime prevention efforts to fighting wild fires. And with the COVID-19 pandemic, there's never been more public health and safety data available, whether it's infection rates, test counts, or hospitalization and death rates.
But what do government leaders want in a data analytics platform? Are the needs of public policy makers different from those of private companies? ZDNet recently spoke with USAF Brig. Gen. (Ret) Steven Spano[1] who is regional VP for Public Sector at Tableau[2] about what he's hearing from the company's government customers. Spano has decades of experience as an IT leader and decision maker in both the public and private sectors. The following is a transcript of the interview edited for readability.
Public sector data has a uniqueness all its own
Bill Detwiler: Data is critical for decision makers, whether they are in the private sector, [or] whether they're in the public sector. And it's really important to be able to tell a story with that data in a way that the recipients understand the data. And, I think Tableau and other visualization platforms are critical to that. Can you talk a little bit about, just maybe the uniqueness of working with the public sector in government agencies and how you present data in a way that decision makers can understand and then take action on?
