Indiana

A 2017 Indiana law created the Indiana Management Performance Hub (MPH) within the state’s Office of Management and Budget, which is overseen by the statewide Chief Data Officer (CDO). The law mandates the CDO to oversee a variety of performance management and continuous improvement activities such as advising each executive state agency to identify and implement continuous process improvement in state government, and conducting operational and procedural audits of executive state agencies. As such, the CDO and MPH regularly assist with key performance indicators’ tracking for agencies.

Since 2018, the Indiana Management Performance Hub (MPH) has hosted an annual Data Day. In 2022, Data Day 5 on April 26, 2022 convened more than 430 participants. Data Day celebrates MPH’s collaborative and innovative approach to fostering a culture of collaboration and data-driven decision making between state agencies and key trusted partners.

For example, in 2022, the Indiana Governor delivered an opening keynote stressing the importance of a data-driven state government and a presentation about the state’s Equity Data Portal.    

MPH started a data proficiency program for all state employees in 2021. The program engages state employees at all knowledge levels and shows how data impacts all of our jobs every day. These short lessons, delivered monthly, explain data concepts with simple, real-life scenarios. Employees can earn learning badges by completing lessons and promoting their accomplishments. To date 1,400 employees have earned their first learning badge with more lessons to come in 2022.

A 2017 Indiana law (p. 8) established the position of Chief Data Officer with the budget, staff, and authority to: (1) coordinate data analytics and data transparency for state agencies; (2) advise state agencies regarding best practices for data maintenance, security, and privacy; and (3) oversee the Indiana Management Performance Hub (MPH). MPH uses state data, such as the Education and Workforce Development database, to provide “analytics solutions tailored to address complex management and policy questions enabling improved outcomes.”

The Indiana Management Performance Hub (MPH), overseen by the state’s Chief Data Officer, houses the integrated Education and Workforce Development database, which brings together data from 12 state agencies, including: the Commission for Higher Education, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Corrections, Department of Workforce Development, and Family and Social Services Administration. In addition, MPH has created integrated databases to address pressing program and policy issues related to COVD-19, opioids, Medicaid, fiscal transparency, and other areas. Indiana’s open data is shared through the Indiana Management Performance Hub’s Indiana Data Hub, as well as a publicly available data catalog. It has more than 180 publicly available open datasets on various topics. MPH has been at the forefront of using data to drive decision-making for Indiana’s COVID-19 response, including a study to better understand the prevalence of the coronavirus and/or its antibodies. Moreover, MPH has undergone infrastructure improvements since 2020. For example, the Enhanced Research Environment (ERE) has supported Indiana’s data-driven response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ERE, a secure collaboration environment, expedites research and analysis by bringing research teams to leverage data for action for the pandemic response and is structured to provide value to a multitude of data initiatives.  

In 2022, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development used a tiered evidence framework from the AmeriCorps Evidence Exchange to both define evidence and allocate funds through its AmeriCorps Indiana program. Criteria from the Evidence Exchange assigned preference to evidence-based interventions assessed as ‘Moderate’ or ‘Strong’. To do this, the grant attributed points within Program Design (worth 50% of total points) towards evidence-based criteria, including Evidence Tier (worth 12%) and Evidence Quality (worth 8%). Evidence Quality was subsequently awarded up to 8 points and Evidence Tier was allotted 12 points. The RFP asserted that “all applicants must propose program designs that are either evidence-based or evidence-informed. Applicants assessed as lower than the Preliminary evidence tier (i.e., Pre-Preliminary) must provide adequate responses to the Evidence Quality review criteria in order to be considered for funding.” Applicants were encouraged to consider interventions through the AmeriCorps Mandatory Supplemental Guidance that further defined evidence.