A cross-departmental team of employees is receiving international support to help develop our first digital diversity dashboard.
The Open Data Policy Lab, based out of New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, has selected the team as part of its inaugural City Incubator cohort, which provides municipal governments with resources to enhance their cities through data. The dashboard was the only Canadian project selected.
“We’ve talked about taking the diversity data we provide in administrative reports and packaging it in a more consumable and interactive format for employees to use to make decisions,” said Jennifer Bodnarchuk, the City’s Senior Data Scientist and data lead on the project. “For instance, the dashboard may allow managers the ability to visualize demographics in their specific area, whereas in the past that information was only offered at a less granular level.”
As members of the cohort, the team will have access to leading data experts to support the project’s development. The aim is to have a workable version of the dashboard by March, to coincide with the anticipated release of our workforce diversity report.
“The two big things this is about are transparency and accountability — for both City employees and the public,” said Jordana Greenberg, the City’s Senior Manager of Corporate Human Resource Services.
“We want to have a visual place online to remind residents of our diversity objectives, and track our progress in real time.”
The diversity dashboard is just one step in reaching those objectives. We are also working on our first long-term Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) plan.
“We’re a large organization with thousands of employees, so we naturally have some diversity. With the EDI policy and strategy, we’ll be introducing more programming to actively improve our diversity, and support diverse employees throughout their time with us,” said Greenberg.
Bodnarchuk, who also created our internal Women in IT group, adds that data projects like the diversity dashboard are the perfect way to support those goals.
“We may think that certain groups are represented, but when we can actually see the numbers, it makes it more real, and it gives us something to work towards.”
The team’s selection is the latest international recognition for our data initiatives. This year, Public Sector Digest ranked our GIS program among the top 10 in North America, and named Winnipeg one of the top three most open cities in North America.
More than 160 datasets are currently available through our Open Data Portal.