Update: Report: State Stimulus Tracker Websites are Mediocre

The updated report, “Show Us the Stimulus (Again)” (pdf) was released yesterday by Good Jobs First.

The good news: some states have made dramatic improvements. Maryland led in the ratings, again, but two states that were at the bottom last summer are now termed “Cinderellas” and are in the top tier: Kentucky and Illinois. Minnesota and Utah also made huge strides.

On the 1-100 rating scale:

The Top: Maryland (87), Kentucky (85), Connecticut (80),
Colorado (72), Minnesota (72), Wisconsin (72), California (69), Illinois (69), Oregon (67), Massachusetts (65),
Georgia (64), West Virginia (64), New Mexico (62), New York (62), Pennsylvania (62), Montana (61) and
Arkansas (60).
The bottom, starting at the bottom: North Dakota (5), District of Columbia (6),
Missouri (10), Alaska (13), Vermont (13), Louisiana (16), Mississippi (17), Idaho (18), Oklahoma (18), Texas
(18) and South Carolina (19).

Notable geo observations:

Geographic breakdowns (by county or other division) are less common than summaries of spending by
program category. Twenty-seven states provide geographic information, often with interactive maps. 

Only three states—Kentucky, Maryland and Wisconsin—juxtapose the geographic distribution of
spending with patterns of economic distress or need within the state. 

Besides overall spending amounts, state residents may be interested to know where individual ARRA
projects such as the repaving of a road or repair of a school building are taking place. More than half the
states (28) now have some kind of project mapping feature on their ARRA site. 

- press release (pdf)
- DM podcast on previous report

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Connected Nation CEO on GIS Use in Broadband Mapping

The Hill interviews Brian Mefford, CEO of Connected Nation, the organization that thus far has receive the most funds for the mapping phase of the broadband stimulus. He goes on about how his organization gets “rag tag” (my term) data from the carriers about their service areas and then puts it all in GIS format that is automatically updated.

Mass DOT Launches Stimulus Website

Most states are ahead of my home Commonwealth in posting such maps, but it’s nice to see a different look and feel. The Bay State’s map is built on Google Maps and uses a top menu to show funding by different regions (MPO, congressional districts and counties) as well as by point symbols.

- Mass ARRA Website
- Map

Podcast: A Hallway Conversation with Learon Dalby, NSGIC Board Member

Adena Schutzberg, executive editor, interviewed National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) former president Learon Dalby about the 2009 NSGIC annual conference and the organization’s advocacy agenda for the coming year. Among the topics explored: authoritative data, social media, the broadband mapping stimulus, NSDI, oversight, and Data for the Nation. This is another in a series of interviews with geospatial insiders and outsiders.

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Maryland #1 in ARRA GIS Sites, But…

A Computerworld article lauds Maryland’s use of GIS in reporting on the state of stimulus funding, but also notes some warts.

The article notes:

StateStat has the potential to show citizens the return on investment they get from get from government programs, and it could be used to hold agency chiefs accountable, O’Malley says.

During biweekly meetings with department heads, the governor uses GIS maps to track projects and the performance of departments. O’Malley says he uses GIS maps to quickly assess which divisions are performing well and which need new leadership. “That ability to recognize who the leaders are is what gets your entire organization to lean forward. That’s what makes it go,” he says.

The article does not explain how that potential to show ROI would be met, nor how GIS shows which divisions are performing well and which need new leadership. I hope Maryland staffers or the publication can detail those processes and share them with other states.

The daily challenges of the StateStat effort are detailed by Beth Blauer, director of the program. On her list are:

Data:
Says Blauer: “Those issues include data ownership, accuracy, age, how often data is refreshed and whether it will be meaningful to decision-makers.”

Interoperability:
“Because the state agencies use many different GIS servers and databases, they export data in Excel format and give it to Blauer’s staff, who must import it manually. It has been particularly difficult to maintain data integrity and get updates automated, she says.”

Deeper Analysis:
“Another goal is to add performance data that could, for example, illustrate the impact of a program by showing the effect of spending on the unemployment rate.

Blauer says that eventually, StateStat will be used at all levels of government and available to the public. “You’ll be able to see where we are spending money in education and whether the test scores are getting better.”“
And of course, that means showing causation, not just correlation.

(Future) Public Participation:
“They will be able to engage in a dialogue with government using the data,” she says.”

Also on the Governors list: an app to show how state funds are allocated and downloadable data.

Hat tip to Computerworld for going beyond the shiny maps.