Harness the power of data: Charlotte Data Day

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County will host a forum in uptown Charlotte on Tuesday, March 26, to tell the public about powerful sources of data and how to use them.

There are more tools than ever for finding and using data in innovative ways, but most people don’t know they exist or don’t know how to use them. Enter Charlotte Data Day, a free, public event.

Charlotte Data Day is aimed at everyone from academics to neighborhood groups to students and will feature discussions and hands-on workshops. Speakers will show how public data are for everyone not just statisticians.

Topics to be explored include using data to measure community assets and needs, using data for education policy-making, using data to understand neighborhoods, the importance of data in the nonprofit sector and innovations in visualizing data. Event workshops will cover some local resources, including the 2012 Neighborhood Quality of Life Study and the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute’s Charlotte Regional Indicators, as well as national sources like the U.S. Census and the Federal Reserve’s home mortgage data.

The inaugural “Charlotte Data Day: Using Data for Community Development” will be 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., March 26, at the UNC Charlotte Center City. This free event includes a boxed lunch, but registration is required.