Think back for a moment. It’s 2020. Schools are shuttering, unemployment is at a record high and grocery aisles have been stripped bare. “Unprecedented” seems to be the word on everyone’s lips. And through it all, millions of people around the world are relying on public organizations and government agencies to deliver critical care and services.
Few times in history even come close to the complexity, challenges and responsibilities that the public sector faced in 2020. Yet as in any trying time, these hardships also sparked progress, innovation and outside-the-box problem-solving.
The most successful public organizations immediately harnessed the power of their data to adapt to the evolving reality of COVID-19 and keep people safe.
Take the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, for example, which leveraged data to implement a campuswide testing regimen and safely return to in-person learning last fall. Known as SHIELD: Target, Test, Tell, the university’s testing program helps conduct a twice-weekly COVID-19 saliva test that was developed by a transdisciplinary team of campus faculty and researchers. With Splunk, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a public testing data dashboard that helps keep students and faculty across campus up-to-date with the latest COVID-19 testing rates and unique new cases.