Government's Data-Driven Journey

Tyler Podcast Episode 75, Transcript

Our Tyler Technologies podcast explores a wide range of complex, timely, and important issues facing communities and the public sector. Expect approachable tech talk mixed with insights from subject matter experts and a bit of fun. Host and Corporate Marketing Manager Beth Amann – and other guest hosts – highlights the people, places, and technology making a difference. Give us listen today and subscribe.

Episode Summary

Franklin Williams, Tyler's Data & Insights Division president, joins the pod to discuss the development and evolution of data programs, examples of jurisdictions harnessing the power of their data, and what future trends in data management governments should be ready for. The conversation with host Beth Amann covers topics such as data sharing across governments, examples from the city of Austin and state of Texas, AI technologies, and how governments can iterate faster to serve their communities with emerging technologies.

Transcript

Franklin Williams: You know, the problems that the public sector is facing today, the ones that they are working on behalf of their citizens, they don't stop at a department line or a program line. They really span across the entire operation and entire business of government, which makes this interdepartment and inter jurisdiction data sharing is so very important.

Beth Amann: From Tyler Technologies, it's the Tyler Tech Podcast, where we talk about issues facing communities today and highlight the people, places, and technology making a difference. I'm Beth Amann. I'm the Corporate Marketing Manager here at Tyler, and I appreciate you joining me for another episode of the Tyler Tech Podcast.

Today, we're joined by Franklin Williams, the president of Tyler's Data and Insights Division to discuss the evolution of government data programs, some examples of data driven successes, and a look to future trends. Franklin, welcome to the podcast.

Franklin Williams: Thanks, Beth. Super excited to be here. 

Beth Amann: I'm really excited that you're here to have this conversation personally because I feel like I've gotten to see the evolution of government data sharing in my time at Socrata, a company that Tyler later acquired. I started in twenty-sixteen when we were really focused on open data products.

And then I got to see the development of our Enterprise Data Platform that supports internal data sharing for better data management and analytics and all the way to today where we're seeing data from an authoritative point really democratized across different departments and industries. And now if I feel that way working in marketing, I can only imagine that you as someone who was the head of product development for our data on insights division and are now the president, you probably have a much closer view into this evolution than I do. So I wanna start us there. How have government data programs evolved and matured over the last five years, ten years, fifteen years.

Franklin Williams: It's a great question. It's been, really, really fun to be part of that journey, part of that journey with you, Beth. I mean, it really kinda see this thing firsthand. You know, over the last ten, fifteen years, government data programs have really gone from kind of a relative infancy to something that is really pictured in the market.

You go all the way back to the early two-thousands, the data usage was rather rudimentary. It was based on, you know, manual collection, simple spreadsheets, data trapped in these old systems. And it was really about just can I even get my hands on any data and let alone how to systematically analyze it or do anything else along those lines? A lot of the decision making was, you know, intuition driven, driven by your gut, simply because we didn't have access to the type of data and the type of information, we need it.

However, that started to change around the late two-thousands, which is when Socrata kind of started getting its legs under us and where we started going forward. Back then, there was kind of the government two-point-o, you know, kind of a play on web-two-point-o initiatives.

I mean, the goal there was really to take advantage of advances in technology to make government more effective, more accessible. And one of the places where, D&I really shown was more transparent and more trusted. There's a lot greater emphasis on harnessing data analytics to help decision making and really accelerate the delivery of public services. And that's evolved even further in more recent years, more starting to basically see a lot more advances, a lot more public sector taking advantage of bringing together data, knocking down data silos, really going all in around advanced analytics, machine learning, and even over the last year with the advent of ChatGPT, a lot more predictive analytics to try and predict trends and prove efficiencies, enhanced service delivery, and really deliver on behalf of their residents.

The other thing that's equally exciting though is that, you know, from a D&I perspective, they start to see enhanced focus on transparency, enhanced focus on open data, and enhanced focus on telling their residents a story about what they're doing on their behalf. Again, engage those residents and increase trust in the public sector.

Beth Amann: I feel like it's really hard to not want to just have in my head the layer So, like, it just keeps getting better. Like, it is a theme song ready to go that you're going from, like, not having access to data at all to just, like, let's get as much data possible to being able to build on that data that you have to perform advanced analytics and to transparently share it with the public. And you said words like efficiency and really trying to find ways to build and not just think about how do we find everything, but do we think about what's going to happen in the future? And I know we've gotten to work with some really incredible governments. We've gotten to really see some awesome successes for hand. So I'm hoping you can kind of share some examples of folks who've gone through that transformation with their government data programs, and talk about how government can benefit from data collection, data management, and data analysis.

Franklin Williams: I'd be happy to. In fact, I'll give a couple of examples from you know, right in right in Tyler's backyard. We're located it here in the City of Plano. So there's a couple of examples that I'd love to give.

First off, our state capital, the city of Austin provides just a wonderful case study where they established a performance improvement and innovation program that really spans the entire city, bringing in stakeholders really kind of across the entire city to identify problems, find solutions, and trap results. They use data. They put data at the heart of all of that. We need just significant improvements really kind of across the entire city.

Everything from looking at response times, looking at things like recycling rates addressing the city's homelessness. There's a whole wealth of information and programs that their performance management office was driving and they were doing it through data and by putting data really kind of at the heart of what they were doing. It's been a really fun journey being part of that with the city of Austin. And the truth is is we've really scratched the surface of what's possible.

The future when we and we'll talk about this a little bit later, Beth, future is really, really exciting when we talk about what we can do use data for and how our clients might be able to benefit. And nobody exemplifies that more as well than the state of Texas that is currently building out a statewide data program, both that focuses on transparency to all the residents of the state of Texas but also focuses on using data internally more effective to drive programs really kind of across the entire state. Again, sharing that with the residents, So the residents are informed about exactly how the public sector is serving the public and residents are able to hold their representatives accountable.

Just as importantly to help build trust with the government and with the people that are with those public servants.

Beth Amann: I love the very local examples of the Texas State Capitol and Texas State. I've gotten to work with those programs as well and the people who run those programs are so committed to making sure that they are using their resources effectively and being able to track that through performance programs, through internal data sharing. It's been so crucial and helpful for them to be able to serve their communities effectively. So I can link a couple resources in our show notes so people can read a little bit more about Austin and about State of Texas.

So I hope you all will check them out. It's fun to hear these kind of stories come up again because they've been such prevalent examples in my time with Tyler, but I've also gotten to listen to you talk about data a whole lot, Franklin, and I have heard the kind of thought process that Tyler has around data management and data analysis. And we were having a conversation recently, and I wrote it down on a posted note and had it sticking next to me until very recently that you talked about the data process in these three phases that you measure, you fix, and you prevent. So can you talk about that mindset when it comes to collecting data to make data driven decisions in government?

Franklin Williams: Yeah. I I'd love to. So it embodies a point of view or it embodies an approach that's really an approach of just continuous improvement. And it's critical in using data to make informed decisions really at each step of those.

And so let's start with that first step. Let's start with measure. And that's really about identifying what's going on. But what needs to be improved and do we all have a shared perspective on what's going on and what needs to be improved?

So that might involve collecting accurate data, establishing KPIs, you know, you we might be looking at high crime rates. Response times, the effectiveness of recycling. Well, in all those cases, the very first thing we've gotta do is we've gotta get an accurate measurement, an accurate point of view on how we're doing. Because without that, we won't know where improvements are needed and equally important, we won't be able to know if we've actually improved them.

Now that kind of brings us to that next step. Okay. So we've got visibility in the problem. We all agree in terms of the accuracy of the data that we're working with.

Now it's time to fix it. And that's using the data to identify what's really going on here. Like, you look at the finding the root cause and then ultimately implementing solutions. And that is really about having the right set of tools to both access the data and then do the type of rigorous data analysis that you need to do.

One of the things that I really love about Tyler Technologies. And one of the things that it fights me about the data insights division is that from a Tyler perspective, we've been working these areas for decades. And so we know the type of analysis that our clients need and can hopefully help with this fix it stage really better than anybody else. So for example, like, through some of that data analysis that we're doing, you know, we might be able to find the crime rates are high in areas where, I don't know, low street lighting.

And with that, we can dispatch and create a project to increase the street lighting and keep an eye on that. Again, we're doing a continuous improvement process. Remeasured and see exactly what's going on there. And then once that's fixed, well, then the last thing we wanna do is prevent it from happening again.

Right? And that's a little bit about not just looking at where we are now, but looking at what might happen in the future. That's kinda where that predictive nature of data comes in and where that data becomes truly powerful. Because with enough data and the right tools, we could find the right patterns, we find the right trends.

We could ultimately make predictions.

And with that, we might be able to say something along the lines of looking at, I don't know, whether data and incident reports to predict where potholes are likely to recur and proactively get crews out there. We might be able to proactively look at appraisals that are being done in our city and make sure that we're accurately predicting which appraisals are more likely to appeal versus which ones aren't. Across the county and ultimately get ahead of those and ultimately prevent these problems from happening in the first place. And so that's where kind of all three stages, these kind of measure the fix, the prevent. That mindset is really all comes together to really continuously improve the city and to do it most importantly, through the use of data analysis.

Beth Amann: We'll be right back with more from our conversation.

Jade Champion: I hope you're enjoying listening to this episode of the Tyler Tech podcast I'm Jade champion, and I'm here with Dani McArthur to see what's happening this week across government associations.

Dani, you just came back from NACo, right? What trending topics did you notice at the conference?

Dani McArthur: Hey, Jade. NACo is all about county government.

Sessions were geared towards system modernization and how to enhance resident experience. There were great conversations around using data to elevate how your county serves and supports residents. We actually had a team there to showcase the diverse benefit set a modern tech stack can bring through a real world example from one of our partners, Clermont County, Ohio. We highlighted their efforts to break down department silos shared best practices on implementing a data strategy and the results they've seen across their county.

Jade Champion: Clermont is really a leader in system modernization. Didn't they just win a Tyler Excellence award this year? 

Dani McArthur: Yes. They did.

We just shared a video that celebrates their innovation and dives deeper in how Clermont County uses technology to share data across departments to improve transparency and meet the evolving needs of community, which is why they were awarded a twenty-twenty-three Tyler Excellence Award. Do you think you can link the video in the show notes so our listeners can watch and learn more. 

Jade Champion: Definitely. Check out the show notes and stay tuned for future association new. Now let's get back to the Tyler Tech Podcast.

Beth Amann: I love this idea of iterating that we are constantly learning and we're able to bring the information that we've gotten from those first two stages into the last stage for preventing. And I love that you gave some examples that cross through what would be different department's responsibility, potholes, street lights, appraisal, And there's probably information that's being shared between those departments that would be very important and very necessary to have And when I think about this evolution of data within government, open data was the huge focus at the beginning. It was all about transparently sharing and just letting you know what we're doing. And we've seen this shift to internal data sharing, but it's not just within an individual department or an individual jurisdiction.

We're seeing the need for departments to have access to the same data across a county, a city, a state, they all need access to the same data set. So when we're thinking about that, people aren't just living in a silo. Data shouldn't exist in a silo. And so how should governments be considering data sharing across departments or across jurisdictions?

Franklin Williams: I think that's a great question. And I think you've gotta start by acknowledging what you said there, which is, you know, the problems that the public sector is facing today, the ones that they working on behalf of their citizens, they don't stop at a department line or a program line. They really span across the entire operation entire business of government, which makes this interdepartment and inter jurisdictional data sharing so very important. Because after all, they're all working on interrelated issues and they need data from every one of those areas that they're working on to find insights that just simply wouldn't exist without that collaboration.

Now we have found that there's a couple of key ways that governments really should be thinking about data sharing and analysis across each one of those.

The first is, you know, having a good perspective and clear objectives on what you're trying to do. You know, just sharing data for data's sake won't yield, but when you have a particular program or particular objective that you're trying to support, well, that makes everything so much easier and makes it so much easier to break down many of the silers that are there. We see a lot of our clients with a lot of success creating data sharing agreements about what's gonna be shared, how will it be used, what are the benefits, and that, you know, helps focus, drive accountability, but also prevent any sort of accidental disclosure or any sort of misuse of the data.

And then finally, and this is something that we pay a lot of attention to. It's just also about having the right tools to integrate that data to bring that data together. Know, that data is gonna be exist in any number of different systems, some of which could be ten, twenty, thirty years old, some of which could be just spreadsheets on somebody's desk. If you can pull that information into one system, make it super easy for stakeholders to access and then allow them to use the tools that they're already familiar with to do their job, while really powerful things happen, and you can drive some outcomes on behalf of residents that were otherwise not possible to do before.

Beth Amann: Yeah. It's interesting to think about how many different states data is existing in. And, like, okay, I've got a spreadsheet over here. I've got document we haven't updated in a while.

I've got a really awesome open data portal, and I've got, like, internal data sharing information.

But if you don't know why you have any of that, don't know what information you need because you don't know the question you're asking, you're not gonna get to where you need to be. So I think that key of, like, you know what you're expecting of the data, the first thing you said about the idea of thinking, well, what's the point of this? It's not just data for data sake. You wanna make sure that you know the problem you want to solve. 

Franklin Williams: Yep. One hundred percent.

Beth Amann: Well, I mean, we're thinking a lot about things that are in the past. We're talking about problems that we know exist, and we will probably have to solve again in the future. But, like, let's think about the future for a little bit. So we are thinking in that prevent stage that we've talked about already, and you mentioned, okay, we're gonna get to this later.

So now it's later to talk about the emerging trends and technologies that governments should be considering as a part of their data program. You've might have maybe heard of this little thing called AI that people keep about instantly and throwing out. So let's hear all that you have about the latest trends, Franklin. I'm very excited.

Franklin Williams: Perfect. So, you know, I think it's worth talking about it kind of in all the aspects of that kind of measure, that fix, that prevent, because we're seeing advances that really help every one of those areas as well. And, like, so starting with kind of that first step of getting insight into what's happening within your community, that's really where, you know, data visualization tools come into play. The best data in the world is useless if people can't make sense of it.

And so we're seeing a number of advances in data visualization tools that help people get inside all their data, help people measure, and help people understand what's going on. Those might be new interfaces like what we've seen with chat GPT, but they might also just be as simple as new advances in the state of the art in terms of building charts, tables, pivots, insights out of those pieces. Key though is that they're being distilled down to simple visual easy to understand formats, and we're doing it faster than ever. Now the second piece though, you know, we get to that fixed phase.

And one of the most important things that we're seeing and one of the things that really jumps out is really just what I would describe as kind of real time data analysis. So you go, you make a change, and you wanna know whether or not that change had the effect that you expected it to. If we go way back, that would take sometimes months to get that data back. We are starting to see there.

And one of the things the state integration work does is provide you pretty real time visibility into whether or not the changes that you're making or having the outcome that you expect. And with that, you can adjust your program, you can adjust your approach, and you can target your interventions a lot faster than you've been able to do previously. And then finally, you know, I think the biggest thing that is on everyone's radar right now is predict stage where you really start to take advantage and start to think about taking advantage of artificial intelligence and machine learning to try and get a sense just what did happen, but what might happen as well.

There's a number of exciting technologies out there. Obviously, the biggest one is Chat GPT and generative AI more generally. It's something that we at Tyler are taking a deep look at. Something that we're looking at, how can impact our client experience and how can impact residents really kind of across all aspects of our product And it's one of the areas that I'm most excited about how it could unlock a bunch of value for our clients and a bunch of value for residents as well.

Beth Amann: I think it is gonna be very exciting. And another thing just to highlight from what you said is this idea of, like, being able to iterate faster It's not just that you're waiting for someone to tell you, AI, to tell you what might happen based on all of the data that they've processed through, but you can make a change so swiftly, see if it worked, and then if it didn't work, change again, pivot again, that Like you said, it used to be months or a huge lag time between making a change and seeing the impact that that is something that governments can start taking advantage of now without having to think of creating processes around technologies that are maybe not fully flushed out or fully available within their current resource poll that there's still opportunities for everyone to iterate and improve and create efficiencies within their programs if they have the right software in front of them.

Franklin Williams: Mhmm. That's right.

Beth Amann: Well, Franklin, thank you so much for joining me to talk about data and insights today. I know that this is a very brief conversation about a very broad topic and I know that there is tons of information to share, but I appreciate you taking just a little bit of time to talk about it with me today.

Franklin Williams: I appreciate you having me. It's been wonderful to talk with you about it.

Beth Amann: Data is critical to government's ability to serve our communities. I know that this is something that's become expected of our governments, and I enjoyed discussing where we've been so we can know where we're going. Data and insight software empowers governments store, share, and use data for more transparency, accessibility, and insight. I've linked some of my favorite success stories from clients mentioned in our conversation today in the show notes, and I hope you will take a look at it. 

For Tyler Technologies, I'm Beth Amann. Thank you for joining the Tyler Tech Podcast.