Dynamic COVID Response Data Visualization

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

Broward County’s Resilient Environment Department Innovation Unit utilized data analytics and visualization best practices to create dashboards and reports to aid Broward County in its response to and recovery from the physical, economic, and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Innovation Unit was able to create self-service business intelligence dashboards as an approach to data analytics that enabled Broward County executive and agency leadership, as well as County resident users, to access and explore data sets independent of a background in business intelligence, data mining, or statistical analysis. The Dynamic COVID Response Data Visualization program included multiple dashboards with information ranging from emergency health data (transmission rates, hospitalizations, and mortality) to emergency response (vaccinations and emergency assistance). These dashboards allowed for the identification of resource shortages within the emergency response and healthcare systems, allowing administrators the real time ability to modify messaging and protocols impacting hospital patients, vaccinations sites and the actions of the public. They also allowed program administrators to gauge the overall success of the rental assistance program, adjusting communication and current practices to disperse funding and reach an underrepresented segment of the population more effectively. Overall, the program used data analytics to greatly enhance resource allocation, and communication (both within organizations and to the public), in addition to allowing a more diverse and inclusive outreach effort that substantially improved Broward County’s recovery from the physical, economic, and social impacts of COVID-19.