Better Data. Better Decisions. Better Health. This is the mantra of the data modernization initiative (DMI) led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, an initiative began to improve the data systems for public health surveillance. Now the pandemic has underscored the need for data infrastructure modernization at health departments. In collaboration with CDC, PHII is providing guidance and support to public health jurisdictions on developing data modernization plans, as well as improving informatics infrastructure and workforce capacity. Activities include facilitating a data modernization learning community, providing planning resources and coordinating a workshop for data modernization leads.
Data Modernization Learning Community
The DMI learning community calls consist of peer-to-peer presentations on data modernization successes and challenges with the chance to collaborate with peers from other jurisdictions. Data modernization resources and planning materials are available for DMI leads through the project collaboration workspace, Basecamp.
Data Modernization Workshop
PHII convened recipients from 60 jurisdictions, the majority of which are part of the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) cooperative agreement and informatics experts in a three-day virtual and interactive workshop titled Data Modernization: Building on Shared Services and Enterprise Technologies on May 19 - May 21, 2021. The workshop aimed to support health departments in achieving scalable and sustainable information infrastructure through:
- Improving data modernization advocacy and planning.
- Building workforce capacity.
- Collaborating on shared solutions.