Initiative For Data, Evaluation & Analytics
The Initiative for Data, Evaluation, and Analytics (IDEA) constitutes a research network designed to promote and support UNCG’s wide expertise in data analytics, evaluation, and research. It provides a visible and easily accessible point of contact internally for UNCG faculty, staff and students, plus relating to the external community that seeks collaborations, consulting services, and technical assistance. IDEA is composed of university partners (faculty, departments, other centers) and reflects a wide range of technical skills, analytical software, current technology, and a robust and secure computing environment.
By working collaboratively with personnel, units, departments, investigators, other UNCG Centers and agencies on data collection and analyses, IDEA provides technical assistance to the UNCG community; outside agencies; community-based organizations; institutions; and state, national, and international partners to meet their accountability goals and objectives by increasing their capacity to serve their priority constituencies.
MIssion
IDEA links the methodological expertise of UNCG’s faculty and staff who utilize data, evaluation, and analytics to ultimately improve the health and wellbeing of people and communities within the region and throughout the state of North Carolina and beyond.
Vision
IDEA strives to be a pre-eminent and relevant resource to local, regional, and state policymakers toward enhancing their understanding of how to improve all North Carolinians’ quality of life.
- Integrity, Impartiality, and Accuracy We take pride in conducting high-quality, unbiased, and independent analyses to promote evidence and data-based decision making.
- Diversity We value the diversity of the stakeholders we serve—our clients, sponsors, and partners, and of the backgrounds, talents, and expertise of UNCG faculty and staff.
- Respect We honor and seek the perspectives of populations we serve and pledge to rigorously protect all data and information utilized to conduct analyses.
- Innovation We value and enthusiastically solicit new ideas and creativity, confident that old challenges can effectively be addressed by new solutions.
- Excellent Client Service We actively listen to our clients, treat them with courtesy and respect, pursue their goals with a sense of urgency, and strive to exceed their expectations.
- Collaboration and Teamwork We believe that quality products are derived from cross-disciplinary, cross-unit, and cross-level teams that incorporate multiple perspectives, skills, and expertise.
Expertise
- Architecting platforms to host big data, metadata, raw data, structured and unstructured data, and explore data sources;
- Evaluation tools including assessment, performance metrics, benchmarking, formative evaluation, formative/summative/impact/process evaluation;
- Analytic tools including statistical analyses, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), data mining, and descriptive/predictive/prescriptive/diagnostic analytics;
- Wide range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies including focus groups, survey and questionnaire design.
- Applied mathematics, combinatorics, probability theory, supply chain analytics, statistical consulting, computational mathematics, and information systems;
- Policy analysis, applied economics, and impact evaluation (e.g., trend analysis, economic impact);
- Consulting services in the areas of research design, methodology, assessment and measurement, and program evaluation for businesses, state agencies, for-profit and not-for-profit entities;
- Through UNCG’s new Spartan CyberGuardian Academy and cybersecurity clinic, provide expertise to protect vulnerable organizations and critical infrastructure including local small businesses, hospitals, schools, and energy grids, from cyber-attacks.
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