In 2023, the Civin team focused mainly on developing and testing our own tools for local governments. We built the first version of our Data Explorer toolkit and shared it with beta users across the US, created custom solutions for more unique client needs, and kicked off early development of more advanced tools (for example, predictive modeling of community risks such as fire and foodborne illness). That work continues, but going into 2024, we're also going to return to our roots and once again offer hands-on services directly to clients.
What We're Offering
Just as when we started Civin in 2020, our team is available to meet most any civic data and technology needs that local governments and their partners have. We have extensive expertise in data strategy, analysis and visualization, machine learning, software development, data engineering and integration, geospatial analysis, survey research, and much more. Our team can apply these skills to challenges of all sizes and domains, and for larger projects, we can even bring on trusted partners to add capacity and skills.
What's new this year is that we're also introducing a set of standard service packages to meet needs that have come up repeatedly in our conversations with local government officials and staff. Each service package addresses a common need facing communities using standardized workflows and deliverable templates, in order to enable us to provide high quality services more quickly and cost-effectively than would be possible either in-house or as a custom consulting project.
These packages are designed to fill a gap we often heard about in our discussions with potential users last year. Many of their needs were too unique for off-the-shelf tools, but few had the internal staff or consulting budgets to start from scratch. By offering these services as packages, our goal is to combine the scalability of a product with the flexibility of a consulting project, in order to further our mission of making the benefits of analytics accessible to all communities.
What's new this year is that we're also introducing a set of standard service packages to meet needs that have come up repeatedly in our conversations with local government officials and staff. Each service package addresses a common need facing communities using standardized workflows and deliverable templates, in order to enable us to provide high quality services more quickly and cost-effectively than would be possible either in-house or as a custom consulting project.
These packages are designed to fill a gap we often heard about in our discussions with potential users last year. Many of their needs were too unique for off-the-shelf tools, but few had the internal staff or consulting budgets to start from scratch. By offering these services as packages, our goal is to combine the scalability of a product with the flexibility of a consulting project, in order to further our mission of making the benefits of analytics accessible to all communities.
New Service Packages
To start, we're offering five types of service packages:
We specifically chose these five areas because they are relevant to almost every community and offer clear, tangible, and immediate benefits. Each project would be unique to the client community, but all would draw upon a shared set of best practices and resources developed in our own work and that of other civic technology experts. And if all goes well, we hope to add other types of services to this list in the years to come, and further improve their delivery through the development of complementary tools that make these services even more valuable to communities.
- Service equity analyses, to give decision-makers a detailed understanding of how public services are being delivered across the community
- Workforce equity assessments, to help local governments meet their goals of promoting diversity and equity in areas like hiring, retention, promotion, and compensation
- Algorithm and AI risk management, to enable communities to understand and mitigate the risks of using automated tools for decision-making and interactions with the public
- Program impact evaluations, to provide rigorous insights that promote better resource allocation, identify areas for improvement, and ensure compliance with legal and funding requirements
- Data audits, to give organizations the visibility they need to maximize the impact of data-driven initiatives, find new opportunities for impact, and minimize security, privacy, and legal risks
We specifically chose these five areas because they are relevant to almost every community and offer clear, tangible, and immediate benefits. Each project would be unique to the client community, but all would draw upon a shared set of best practices and resources developed in our own work and that of other civic technology experts. And if all goes well, we hope to add other types of services to this list in the years to come, and further improve their delivery through the development of complementary tools that make these services even more valuable to communities.
How to Learn More
For more details on what each package includes, we've put together a more comprehensive guide to our services which you can download here. And if you want to partner with us or have questions, please reach out to our team at info@civin.co. We're excited to get started, and looking forward to hearing from you!
