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Orientation
How do you know what you know? It is a question an acquaintance poses to her first-year students in the international studies class she teaches at Oxford University each semester. It is a rabbit hole of a question that is more bluntly stated as: What do you actually know about the things you think you know?
It is a query meant to nudge students toward more critical thinking; to begin separating fact from faith, truth from propaganda, proved from theory, and clear-eyed openmindedness from unwitting prejudice. It seeks to establish that unsubstantiated opinions, ideas and beliefs have little value in the journey of knowledge gathering upon which they have embarked.
It is a question that demands some humility and self-reflection. It is a question anyone who engages in the world around them must ask themselves regularly. How do I know what I know?
Among the more reliable, time-tested foundations of knowledge is thorough data. Observed, tallied and presented over time. For all to see. From data, patterns emerge. Clarity emerges. Truth emerges.
For policymakers, data is crucial. But at a local level, data has been a scarce commodity. For a very long time municipal decision making was entrusted to wise persons who operated mostly on gut-level instinct. Instinct assumed largely upon their gender and seniority. We relied on their wisdom, integrity and good-will. Some contend it worked out just fine. Perhaps because they had nothing to compare it with.
To this day, many decades after instruments presenting real-time data about direction, altitude, speed and such, were introduced into the cockpit, highly trained pilots occasionally fly their aircraft full speed into the ground. Each of them trusting to the end, their own senses over the data presented in front of them. It is a phenomenon called spatial disorientation. Civil aviation statistics suggest that spatial disorientation continues to be the cause, or a factor, in as many as 15 per cent of aviation fatalities.
Relying on gut instincts, in some circumstances, turns out to be deadly.
The good news is that things are changing at Shire Hall. Bit by bit, pockets of data are finding its way into the policy making process in our local government. This change became most apparent on the arrival of the first Vital Signs report in 2013. Produced by the County Community Foundation, the Vital Signs report presented a picture of Prince Edward County that few had seen before. The good, the bad and the tragic.
That report, and subsequent updates, has, more than anything else, opened our collective eyes to the challenges in our community. It provided data about basic life matters: whether or not we are getting enough to eat, do we have access to employment or healthcare, do we have the basic skills to find work in this community or the means to acquire them, in order to thrive here?
It turns out the were huge gaps in the fabric of our community. Hidden to many of us—including policymakers.
Vital Signs was an inflection point.
Late last year, the County, through its Community and Economic Development Department, joined the Community Data Program giving it access to more than 60 data sets ranging from detailed census information, economic and business data, housing as well as health and well-being statistics among a deep well of information.
Critically, the Community Data Program features data from the national level down to postal code granularity. Policymakers can zoom in and out to understand how local experience measures up to the region and the nation. Understanding these differences enables our leaders to isolate challenges and direct efforts accordingly. These are powerful tools.
Last week, The County Community and Development Department unveiled yet another important new data tool aimed at folks looking to move or invest in Prince Edward County. Data about the County presents a rich mix of data under nine categories ranging from demographics, education, and taxation through to real estate trends—complete with links to available properties. It is found on the department’s Build a New Life website at buildanewlife.ca
Combining a mix of data from a broad range of sources, this new tool presents, in easy-to-digest graphics, a detailed picture of the opportunities, the trends, the challenges and strengths of investing or building a new business in Prince Edward County. It isn’t the whole story—statistics can never be the entire picture— but it is a critically important foundation to begin forming an investment hypothesis or simply to know your community better.
This tool provides an easy, one-stop source for anyone considering a move to the County, to those interested in starting a new business or investing in this place. I expect it will become a ready resource for real estate marketers, banks, financial advisors as well as local policymakers.
There is more we can do to make data integral to policymaking—specifically areas such as understanding the regional housing market that is contorting many aspects of life in this community—but these are important steps.
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