ReImagine Data Insights Initiative (RDi2)

The ReImagine Data Insights Initiative is an effort pioneered by the HHS Office of the Chief Technology Officer to improve how agencies within HHS, and beyond, share, integrate, analyze, and visualize federated data to better inform policymaking and support evidence-based decision-making.

About the ReImagine Data Insights Initiative (RDi²)

We are pioneering an effort to improve how agencies within HHS share, integrate, analyze, and visualize federated data to inform policy and evidence-based decision-making.

This initiative will create the foundation for HHS-wide data science and AI capabilities by streamlining data sharing, optimizing data access, and increasing the availability of state-of-the-art analytic tools — all of which dramatically reduce the amount of time to make data-driven decisions.

Ultimately, we will be using predictive AI to mitigate pressing public health issues before they occur, such as predicting viral outbreaks or allowing healthcare providers to see if a specific strain of Lyme disease has a high prevalence in their area so they may better inform patient diagnoses and treatments.

Unifi

Unifi, currently in its proof of concept phase, is a HHS data-sharing platform that will federate data from multiple sources, allowing users to request, analyze, and visualize data. Unifi is not a data warehouse or data lake. It is not a long-term repository for data retention, but rather a service enabling the temporary unification of disparate sources for time bound data projects. Unifi will:

• Help data analysts, and others, understand the overall HHS data landscape by providing a single view into the vast number of HHS data sets. This will be accomplished through a searchable metadata library,
• Provide an intuitive, automated workflow for data access request processes.
• Increase efficiencies and build transparency by providing a data steward dashboard and data use audit capabilities. Data stewards will be able to receive and disposition new data requests, while having a view of all pending and active requests. In-progress projects can be monitored in real-time.
• Streamline and automate data use agreement processes.
• Increase collaboration and code reuse by providing a code repository. Individuals will be able to access previously written algorithms and collaborate with other data analysts.
• Be cloud-based, built with open source technologies and provide an open source data analytics toolkit. This cost-effective, elastic environment will dynamically expand and shrink on demand and enable powerful analytics capabilities.
• Facilitate analysis of anonymized, but granular and sensitive data
• Enable the creation of meaningful dashboards, graphics and reports that will provide greater transparency into health and human services data
• Give decision makers better insights into the health and human services issues facing our population

User engagement

User engagement is a critical element to developing Unifi and ensuring the functionalities and capabilities meet the needs of data analysts and other stakeholders. RDi² is partnering with agencies within HHS to engage data stewards, analysts and other users. To gain crucial feedback that will help inform development, we are:

• Providing identified HHS data users with an opportunity to shape the future of data sharing within HHS by participating in a five-week Data Playground event. The event consists of platform training and open access to the Unifi suite of analytic tools to gain rapid feedback on the usability and usefulness of Unifi's functionalities.
• Meeting with HHS data users, analysts and stewards to conduct Unifi demonstrations to explore the Unifi analytical secured environment, how to access datasets, and how to create useful data visualizations. During the demonstrations, the Unifi team collects feedback on the current HHS data sharing processes to inform the development of Unifi.
• Partnering with federal agencies and partners on use cases. Use cases are real-life examples that help test and shape Unifi as it develops. Through focused feedback and platform testing sessions, the use case workgroups bring together data analysts, stewards, and users together to derive new insights and ensure proper data sharing.
• Conducting one-on-one interviews with Data Playground participants use case work group members, and other identified data stewards to gain feedback on the current development stage of Unifi and the process for data access and sharing.

Have other questions about RDi²? Send an email to [email protected] to contact our team!