"Let’s Talk About Data and Crisis”: Public Digital Service Delivery = Open Data + Human Centered Design

Key Insights

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  COVID-19 response at HHS involved rapid data sharing across agencies, enabled by emergency MOUs, that would typically take years.

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  The vast majority of COVID tests were non-laboratory based, requiring novel federal infrastructure to ingest and harmonize diverse data sources.

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  Leadership vacuum in early 2020 at HHS complicated the crisis response but led to agile cross-agency collaboration.

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  Human-centered design and user research were largely missing in the initial COVID response, despite their critical importance.

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  Long COVID and other complex post-infection syndromes highlight gaps in medical diagnostics and the need to validate patient experiences.

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  Kristen's personal struggle with late-stage Lyme disease fuels her advocacy for open, patient-driven research and diagnostic innovation.

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  Innovating outside conventional academic and government structures can create new pathways to system change.

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  Crowdsourcing solutions during COVID with designathons engaged hundreds of innovators and produced multiple actionable projects.

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  Smashing silos in government is a nonlinear, challenging process that requires patience, persistence, and a support community.

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  The conference and community emphasize global diversity, inclusion, and cross-government levels to foster civic design innovation.

Notable Quotes