There is growing demand for a genuinely accountable government which, even with limited resources, delivers programs and policies with meaningful, measurable impact. Rapid advances in technology support the use of data and science in the private sector to develop insights about what people need, innovate products and policies to meet those needs, and then measure their success. Government has the potential to be similarly impactful, prompting recent federal and state calls for government to use a data-driven approach to produce efficient and effective policy solutions. But how can state and local governments use data and science to deliver improved results to their constituents? This talk will highlight the key challenges to creating and supporting fact-based policy at the state and local level, and will outline solutions and lessons learned from an innovative and scalable partnership model developed with the state of Rhode Island.
Justine Hastings is a Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs at Brown University and a Faculty Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her areas of expertise include research in Industrial Organization and Public Economics which address important economic and public policy questions. She has conducted academic research on topics such as market structure and competition, environment and energy regulation, advertising and consumer protection, consumer financial markets, health care, social safety-net programs, and markets for higher education. Her research employs diverse empirical techniques including field experiments, survey analysis, machine learning, predictive analytics, analysis of large administrative datasets, and structural demand and supply estimation. Her research was cited in the 2017 Nobel Prize scientific background materials, and has been used to shape public policy improvements around the world. Professor Hastings is the founding director of Research Improving People's Lives (RIPL), a nonprofit research institute using data and science to impact policy and improve lives.