Data for Effective Policy Making

Course Description

In this age of information, data is available everywhere and grows at an exponential rate. How can we make sense of all this data? How do we take advantage of data when making decisions? How do we use data to help us guide the management and planning of our policies? Whether you're a citizen or a policymaker, learning the answers to these questions can benefit you greatly. In this course, you will strengthen your ability to use, understand and interpret data. Using the “Numbers for Development" and “Caribbean Data Portal” platforms developed by the IDB - which presents data and socioeconomic indicators from the Latin American and Caribbean region - you will be able to understand how to improve the decision-making process in public management. At the end of the course, you will have gained the tools to navigate data, perform and interpret visualizations, and understand the different types of data analysis according to the policy to be implemented. Relax, it's not a statistics course! However, you will acquire the knowledge necessary to interpret graphs, statistical reports and understand their language. And, most importantly, you will acquire the foundations to be able to base your decisions on verifiable data, beyond intuition. The course is based on real-life examples, so you can understand the different concepts and methodologies in a simple, practical and enjoyable way. Using different practical activities, you will be able to apply the acquired knowledge and practice with data and graphs. In addition, we will show you real IDB cases to promote analysis and present the realities to which experts from the region and the Caribbean are exposed. You will also face some creative challenges that will allow you to measure your abilities on a higher level of difficulty. The course has readings and videos that enable you to generate a better understanding of course topics and participate in the discussion forums with a strong basis; open up areas for discussion with your colleagues around the issues and challenges raised during the course.Finally, this course is “self-paced”. This means that if you choose to pay for the verified certificate, you will be able to take the course in a maximum term of about three months, from March 14 to December 14, 2019.IMPORTANT:  You can choose between auditing the course or obtaining a verified certificate. If you choose auditing the course, you will have free access to all course materials for 7 weeks, but you will not be able to participate in the assessment activities. If you’d rather obtain a verified certificate, you will have access to the assessment activities until the closing date of the course and you will be able to view the course materials for unlimited time.