¶ The Polis Center at IUPUI (Polis) |
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| 535 W. Michigan St, Indianapolis, IN 46202 polis.iupui.edu Contact : polis@iupui.edu Twitter : @polisiupui, @SAVIonline |
University applied research center | |
| Role(s) | The Polis Center at IUPUI (Polis) collaborates with the public health, healthcare, social service, government, and academic sectors to enhance the use of place-based information for the improvement of health and resiliency in Indiana and beyond. We build local capacity to understand and address population health and its social and environmental determinants through community research, collaboration, and application of advanced information technologies. | |
| Mission | Polis works with its partners to define, measure, and actively improve community health, wellbeing, and resiliency. | |
| History | 1989: Established by IUPUI as soft-funded center to link academic and community expertise 1994: • Published The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (polis.iupui.edu/encyclopedia-of-Indianapolis/), providing a comprehensive social, cultural, economic, historical, political, and physical description of Indianapolis • Began development of the Social Assets and Vulnerabilities Indicators (SAVI) database project under auspices of United Way of Central Indiana/Community Service Council 1996: Published first version of SAVI Community Information System (savi.org), which went online in 1998 2008: Established IUPUI Signature Center for Health Geographics 2010: Developed geocoded web service for Indiana Network for Patient Care with Regenstrief Institute, as part of CDC-funded Indiana Center of Excellence in Public Health Informatics 2012: Began partnering with hospital systems on community health needs assessments 2014: In cooperation with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, published the 2014 State of Indiana Standard Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. 2016: Published IndyVitals (indyvitals.org/) in partnership with the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee and City of Indianapolis 2018: • Helped establish Indiana Data Partnership (in.gov/idp) with MPH and IU • Polis became a FEMA Cooperating Technical Partner, working closely with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to update Indiana’s flood hazard maps and data. 2019: • Commenced work on Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (polis.iupui.edu/about/community-culture/the-digital-encyclopedia-of-indianapolis/), to be published in 2021 for Indianapolis bicentennial. • In cooperation with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, published the 2019 State of Indiana Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. 2020: • Started collaboration with the Indiana Geographic Information Office (GIO) on a data sharing program (https://www.in.gov/gis/data-sharing/) named GIS Data Harvest to aggregate address points, street centerlines, parcels, and administrative boundaries from all 92 Indiana counties into a statewide dataset. • Joined the IUPUI School of Informatics and Computing to extend our collaborative, community-based work via informatics-enhanced solutions. 2021: Released the 2020 GIS Data Harvest data (https://iu.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/4302f9d9fd2a4915b5d49826e457d003). 2022: Released the 2021 GIS Data Harvest data (https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/9566075da8f2493bbd706b3452944867). |
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| Org | Polis has 24 full time staff including research analysts, GIS analysts, data scientists, developers, and project managers, plus part-time staff and graduate assistants Leadership: • Sharon Kandris – Interim Executive Director • Karen Comer – Interim Associate Director • Marianne Cardwell – Director, Geoinformatics • Matt Nowlin – Interim Community Analysis Manager • Neil Devadasan – Lead System Engineer • Kevin Mickey – Director, Geospatial Technologies Education |
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| Board | Formal board is not required. Polis maintains advisory committees for major projects including SAVI, State of Aging in Central Indiana Report (SoAR), and Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (DEOI). | |
| Finance | Supported by grants and contracts, with an annual budget of $3 million. | |
| Data Sources |
Polis uses data from a large number and variety of national, state, and local sources as listed below, including over 40 data sources for SAVI (savi.org/support-training/data-sources/). In addition to the numerous datasets that Polis makes readily available via SAVI and its other public websites (see Data Access), Polis collects and maintains a wealth of data “behind the scenes” for the research and analysis work of Polis and its public, non-profit and private sector partners. When feasible, Polis collects location attributes at the smallest geographic scale available in support of mapping and spatial analysis. The best way to learn whether Polis has data to support a particular research question or application is to contact Polis and speak to one of our directors or senior data analysts. National Sources State Sources Local Sources |
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| Data Access | • The SAVI Community Information System provides comprehensive, neighborhood level data for community assessments and asset mapping, clinical and public health research on social determinants of health (SDOH), grant writing, strategic planning, and community planning. (www.savi.org) • The Domestic Violence Dashboard provides information about the extent and context of domestic violence in Indianapolis and the populations affected. (indydvdata.org) • The Digital Atlas of American Religion provides access to resources for the study and teaching of American religious history within a geographical and multimedia framework. (religionatlas.org) • IndyVitals measures the long-term impact of Indianapolis Plan 2020 at the neighborhood level. It helps planners and policymakers ensure that neighborhoods of all types are improving by making comparative neighborhood-level data transparent. (indyvitals.org) • The Indiana United Ways Community Report Card provides a quick snapshot of how Indiana communities are doing in the areas of health, education, and income. Users can view 35 indicators to learn: if a community has gotten better or worse over time and how it compares to the state’s trend. (indianaimpact.org) • In addition to our publicly available datasets, we design datasets to meet research and community partners’ specific needs. Contact: polis@iupui.edu or (317) 274-2455. |
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| Tech Capabilities | • Polis curates community data, spatially-enables and integrates clinical data, generates descriptive and inferential statistics, builds spatial information infrastructure, and develops information systems and decision support tools. Core technology capabilities include: • Geo-spatial data warehousing, geo-referencing and geo-processing • Data linkage and integration • Online data visualization and dissemination • System integration, software development, and management • Development of tools for community health planning, population health management and patient-center decision support (polis.iupui.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/health-geo-small-flap-Brochure-update.pdf) • Development and delivery of multiple courses in the application of geospatial technologies for the visualization, modeling, and sharing of information. |
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| Projects | • In partnership with the Central Indiana Senior Fund (CISF), Polis is developing the State of Aging in Central Indiana Report to provide sustainable, online access to information needed for programming, funding, and policymaking to ensure Central Indiana seniors have equal opportunity for a healthy, dignified, and enjoyable life. • In collaboration with the IU School of Medicine, IU School of Science, and Indiana Poison Control Center, Polis is creating an online dashboard for the Chemical Surveillance System for the Synthetic Drug Crisis to allow clinicians, researchers, public safety professionals, and policymakers to monitor the drug compounds causing emergency department overdose visits. • Other key community health initiatives: polis.iupui.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/health-geoinformatics-flyer-FINAL.pdf • The Polis Center has extensive experience working with Indiana local governments and other community level stakeholders throughout the state in the development of multi-hazard mitigation plans that improve community resilience to natural hazards and other adverse circumstances. |
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| Future Focus | • Predictive modeling and advanced spatial analysis of health outcomes and risk factors • Expanded development of information for small scale geographies • Advanced data visualization and computational analysis using artificial intelligence • Expansion of community research infrastructure |
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| Talent Development | • Train individuals and organizations to access and use place-based information to better understand their communities and social and environmental determinants of health, wellbeing, and resiliency • Consult on the development and use of evidence-based methods for assessing the needs of individuals, organizations, and communities (polis.iupui.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CHNA-brochure-FINAL.pdf) • Host multiple interns and research assistants each year • SAVI Data Literacy Training (www.savi.org/support-training/savi-training/) |
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| Data Sharing Agreements | Many agreements in place; however, they are use case specific | |
| • Regenstrief Institute • IN Management Performance Hub • Indiana State Department of Health • Indiana 211 • Marion County Public Health Department • Indiana Department of Education • Indiana Supreme Court • Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department • Marion County Prosecutor’s Office |
• Lawrence Police Department • Beech Grove Police Department • Marion County Superior Court • The Julian Center Domestic Violence Network • Center for Congregations • Indianapolis Public Library • …dozens of additional one-to-one relationships |
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| Programs/ Publications | • The Polis annual report and other Polis publications may be found here: polis.iupui.edu/resources/reports/ • SAVI Talks: Data-informed public conversations about pressing issues in our community: www.savi.org/savi-talks/ • Community-friendly reports on topics such as poverty, education, equity, crime and safety, and health: www.savi.org/reports/ |
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