Abstract
Key takeaways
1. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the migration of many everyday activities and
interactions online. Among the digital innovations implemented during the crisis is the
use of data dashboards to visualise, monitor, communicate, and inform the public
and decision-making over public health and the economy.
2. Data dashboards proliferated as instruments of urban governance since the 2000s,
particularly in the context of “smart city” initiatives. However, such digital tools have
come to even wider prominence during the pandemic, for example, with dashboards
enabling policymakers and the public to track the spread and intensity of coronavirus.
3. Although dashboards can assist in combating what the World Health Organization
has characterised as an “infodemic”, problematic aspects concerning their use in the
context of the pandemic include data gaps, poor design and deployment, digital
inequalities, and low data literacy levels among policymakers and the public.
4. The positive role and potential of dashboards should not be taken for granted. Better
understanding how dashboards – their underlying data, choice of indicators,
presentation, and deployment – have influenced urban governance is critically
important for policymakers as the crisis evolves towards recovery.
5. This briefing introduces both the Liverpool City Region (LCR) COVID-19 Recovery
Monitor and the “Bridging the Community Asset Data Gap” pilot project being
progressed by the Heseltine Institute with the LCR Combined Authority and civil
society partners. These initiatives are working towards mobilising alternative placebased and people-focused indicator frameworks, to inform an inclusive economic
recovery from the pandemic.
1. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the migration of many everyday activities and
interactions online. Among the digital innovations implemented during the crisis is the
use of data dashboards to visualise, monitor, communicate, and inform the public
and decision-making over public health and the economy.
2. Data dashboards proliferated as instruments of urban governance since the 2000s,
particularly in the context of “smart city” initiatives. However, such digital tools have
come to even wider prominence during the pandemic, for example, with dashboards
enabling policymakers and the public to track the spread and intensity of coronavirus.
3. Although dashboards can assist in combating what the World Health Organization
has characterised as an “infodemic”, problematic aspects concerning their use in the
context of the pandemic include data gaps, poor design and deployment, digital
inequalities, and low data literacy levels among policymakers and the public.
4. The positive role and potential of dashboards should not be taken for granted. Better
understanding how dashboards – their underlying data, choice of indicators,
presentation, and deployment – have influenced urban governance is critically
important for policymakers as the crisis evolves towards recovery.
5. This briefing introduces both the Liverpool City Region (LCR) COVID-19 Recovery
Monitor and the “Bridging the Community Asset Data Gap” pilot project being
progressed by the Heseltine Institute with the LCR Combined Authority and civil
society partners. These initiatives are working towards mobilising alternative placebased and people-focused indicator frameworks, to inform an inclusive economic
recovery from the pandemic.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | University of Liverpool, Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Dec 2020 |
Publication series
| Name | Policy Briefing |
|---|---|
| Volume | 033 |