Boston Indicators announces launch of new COVID-19 data resource: COVID-19 Community Data Lab
Partnership extends Boston Foundation effort to support Greater Boston through grantmaking, convenings and research into the pandemic’s local impact
May 15, 2020
Boston – Boston Indicators, the research center of the Boston Foundation, this week unveiled a new platform designed to give the general public greater access and insights into local data around the impact of the COVID-19 on Greater Boston and Massachusetts. The COVID-19 Community Data Lab is being produced in partnership with the Center for Housing Data at the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and with contributions from the Economic & Public Policy Research Group at the UMass Donahue Institute.
“The Data Lab is designed to bring together traditional and non-traditional data to help give all of us better insights into how residents, businesses, and civic organizations are feeling the impact of COVID-19 since the crisis took hold in early March,” said Luc Schuster, Senior Director of Boston Indicators. “Taken together, the data show how the public health and the economic dynamics of the crisis have exacerbated underlying inequities, with those already among society’s most vulnerable hit hardest.”
In its initial presentation, Boston Indicators is sharing recent data on six key areas:
- Equity Analysis of COVID-19 Spread by City/Town
- Housing
- Economic Impacts
- Demand for Social Assistance Programs
- Transportation and Mobility Patterns
- Census 2020 Response Rates
Each of these areas gives insights into the short- and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the region, using regularly updated data sets to develop an understanding the changing impact over time. Data and analysis will be updated regularly, with new datasets and areas added as the situation continues to evolve.