Better data for better welfare services
Insight
Every 5 years Bologna makes a remarkable and silent transformation: the population changes by about 20%. New people arrive and the number of youth and senior citizens in families with different needs and income differences increases. Consequently, the quality of social services needs constant and energetic innovation.
Caring for the community and for the territory are the pillars of good governance in local politics, and the Municipality of Bologna — always attentive to these issues — came to us in order to improve its welfare model and to organize services to its citizenry in a more streamlined and efficient manner.
Solution
For years, welfare services have been provided and managed based on analysis of vertical and specific needs per service. To provide its citizenry with a comprehensive service, we therefore provided the Municipality with an overview of the information available to it using a tool doubly effective from both an analytical as well as operational point of view:
- To support the municipal administration in socio-economic ranking assessments;
- To provide an in-depth information map and guide staff in providing and managing services.
Starting from criteria of quality, performance, and impartiality, we designed an enterprise analysis system, aggregating heterogeneous data: on people and households from a demographic and financial stability point of view, on the municipal territory, on indicators and variables of potential statistical fragility, and on social, educational, and housing services. In order to convey the potential of this data in a visual, intuitive, and interactive manner, we defined a multidimensional analysis data model, directly involving the client: this allowed us to set up an important dialogue between representatives with different duties.
Benefit
Through our enterprise analysis system, today the Municipality of Bologna can:
- Have a horizontal and comprehensive overview of the welfare services offered to citizenry;
- Analyze intervention effectiveness and observe their evolution over time, as well as the evolution of other changes, such as demographic changes;
- Monitor the impartiality of allocation towards the most disadvantaged individuals;
- Lay the ground work for the creation of a dedicated web portal for industry professionals, by means of which it is possible to benchmark among those assisted and — in a truly data-driven manner — orient them towards the services best suited to their needs.
