[swasheck]

> Think of how we've added data to sports and created a new economy on improving outcomes because the definitions of success are clear with many pathways.

I've thought about this, too - using data to work toward solutions to problems that plague our society. I'm constantly haunted by the belief that there is a set of solutions "out there" but am bedeviled by my own inability to accumulate, homogenize, and aggregate that data that I _can_ find. Even still, sites like 1degree.org do give me hope that the data is available and that there are folks who are willing to do the work of using it (though that's an admittedly different application).

At any rate, thank you for your post. It's stirred that thought within me again.

[lostlogin]

An observation on how data gets used: someone decides what they want to do then dig out or fund getting the data that supports the plan. How do you avoid that?