Picture this.

Manilla folders and papers strewn across a table. Towering piles of documents devoured in drawers. So much information. Even if it’s well organized, there’s a lack of coordination among the various repositories. Connecting the pieces would enhance its value.

Electronic data is no exception.

The Management Performance Hub (MPH) collects data from disparate sources (state agencies, community organizations, for-profits and non-profits) to create visualization tools that help drive outcomes for Hoosiers. Many of MPH’s projects emphasize Gov. Holcomb’s five pillars (economy, infrastructure, health, workforce and government service).

“If there’s new information that’s in multiple pockets, you’re able to unlock additional insights that otherwise would have been previously unearthed,” comments Darshan Shah, Indiana’s chief data officer and MPH’s executive director.

Partnerships have explored recidivism, infant mortality and government transparency, to name a few. An additional example: MPH developed a Crash Risk Map to help predict crashes based on Census data and information such as weather, traffic and road conditions.

Read more about MPH in the current issue of BizVoice® magazine, which includes an interview with Shah in our ExecConnect feature.

“Every time you make information available, it makes folks ask a dozen more questions,” Shah reveals. “If folks look at this (data displays) and they simply say, ‘Thank you,’ that’s probably a bad thing. If you look at this and you come back with a dozen additional questions, now you know … it’s helpful.”

Symone Skrzycki is the senior communications manager for the Indiana Chamber. She is also a senior writer for the Chamber’s award-winning BizVoice magazine and has been with the organization for 19 years.