COVID-19 Relief Spending Tracker Overlays Community Indicators with Federal Spending
Project on Government Oversight engages RS21 and FuseLab Creative to reveal spending patterns of more than $2.9 trillion
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The federal government has distributed more than $2.9 trillion to support businesses and families through the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. To increase the transparency of government spending, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) launched the COVID-19 Relief Spending Tracker, created in partnership with RS21 and FuseLab Creative. The tracker is uniquely suited to reveal spending patterns by overlaying unemployment, population and minority percentages with overall spending data for more than 15 million transactions.
"Digging through news stories and disparate data sources provides partial information, and it can be difficult to put it all together, let alone draw meaningful conclusions about how or where the money was spent," said Janelle Johnson, project manager for data science company RS21. "The data that powers the COVID-19 Relief Spending Tracker, however, allows people to drill down into the data and see a more holistic story about how money was spent."
POGO, a nonpartisan independent watchdog with 40 years of experience conducting government oversight, announced the project in April. RS21, a data science, artificial intelligence and visualization company, and FuseLab Creative, an interface design agency, began data science, software development, and design production in June.
The spending tracker provides a window into public relief funds and promotes accountability of government spending. Users have access to $1.6 trillion in federal spending data made available by the federal government (about $1.3 trillion in funds remains unaccounted for). An interactive map and table views allow users to easily explore and filter government spending by location based on states, cities and zip codes and compare those spending patterns with data on unemployment rates and population demographics. Using data to assist both high level research and more in-depth inquiries that go into details of specific transactions allows users to better understand if the money missed key communities.
The spending tracker will periodically be updated with new data as well as improved features and functions to further the goals of government transparency and accountability. It can be accessed at http://www.covidtracker.pogo.org.
For more information on how RS21 uses data for good, visit http://www.rs21.io.
ABOUT RS21
RS21 is a rapidly growing, global data science company that uses artificial intelligence, design, and modern software development methods to empower organizations to make data-driven decisions that positively impact the world. Our innovative solutions are insightful, intuitive, inspiring, and intellectually honest. With offices in Albuquerque, NM and Washington, DC, RS21 is a 2020 Inc. 500 fastest-growing company and a Fast Company Best Workplace for Innovators.
We help clients achieve programmatic goals, improve efficiencies, reduce costs, and maximize productivity using MOTHR, our human-centered, artificial intelligence-driven platform that allows users to seamlessly integrate data and reveal insights at hyper speed. We navigate complex data issues in the fields of healthcare, population health, infrastructure resilience, disaster preparedness, supply chain management, community safety, and security and cybersecurity.
Media Contact
Natalie Sommer, RS21, +1 5056151356, [email protected]
SOURCE RS21
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