Enabling Real-Time Data-Driven Public Policy Decision Making
Donald Malcolm Smith, a doctoral candidate in the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore, presented his dissertation, “Program Monitoring and Evaluation: Tools for Measuring the Performance of Federal Policy Agencies” at an Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) Brown Bag on Wednesday, May 4. » Read more
The University of Maryland (UMD) School of Public Health (SPH) awarded the Mark and Tracye Turner Scholarship to Family Science (FMSC) student Dara Winley with at the 6th Annual Dean’s Scholars Dinner on April 7, 2011. Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) CEO Mark Turner and COO Tracye Turner attended the award ceremony to present their scholarship to Ms. Winley, who was unanimously nominated by the department. » Read more
Sarah Newman, a Research Analyst with Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal), presented a Brown Bag titled, “Statewide Longitudinal Data SystemsEnabling: data-based decision making in Florida, North Carolina, and Washington,” on Tuesday, June 14. The discussion focused on the current state of Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS), which collect and store education data that enables states to track students from preschool to post-secondary education or the workforce. » Read more
Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) has developed a social media analysis tool kit as part of its framework to enable real-time public policy decision-making. The tool kit and associated approaches are based on the extensive review and testing of commercially available social media applications conducted over the past year, and also includes multidisciplinary collaborations with universities and experts in social media analytics. » Read more
Dr. Mark Turner, President & CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) has accepted an invitation to join the industry advisory board for the 2nd Annual Workshop on Health IT and Economics (WHITE) held in Washington, DC on October 8th and 9th. He will take part in a panel discussing policy and practice of the currentIT Health Industry. Dr. Turner also served as a member of the workshop’s Policy and Practice Panel at last year’s event, co-sponsored by Optimal. » Read more
On June 15, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) held its fifth annual “Why Be an Economist Day?” for students ranging from college sophomores to graduate students from across the country. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, and the aspiring economists were part of the Summer Institute program sponsored by Howard University. They had the opportunity to benefit from presentations by Optimal’s professional staff.
The National Forum on Education Statistics will hold its annual conference July 25-27 in Washington, DC. The conference focuses on “improving education data through best-practice guides on crime, violence, and discipline incident data, data use, education privacy, and Section 508 Accessibility.” Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) has been accepted for vendor demonstration. » Read more
n 2011, The Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program awarded Optimal Solutions Group, LLC, a $70,000 grant for the development of a virtual collaborative system in health care. The funding was in partnership with the University of Maryland Computer Science Department and Purdue University. » Read more
A recent publication titled “The Productivity of Elected and Appointed Officials: The Case of School Superintendents” aims at measuring elected and appointed school superintendents through a solid and critical quality measures systems established through rigorous research; the academic performance of children in school. » Read more
Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal), hosted University of Maryland (UMD) School of Public Health Dean Robert Gold at its Annual Meeting on Thursday, February 3. The annual meeting focused on establishing goals, generating ideas and providing a framework for Optimal to meet its objectives by providing information, expertise, workshops, and training for its staff. » Read more