Data at the Calgary Drop-In Centre

The Calgary Drop-In Centre (DI) has recently undergone a data transformation that ranges from a re-design of information technology infrastructure to how data is analyzed and leveraged to improve program delivery. This talk will provide an overview of how the DI is currently using data as part of its operations as well as some insight into the data analysis and visualization tool development being conducted in collaboration with the University of Calgary.

Dr. Geoff Messier is a Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary. He has over 20 years of industry and academic experience working in information systems and software development. He also spent two years as a project manager working with the team that set up Calgary's first facility where emergency shelter clients can access homecare services. He is currently collaborating with the Calgary Drop-In Centre to develop data tools that will improve the services provided to individuals living with homelessness and addiction.

Kyle Ovens is an emerging leader in Calgary’s homeless sector. He is currently the Manager of System Planning for the Calgary Drop-In Center and oversees program logic, design and implementation for health services, shelter and housing programming at Western Canada’s largest shelter. He has been directly serving individuals experiencing homelessness 2014, starting in Washington D.C., while interning as a lobbyist. He chairs the Drop-In’s Data and Outcomes Committee that has re-envisioned how the agency uses data and allocates resources, which has led to a 52 percent reduction in chronic homelessness at the DI.