Client: City of Ottawa Covid-19 Dashboard

Problem:  As citizens of Ottawa, our firm members recognized that local management of the Covid-19 pandemic would require a great deal of understanding, alignment and coordination. In April of 2020, we observed a great deal of public confusion and uncertainty about the evolution and severity of Covid-19 in the community. Many people were overwhelmed in consuming complex data tables and epidemiology reports. We were all being bombarded by too many sources of unreliable and irrelevant data, and the citizens of Ottawa needed to see a path through the pandemic. They were seeking transparency over the key information that would be used for decision-making going forward.

Solution: Nīewe Consulting (formerly Baiame) took the initiative to develop and offer the City of Ottawa a design for a public-facing dashboard, or communication tool, that could be posted on the City of Ottawa’s website. This would provide an easily accessible, simplified, visual and consumable view of City of Ottawa’s Covid-19 data.

Impact: Utilizing our design, the City of Ottawa Covid-19 Dashboard launched in June 2020 and has been maintained daily since its onset. It has evolved over time to include additional indicators for local monitoring, as well as the increased inclusion of emerging data used for informing re-opening decisions. The dashboard has provided clarity to the community and has helped to establish a sense of trust and appreciation for the openness and accessibility of Ottawa Public Health data.

Our firm wishes to sincerely thank Dr. Vera Etches, Medical Officer of Health, for her ongoing commitment to transparency and for allowing our firm to play a small part in our collective response to Covid-19.