In this hands-on session, attendees will build a filterable point map and text table using the free and user-friendly software, Google Data Studio. No geocoding or mapping experience is required! Attendees will learn the benefits and limitations of using Google Data Studio as a mapping tool.
Participants will need access to a computer and their Google account. Cleaned data will be provided to registrants prior to the session. A basic understanding of connecting a Google Data Studio report to a Google Sheet datasource and of Google Data Studio tools, functions, layout options and sharing options is recommended.
Prepare Before the Session!
Thanks for your interest in the Map It! Session at the 2021 IT Professionals Conference. To get the most out of our time together, you might want to do a little bit of prep work before our live session so you don’t fall behind from the beginning of the demo. There are two things we need you to do:
Make a copy of the data. We’re using a Google Sheet of Dane County Licensed and Certified Daycares. You should be logged in to the same account you want to use for the session (we suggest your @wisc.edu account), and then create a copy of the Google sheet.
Sign in to Google Data Studio. You don’t need to do anything else in Google Data Studio other than logging in. But the first time you log in, you’ll need to go through several steps. Completing these ahead of time will streamline the session.
Based on the Incerto series of books by Lebanese-American author Nassim Taleb this session discusses the properties of a normal distribution and how it is a useful tool for predicting and planning in the world of “Mediocristan” the world of coin flips and human height. However, it is easy to confuse that world with the fat-tailed distributions of “Extremistan” the world of wealth and app sales which make things fragile to black swan events. Next, we’ll introduce a spectrum; on one end is fragility; things that are weak to volatility (teacups, highly specialized tools). In the middle is robustness; things indifferent to volatility (a stone, T-bills). On the other end would be antifragility; things that gain from disorder (muscles, technological innovations). We’ll end with a discussion of some tools to help identify and leverage antifragile systems.
This session will provide a technical look at UW-Madison’s new institutional data warehouse using the platform Snowflake, branded Badger Analytics, hosted by the ETL developers within the Office of Data Management and Analytics Services who were integral to bringing Badger Analytics to life. They will share the story of the modernization of the environment, the project’s progress to date, the architecture, benefits, and how the modernization has revolutionized the work they do and freed up capacity through speed and automation. This practical session, by technical professionals for technical professionals, will provide details about the technologies and how they have been leveraged to provide value and unlock previously unimagined capabilities. Learn about the potential to leverage this modernization for the benefit of other units and divisions within the UW-Madison community.
This session builds on last year’s presentation by Cathy Lloyd, chief data officer, about cloud data warehousing for UW-Madison’s institutional data and the overall analytics strategy.
