Civilytics Consulting

About Civilytics

Civilytics Consulting is a data science consulting firm founded in 2016. We provide data science software solutions, social science research and analysis, and training in the higher education, K-12 education, criminal justice, and public finance sectors.

Read our latest coverage on the American Rescue Plan Funds for Local Governments

What sets Civilytics apart?

Open Source, Open Tools, and Open Data

Civilytics focuses on open software and data solutions that empower research firms, journalists, government agencies, and non-profit organizations with clear, transparent, and impactful analytic solutions to meet their needs. Civilytics offers:

  • Deep expertise working with practitioners
  • World-class development capabilities in R
  • Excellent data communication skills
  • Adaptability to emerging challenges

A picture of a schoolhouse in Watertown, MA

K-12 Education

We got our start (personally and professionally!) in K-12 education and have worked with nonprofits, districts, state education agencies, and the federal government on K-12 projects including:

  • Analytics and data system design
  • Evaluation and research design
  • Data analysis, visualization, and data integration
  • Research ethics, equity, and community engagement

Higher Education

Our K-12 education work quickly led to higher education projects, especially those focused on:

  • Predictive analytics for enrollment and retention trends
  • Using public data sources to plan recruitment
  • Data system and organizational capacity building

How to Take Back the Budget, the title page from the report of this name.

Public Finance

Our whole focus is data analysis for civic good. A very important component of that is tools and analysis to empower communities to share their perspective on where public funds should be spent. Our recent work in this area is focused on:

  • State and local government fiscal stabilization funds
  • Public budgeting
  • City and county finance

Campus policing toolkit

Policing

We’re committed to providing accessible, actionable analysis of policing data so that community groups have more information and a larger platform to rethink public safety in America. We’ve worked independently and with non-profit and for-profit groups to put out:

  • Tools comparing police department sizes, pricing policing and alternative social programs, etc.
  • Independent research on calls for service, police deployment, and the geography of policing
  • Toolkits to help groups use this information in their community

Data Science

We deploy the appropriate data science tools across content areas, focusing not just on the software and statistics but the ethical and practical concerns. We’re experts in:

  • Multilevel modeling tools
  • Modeling strategies for public sector work
  • Data pipelines, infrastructure, and preparation