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As the project updates or completes features, this section will be updated. These dates are intended as an estimated timeline and do not constitute when features will become publicly available.

We are pleased to share the latest quarterly progress on the development of DataVerse. This quarter, the team delivered several key technical enhancements that strengthen the platform’s foundation and usability. In addition, the team began a broader conversation with program staff, data owners, and stakeholders of the system.

Technical Accomplishments

• Application and Data Model Refactor
  A comprehensive refactor of both the application code and underlying data model was completed. This effort improves maintainability, performance, and scalability, laying the groundwork for future feature development. While this is largely invisible work to end users, it greatly simplifies work to add and update the data as it continues to evolve, yielding significant efficiencies to the team.
• User Experience and Navigation Enhancements
  Continued improvements to the platform’s interface include streamlined navigation and visual refinements that enhance clarity and accessibility for all user roles. Of note, long-form content now contains a “table of contents” feature that makes on-page scrolling easier and aids in quickly identifying the content of interest.
• Data Warehouse Monitoring Proof of Concept
  A new ETL console was developed to provide real-time visibility into data warehouse processing. This proof of concept demonstrated how DataVerse can enable faster troubleshooting and better transparency into data pipeline health. This work was a highly collaborative effort between DataVerse and ISBE Data Warehouse development teams.
• Data Import Process From the Data Warehouse
  An import mechanism was implemented to allow ingestion of data from the Data Warehouse into DataVerse. This work proved the ability of DataVerse to ingest data with direct input from Data Warehouse resources. As new datasets, reports, and assets are identified, this process will grow and provide the backbone of data availability through DataVerse.
• User Guide Development
  A user guide has been started that will grow as the application grows. This container of information will provide user documentation “as we build” so by the time the application is ready to launch, a fully functional user guide will is already available.
• Database Server Configuration
  new database server was successfully configured and integrated into the platform’s infrastructure, improving performance, reliability, and future scalability.

Value Proposition and Sustainability

Value Proposition
DataVerse continues to evolve into a centralized platform for data access and a unified agency data dictionary. This quarter’s work strengthens the platform’s ability to serve diverse data roles — from analysts to engineers — by improving usability, transparency, and data quality.

Sustainability
Sustaining this momentum requires continued collaboration, policy alignment, and technical support. The team remains committed to:

• Collaboration
  
  • The Dataverse team began collaboration with Entity Profile System gatekeepers.
  • The team expanded conversation with Data Warehouse developers.
  • The team provided a tool demonstration to ISBE executive directors and directors to solicit feedback and encourage accountability for maintaining up-to-date information in the tool once operational.
• Sustainability
  
  • The adoption of the Data Strategy Policy provides guidance and direction for data ownership and maintenance.
    

Strategic Considerations for Executive Leadership
To ensure long-term success, executive leadership is encouraged to:

• Monitor Engagement: Promote active participation across all data roles.
• Champion Policy Adoption: Reinforce the importance of the Data Strategy Policy.
• Commit Resources: Invest in both technical and programmatic supports.
• Promote Accountability: Foster a culture of shared data stewardship.
  

We are pleased to share key progress updates on the continued development of DataVerse, our evolving data platform. The team has achieved several important milestones this quarter that enhanced the platform’s usability, security, and data interoperability.

Technical Accomplishments

• User Experience Enhancements
  Significant improvements have been made to the platform’s visual design and navigation. These include refined filter and sort functionalities, updated color schemes, and improved iconography to enhance clarity, accessibility, and ease of use.
• Security of Data Governance
  A robust security framework has been implemented, focusing on user, role, and permission management. Integration with MyISBE ensures alignment with organizational data strategy policies and reinforces secure data practices.
• Data Dictionary Development
  Collaboration with program areas has begun to build comprehensive data dictionary records, starting with the Employment Information System (EIS) and the Entity Profile System (EPS). This initiative supports consistent data definitions and improves interoperability across systems.
• Asset Workflow Optimization
  New capabilities have been introduced to streamline the creation and modification of all asset types, enabling a more efficient and scalable workflow for data management.
• Universal QuerySets
  The introduction of Universal QuerySets represents a major advancement in enabling flexible, reusable data queries across the platform, with promising potential to significantly improve data accessibility and analysis.

Value Proposition and Sustainability

Value Proposition
DataVerse will transform how the agency accesses and manages data by providing a centralized platform for data access and a unified agency data dictionary. This quarter, the team collaborated with Educator Effectiveness, the Educator Licensure Information System, EIS, EPS, and Data Strategies and Analytics (DSA) to understand how data is accessed and how metadata is organized. These insights actively shape a platform that supports the full spectrum of agency data roles — from data owners to engineers.

Sustainability
Sustained investment and engagement are essential to maintain this value long term. The platform’s success depends on:

• Ongoing collaboration with agency teams to continuously create and update assets.
• Adoption of the agency’s Data Strategy Policy to define roles, responsibilities, and platform usage.
• Technical support to ensure the platform remains scalable and adaptable.

Initial buy-in from teams, such as DSA, Software Solutions, and TSI, have been promising. However, long-term sustainability hinges on formalizing these efforts through policy and ensuring that all data projects leverage DataVerse as the central hub.

Strategic Considerations for Executive Leadership
To ensure the continued success and long-term impact of DataVerse, executive leadership should:

• Monitor Engagement: Ensure broad and sustained participation from all agency data roles to fully realize the platform’s potential.
• Champion Policy Adoption: Support the implementation of the agency’s Data Strategy Policy to align goals and clarify responsibilities.
• Commit Resources: Invest in both technical and program staff to maintain and evolve the platform post-launch.
• Promote Accountability: Encourage a culture of shared responsibility for data stewardship and asset maintenance.

We are excited to share the latest updates on the ongoing development of DataVerse. The team has made significant progress in several key areas this quarter, ensuring that DataVerse will continue to evolve into a powerful data platform.

• Searchable Catalog of Data Assets: Our team is actively working to implement a comprehensive searchable catalog of data assets. This catalog will include dictionary records, business rules, datasets, and reports, making it easier for users to locate and utilize the information they need efficiently.
• Role-Based Access and Dynamic Redaction: Security remains a top priority for us. We've introduced role-based access to both secure and public data assets. This feature includes dynamic redaction capabilities, ensuring that reports and datasets are tailored to the user's access level. This enhancement will safeguard sensitive information while maintaining usability for all users.
• Administrative Features and Approval Workflow: Early in the design phase, we identified ongoing maintenance and administration as key risks and requirements for DataVerse. Our team has laid the groundwork to support an intuitive and potentially expansive set of administrative features. Initially, we've focused on a simple approval workflow for the ingestion of new dictionary records. This will continue to expand and evolve as we learn from this initial launch and determine how best to automate and integrate with existing processes.
• Application Analytics and Customization: DataVerse leverages application analytics to provide real-time, actionable insights to users about assets in DataVerse. These insights, while initially simple, will expand to inform everything from navigation enhancements to dynamic content governed by ISBE's goals for the information contained in DataVerse.

We are excited about these advancements and remain committed to delivering a platform that empowers our users with efficient, secure, and insightful data management capabilities. Stay tuned for more updates each quarter as we continue to develop and refine DataVerse!