The CAN Dashboard is a rich source of local information about the socio-economic well-being of Austin and Travis County, and serves as a key resource for advocates, families, policymakers, and researchers for understanding our diverse, dynamic, and rapidly growing community. The CAN Dashboard  tracks 17 indicators that help us assess community well-being in four areas: Safety, Justice and Engagement; Basic Needs; Health; and Achieving Our Full Potential. The report calls attention to areas where our community is strong as well as areas where challenges exist or may be developing. In so doing, the CAN Dashboard helps to more effectively steer our community’s efforts and resources. The 10th edition of the CAN Dashboard will be released on June 6, 2019.

On this 10th anniversary of the CAN Dashboard, we offer 10 reasons that the CAN Community Dashboard is an indispensable resource to advocates, policymakers, researchers, and others who use data to inform decision making:

1. It helps to develop a holistic understanding of our community’s overall well-being and identify areas of collective attention and action.
2. It is updated annually so it is a report that we can rely-on year-in and year-out.
3. It reports on the 5-year trend for each indicator so that we don’t have to try to draw conclusions from just one year’s worth of data.
4. The indicator data are displayed for a variety of geographic levels, allowing us to compare outcomes for Austin to outcomes for other cities/counties, the state, and the nation.
5. It includes a target for each indicator and a target year to reach that indicator, allowing us to determine if we are on track to meet the target.
6. It helps us to assess how different racial/ethnic communities are fairing compared to the broader community and where we should focus our attention and resources.
7. It includes a one-page analysis for each indicator that: outlines where we stand; presents related research/data; and outlines local efforts to improve outcomes.
8. The indicator data in the CAN Dashboard data and additional data that drills-down into each policy area are available to users through a user-friendly interface on our website: www.dashboard.canatx.org .
9. It includes the “Dashboard at a Glance” feature so that we can  quickly assess historical trends and the likelihood of meeting data targets.
10. The CAN Dashboard has now been a trusted source of information for 10 years.