States must support K-12 and higher ed initiatives to introduce students to the kinds of skills that will help them compete and fill jobs in the burgeoning data economy, and there also must be support for training opportunities for individuals in the workplace to garner new skills, according to the author of a recent report from the Center for Data Innovation that ranked the states which have been the best in data innovation, including creating available datasets, investing in new technologies and helping to develop “human and business capital.”

“Most of these are not too surprising, in the sense that we’ve come to expect good things from these states, and that can offer advantages,” said Daniel Castro, the center’s director and the co-author of the report, who noted that Massachusetts, a state which fared well in the ranking, has many research universities. “But every leading state had to take a number of corrective actions to come out on top.”

Castro was joined for a webinar question-and-answer session Tuesday by Paul Taylor, the Chief Content Officer for e.Republic, to discuss “The Best States for Data Innovation,” which was originally published in July. The report analyzed a variety of information to determine which states were faring the best in data innovation in a variety of fields. This included an analysis of how states had incorporated efforts regarding data literacy and computer science into their secondary and postsecondary education, with Castro asserting that states could do much in promoting new strategies on the state and local level to take advantage of data innovation.

The report found Arkansas, Delaware and Kentucky had been the most successful in offering statewide support for improving education datasets and systems. According to the report, the practices these states utilized included “building data repositories, linking data across multiple systems, providing timely access to data, and training educators on how to use data effectively.”

During the webinar, Castro cited Oregon as an example of a state that had invested early in establishing robust data practices to improve education practices and outcomes. The Oregon DATA Project began in 2007 that would help educators have access to understandable and accurate data that can have a quick and substantive impact on classroom instruction. According to the report, schools involved in the DATA  Project showed improved test scores on reading and math exams, and Castro said the project indicated that states, even if they felt they were behind on their data practices, should start somewhere, even if they were starting small.

“They’ve come a long way in ways that other states are just starting to get aggressive with,” he said, speaking about Oregon.

Castro noted that there was a lack of acceptable metrics on the federal level, which has often been a point of difficulty in terms of discerning higher ed statistics, from student outcomes in the aftermath of their postsecondary education to the national trends of Pell Grant recipients. In many instances, Castro said, the biggest difficulty for certain individuals and communities was not that there was too much data being collected, but too little data, and that this could have a negative impact. Castro pointed to the rise in interest in personalized learning as an example.

“We’re seeing a lot of experimentation around personalized learning, and we’re seeing states to try to figure out how to get the help they need so they do not drop out,” he said. “You can imagine a student in a school district where a lot of data is being collected about them will receive better educational interventions and better educational outcomes than a data-poor district.”

The report also analyzed the states that were producing the most STEM degree-holders to fill jobs in a burgeoning array of fields. The report cited the McKinsey Global Institute’s estimates that the number of graduates with data science degrees would jump by 7% annually for the next eight years, but the demand for those jobs will jump 12% each year. The report found that the high number of universities in the Boston area helped make Massachusetts the top spot for STEM graduates in the country, with the tech hotspots in the city also helping to draw STEM graduates from neighboring states. Iowa also fared well, and the report noted that California was surprisingly ranked 28th, despite having many prominent engineering schools and significant IT areas.

There have been numerous examples of state initiatives to partner with higher education and K-12 institutions in order to ensure that there are prominent pipelines, particularly into STEM fields. Castro said it was vital to ensure the right questions were being addressed by state legislatures about their own state’s progress on this front.

“Are we actually teaching students the skills they need to thrive in the data economy? Are we including computer science as a core requirement?” he said “Are they actually getting degrees in STEM fields, and are they getting jobs? If not, how can we address that?”