In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a brilliant chat with Elisa Choy, an economist and data strategist and the Founder of Maven Data. We talk about Elisa’s background in data and strategy and her passion for making better decisions with data, as well as why it’s important to the Smart Community space. Elisa tells us what Maven Data does and shares some really interesting examples of some of their research and insights, such as around the COVID vaccine in Australia, racism in Australia, and also wellness trends globally. We talk about the way data can help us predict trends and behaviour change, and what local governments can learn from the insights from Maven Data, as well as bringing traditional research methods, new market data insights and key stakeholders together to have better conversations. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of questioning existing systems and challenging the status quo, particularly with regards to the rise of women’s voices, and diversity and discrimination in general. For a little bit of context, we recorded this episode on the 5th March 2021 shortly before the Women’s March4Change here in Australia on the 15th March, and you will hear Elisa share how her insights had been predicting the rise of the female roar. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. 

Listen here: 

What we cover in this episode:

• Elisa’s background in data, strategy and commercial outcomes
• Her passion for making better decisions with data
• What sparked Elisa’s interest in data and Smart Cities
• What is a Smart Community to Elisa and why it’s important 
• What Maven Data does with market data and AI
• Some examples of Maven Data’s research and insights, such as around the COVID vaccine in Australia, racism in Australia, and also wellness trends globally
• The way trends and behaviours change and what data can help us predict that
• What local governments can learn from the insights from Maven Data
• Bringing traditional research methods, new market data and key stakeholders together in the conversation
• The emerging trends of questioning existing systems and challenging the status quo, particularly with regards to the rise of women’s voices, and diversity and discrimination in general
• The way these conversations are changing because of mechanisms available to us today 

Quotes:

“The way that we use data now, given the immense amount and also types of data that we can buy, we can collect and scrape, and the technology, the intersection of technology now to be able to process that really fast, really smart and cheaply, accurately. It’s such a beautiful time to be alive, because we can suddenly make better decisions with data.”

“We look at measuring market sentiment and emotion. Because we know that people make decisions through emotions and we know that strong emotions actually change behaviour…We measure emotions and intensity of emotions, a whole raft of things. When we see that we can predict changes in human behaviour, that becomes a trend that will change the market. That’s when we say we predict the future.”

“One area that I think is an opportunity is connecting leaders and decision makers closer to the market, which means having access to market data. In the context of Smart Communities and local governments there is definitely Smart research that you can do to uncover what are the pain points…Because it might be that we all think that this particular issue is an issue. But when we test it, it’s not.”

“We’re in the business of helping businesses remain relevant, including governments, because if you’re not relevant, people don’t care.”

“It’s one thing to find information out like this. The next thing is, how do you take it into a meaningful outcome? And I think the first step to a meaningful outcome is having the right information, having the right insights.”

“I’m very excited and hopeful. We’re in this generation of change. And what I want is just to have the right data-driven approach to take the opinions away, and so we have the same level playing fields. Look at an issue, identify whether it is an issue, and that gives you at least a chance to know to steer it towards the outcome.”

Connect:

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community 

Connect with Elisa on LinkedIn or find Maven Data at mavendata.com.au or on YouTube and Instagram @mavendata 

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community 

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.