About Me Translating Data into Insights, and Insights into Public Impact

The content and views on this site are mine alone and do not represent the position of current or past employers.
Data Scientist and "Pracademic" for Public Impact
Dennis Linders is a data scientist and applied researcher specializing in the strategic use of data to improve service delivery and guide collaborative problem solving for public impact.
As a practitioner, Dennis serves as Lead for Healthcare Delivery & Access Research within the US Census Bureau's EHealth Program and was previously the Manager for Planning & Analytics in the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. His professional work has focused on extracting new insights from large administrative datasets; using data analytics to guide service integration, place-based initiatives, and collaborative strategic planning; and implementing data and technology-based solutions to enhance the customer experience. As a researcher, Dennis has published in leading journals and World Bank publications on such topics as "smart cities", data-smart government, community analytics, and collaborative service delivery.
Personal Information
- Name Dennis Linders
- Email dennis.linders [at] live.com
- Website dennislinders.com
- Base Rockville, MD
- Training Econ; MPP; InfoScience
- Universities UF; UMD; Leiden U; NTU Singapore
- Work History 1 World Bank; Logistics Mgmt Inst
- Work History 2 Montgomery County MD; Census Bureau
Professional Skills
-
Data-Informed Strategies / Data to Impact / Performance Management
-
Analytics (Python, R, SK-Learn, Stata, SQL, ESRI/QGIS, PowerBI, Tableau)
-
Smart Cities / Open Data / Digital Service Delivery
-
IT Strategic Planning / Enterprise Architecture / Standards
-
Software / Web Development (.NET/C#, Java, Alexa, HTML/JS, XML, WP)
-
Knowledge Management / Communities of Practice
Expertise / Specializations
-
Communicating with Data
Translating data-driven insights into impact requires analysts that can effectively "tell stories with data" to pursuade executives and the general public to take action. My approach combines compelling data visualization techniques with a decade of experience crafting presentations for Mayors and federal leaders, at home and abroad.
-
Data-Informed Strategic Initiatives
One-off paper plans and strategies tend to quickly collect dust and deviate from realities on the ground. I see planning as a continuous process that requires ongoing coordination, living plans, and constant monitoring of progress by maintaining an interactive, data-rich "common operational picture" used by all stakeholders.
-
Research on Data-Smart Innovations
Data and technology can dramatically improving government operations, but leaders are often unclear on how exactly they can realize this potential. My research examines how decision-makers can make use of “smart city” infrastructure, big data analytics, open data, and connected citizens to better plan and manage sustainable and inclusive cities.
-
Learning Across Borders
Government innovation often occurs in unexpected places. I look far and wide for international case studies that show the way forward in using data, technology, and innovative approaches to drive public impact - and I help disseminate emerging best practices by connecting local governments with international peers for two-way knowledge exchanges.
Resume 15+ Years of Experience
Part-Time Post-Graduate Research @ University of Maryland iSchool
2009 - 2017Conducted independent research centered on data-smart public administration, particularly within the domains of Smart Cities, Open Government, and ICT for Development.
National Science Foundation Awardee (x2)
2015Sponsored to participate in the Smart Cities Early-Career Investigator Workshop at Cyber-Physical Systems Week and, seperately, the Graduate Data Science Workshop in Seattle.
Visiting Scholar @ Singapore Internet Research Center (NTU)
2013 - 2014Conducted case studies to examine how Singapore and other leading cities are leveraging smart city infrastructure, big data analytics, and open information systems to promote integrated planning and action on environmental sustainability.
Visiting Summer Fellow @ National Planning Commission - Taiwan ROC
2013Supported Taiwan’s executive branch to incorporate emerging international best practices in its national open government and digital government initiatives. Focused on disseminating its innovative approach to "proactive" e-government service delivery, m-government, and digital inclusion.
Virtual Student Foreign Service @ US State Dep - e-Diplomacy Unit
2011Assisted the e-Diplomacy Team in exploring new opportunities to leverage social media to advance U.S. diplomacy as one of the first participants in this program.
Masters @ University of Maryland, School of Public Policy
2006 - 2008Coursework specialization in economic policy, international development, and digital government. Master thesis entitled "Surfing the People: Tapping into the citizenry's collective intelligence to combat corruption in China." Taught the best-attended discussion section of core graduate-level Public Policy statistics course. 4.0 GPA.
BA Economics / BA International Affairs @ University of Florida
2001 - 2003Dual degrees in economics and international studies as well as extensive coursework in computer science and a minor in business administration. Study abroad in Brussels and Leiden, the Netherlands. 3.9 GPA.
Data Scientist and Lead for Healthcare Delivery and Access Research @ US Census Bureau - EHealth Program
2021 - CurrentServe as the primary data scientist for the Enhancing Health Data (“EHealth”) Program, a pioneering federal initiative that links large-scale administrative health records to restricted internal Census data covering the entire US population and economy to produce new policy insights on the American health care system and the “social determinants” of health. Led the development of the Physician Data Frame, which integrates 30+ large, restricted federal datasets covering terabytes of demographic, business, health, and tax data from six federal agencies over 10 years to uncover important new insights on the accessibility of health care across the country, the impact of COVID-19 on the physician workforce, and industry consolidation.
Manager for Planning & Analytics, Montgomery County Health and Human Services - Director's Office
2018 - 2021Led the launch of department-wide performance and analytics initiatives with 4 direct reports to realize the full potential of a new integrated case management system at $310mil, 1,700-staff department. Initiatives focused on delivering new insights for policy and operational performance improvements through 3 main pillars: (1) interactive dashboards tracking 120k clients across 100+ programs to advance service integration and produce a weekly COVID-19 impact and recovery PULSE report for County leadership; (2) data rich community profiles to drive a place-based approach to service delivery, incl. an aging & vulnerability dashboard to guide COVID outreach and a homeless prevention index used to prioritize $40mil in eviction prevention funds (highlighted as an innovation by the Beeck Center); and (3) launching a Customer Experience initiative that used program data analytics and Customer Journey Mapping to improve public services.
CountyStat Analyst @ Office of the Montgomery County Executive
2014 - 2018Supported local government executives in using data to improve performance and solve problems, incl. in the areas of customer service excellence, IT, government innovation, sustainability, food security, community analytics, and services to seniors and immigrants. Montgomery County provides the full range of County and municipal public services to over a million diverse residents, incl. in such thriving urban areas as Bethesda and Silver Spring.
JPA @ World Bank Urban Development Global Practice
2011 - 2013Helped develop and then coordinate the plans, strategies, and messaging for flagship collaborative initiatives under the World Bank’s Open Knowledge Platform on Urbanization in partnership with over 20 external institutions from across the globe. Initiatives included a "Mayor’s Dashboard"; a global "learning lab" on metropolitan strategic planning; and "smart city" workshops. Also contributed to country-level Urbanization Reviews that use data-driven insights to inform national urban strategies in countries ranging from Ghana to China.
Fellow and IT Strategy Consultant @ Logistics Management Institute
2008 - 2011Served in the highly selective young professionals program at LMI, a trusted, not-for-profit strategic consultancy dedicated to the advancement of government management. Supported a range of government clients in the areas of IT modernization and strategic planning, enterprise architecture, open government, data standards, and knowledge management.
Software Developer / UX Design @ AutoQuotes, Inc.
2004 - 2006Provided critical contributions from start to finish as part of a six-person team in the development of an internet-powered project collaboration suite used by over 20,000 customers worldwide.
Works Select Publications, Presentations, and Team Projects
-
ADULT ENGLISH LITERACY: MAPPING THE NEED (LINK)
ROLE: LEAD ANALYST, MONTGOMERY COUNTY (CLIENT: MCAEL)
Every year, the Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy (MCAEL) collects data from providers on adult ESOL classes they offer and the adult English language learners that participate in these classes. MCAEL works with CountyStat to analyze and map this data. By mapping this data against against community statistics from the Census Bureau, the analysis uncovers where the coalition has been more successful in meeting the needs of Limited English Proficient (LEP) residents and where further opportunities exist.
-
PROACTIVE E-GOVERNANCE IN TAIWAN (LINK)
IN: GOVERNMENT INFORMATION QUARTERLY 2015 & ICEGOV 2013 IN SEOUL
This article examines how Taiwan's strategic commitment to flipping the service delivery model by shifting from the “pull” approach of traditional e-government — whereby the citizen must seek out government services — towards a “push” model, whereby government proactively and seamlessly delivers just-in-time services to citizens shaped around their individual needs, preferences, circumstance, and location. The authors extract common trends and characteristics to articulate a consolidated framework for Proactive e-Governance based on citizen-centricity, data-driven personalization, and the empowerment of frontline civil servants.
(link to slide presentation version).