Integrated Data Systems Learning Forum

Grow your state’s capacity to use data as a driving force for good.

The Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University is offering an Integrated Data Systems Learning Forum (IDS Learning Forum), a free peer-learning and implementation initiative to help state leaders strengthen integrated data systems, navigate shared challenges, and build more sustainable approaches to connecting and using data for program administration.

Why Now?

States rely on data across Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), workforce, education, and other programs to make critical decisions and deliver services. These data can be fragmented across agencies, vendors, funding streams, and technology platforms, obscuring valuable connections across datasets.

Integrated data systems can help, but building them requires more than technology. It takes cross-agency relationships, data management and governance, sustained financing, technical infrastructure, and the organizational capacity to effectively put data to work.

What is the IDS Learning Forum?

This learning forum will gather state leaders to learn together over the course of several months. While facilitated by the Beeck Center, the value of a learning forum is the opportunity to learn from and with peers facing similar challenges. Participants not only grow their tangible skills, but also their community, perspectives, and shared resources.

Specifically, participating state leaders will have opportunities to:

• Learn from peers tackling similar integration, governance, finance, and implementation challenges.
• Work across agencies to identify opportunities to improve data integration and coordination.
• Access subject matter expertise and technical assistance tailored to state needs.
• Explore sustainable financing strategies, including the funding and cost-allocation questions that can make or break integrated systems.
• Exchange vendor insights in a government-only space to help make informed decisions about what products and services can be procured to address data needs.
• Apply lessons to work currently underway in their state, rather than participating in a purely theoretical learning program.
• Contribute to research, shared resources, and lessons learned that can benefit states across the country.
• Create durable, lasting statewide capacity, in addition to making headway on real-life data integration challenges.

Who is This For?

This opportunity is for state leaders whose work depends on data held by another agency. States participate as cross-agency teams, which will include staff from:

• Medicaid and health agencies, including eligibility, enrollment, and program or systems leaders.
• Human services agencies, including SNAP, integrated eligibility, and benefits administration.
• Workforce agencies, including leaders responsible for unemployment insurance, workforce programs, and employment verification.
• Education agencies, including state longitudinal data systems and P20W+ leaders.
• State chief data officers, chief information officers, and data and technology teams, including leaders responsible for enterprise data governance and management, data interoperability, and shared data infrastructure.
• Budget, finance, and grants management, including leaders responsible for cost allocation, federal claiming, and IT funding approvals.

Not sure if you’re a good fit? Contact us and let’s chat!

What Will Participants Do?

From October 2026 to May 2027, participants will be expected to commit an average of one to two hours per month on IDS Learning Forum activities, which will include a mix of:

• Monthly cohort calls with peer states
• Workshops on topics selected by cohort members
  
• Office hours with subject matter experts
  
• One-on-one check-ins with Beeck Center staff
  
• One in-person convening (Spring 2027)

Cohort members will help shape what the learning forum focuses on. Anticipated topics include: 

• Verifying employment, enrollment, and exemptions for benefits eligibility
  
• Streamlining enrollment and renewal across safety net programs
  
• Complying with Medicaid and SNAP work requirements
  
• Expanding P20W+ systems to include health and human services data
  
• Reducing payment errors and administrative burden in high-volume eligibility work

We’ll also delve into questions like:

• How can states connect data across programs while maintaining privacy, security, and quality?
• What data governance and management strategies are crucial for successful data integration across agencies?
• How should states approach vendors, procurement, and system modernization?
• How should states finance infrastructure that serves more than one program?

What Participation Will Look Like

	Peer learning Monthly structured conversations with counterparts in other states facing similar challenges.
	Cross-agency collaboration Opportunities to bring together leaders across agencies around shared problems.
	Expert support Targeted training, research, tools, and implementation guidance.
	Practical application Support in applying lessons to challenges that participants are actively navigating in their states.
	In-person connection Connecting at an in-person convening to explore what we’ve learned and celebrate our progress.

Benefits of Participating

The goal isn’t simply to learn about integrated data systems. It’s to help states make progress toward building them.

Benefits of participation include:

• Dedicated time and stronger relationships with counterparts across your own state
• A trusted network of peers in other states
• Access to subject matter experts with extensive data integration knowledge
• Access to examples, tools, and approaches from across the country
• A clearer path toward sustainable integrated data capacity
• Better visibility into your state’s data work and possibility to shape national recommendations
• Facilitation from dedicated Beeck Center staff with experience in building networks, developing technical assistance programs, and conducting research.

Interested in Participating?

We’re bringing together state leaders who want to strengthen how their states connect and use data across programs. If this work aligns with challenges or opportunities in your state, complete the form below and we’ll loop you in! Not sure if this is for you? Contact us at IDSLearningForum@georgetown.edu.

Like this idea, but you’re not the right person to participate?

Please share this opportunity with a colleague responsible for eligibility systems, integrated data, benefits administration, or cross-agency data infrastructure.