Symsoft Solutions has much to celebrate, having just earned a $15,000 prize and the notoriety that comes with winning first place in a national open data competition held by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Sacramento-based firm won with its "Where are the jobs?" application that uses government data to help connect unemployed workers with promising careers. With the unemployment rate at nearly 12 percent in California, perhaps joining the fight against joblessness, using technology, is the biggest reward of all.
Savita Farooqui, Managing Partner of Symsoft said her firm had a desire to use data that would help both employers and prospective employees. The challenge was to turn otherwise unusable data into something of value for the public. "Not only is it making the data usable, but you have to think about how you are engaging the user. We wanted to turn the data into information, leading to knowledge, intelligence and then action," she said.
Participants of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Employment Statistics challenge were tasked with using data from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics to create visualizations that assist people in planning their education, considering a career change, moving to a new geographical area, or negotiating pay and benefits.
The Symsoft application allows users to interactively explore the salary and job statistics for various occupations at national, state and regional levels. Check it out here.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s press release can be found here.
