Data Science Institute
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SDG360 Thinking

Screen shot of the SDG 360 app. A colorful wheel has segments for each of the 17 UN sustainable development goals.

Project collaborators

Lori DiPrete Brown, School of Human Ecology
Garrett Smith, DoIT Teaching and Research Application Development
Kyle Cranmer and Abe Megahed, Data Science Institute

Project start and end dates

January 2023 -December 2023

Project summary

Working with the Data Science Institute allowed me to develop my work related to the Sustainable Development Goals and amplify its impact.
—Lori DiPrete Brown

In 2022, the DSI hosted its first symposium focused on the topic of sustainability, and Lori DiPrete Brown presented her SDG360 Thinking model. The presentation included eye-catching graphics that supported visual storytelling. After the symposium, DSI Director Kyle Cranmer proposed to DiPrete Brown that we build a tool that would create customized visualizations based on this model, allowing people to understand challenges and develop plans using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a framework.

This project presented an opportunity for DSI to establish a working relationship with Teaching and Research Application Development (TRAD), an application development team. Garrett Smith of  TRAD was the lead developer of the tool, and Abe Megahed and Kyle Cranmer worked directly with Lori and Garrett to streamline the translation from concept to execution.

DiPrete Brown says that DSI used a trans-disciplinary approach to translate the SDG 360 Thinking model into a versatile digital tool that prompts systemic thinking, enables customized visualizations, and facilitates transparent dialogue about co-benefits, prevention of unintended harms, and equity trade-offs. To date, the tool has been used in a range of settings — from addressing global health challenges, to aiding policy developing in local government, to exploring science-based optimization in agriculture and green energy systems.

The project was implemented as a web application with a Ruby on Rails back end. The main challenges for this project were attaining a positive user experience and getting the application to present well on desktop or mobile platforms. DSI gave feedback on the workflow, the user interface layout, responsive design, and the design and implementation of the main home page.

I appreciated that DSI develops products that are open source and available in the public domain. Being able to share the tool around Wisconsin and the world with no financial barriers to users is a great way to express and fulfill the Wisconsin Idea. I look forward to continued collaboration with DSI.
—Lori DiPrete Brown

Project outputs/deliverables