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Fall 2022
When people hear terms like “artificial intelligence” or “algorithm,” some of us picture computers taking over human decision-making, and we are reminded of historical errors in the use of these technologies. This is not at all surprising as the news media tend to focus on errors rather than successes, and I, Robot would have been a pretty boring movie if the artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer had worked to the benefit of people rather than deciding that humans cannot be trusted with their own survival! What we tend to lose sight of is that these terms really just describe complicated decision making processes. The processes themselves are neither sinister nor inherently good – instead, they are simply technologies that can lead to outcomes – constructive or destructive depending on the implementation.
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During the past year the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Office of Reporting, Research, Analytics, and Implementation (ORRAI) has put considerable time and effort into bolstering its research and analytic toolbox. Several “research pod” groups were established with the goal of improving ORRAI’s understanding of the most cutting-edge methods available in the areas of mixed methods research, algorithmic fairness, text analytics, and for the purposes of this project, automated program evaluation.
The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) committee, which is part of the Office of Reporting, Research, Analytics and Implementation (ORRAI), is happy to announce the addition of Ismael Antonio Dujon Padin and Jeff Randall to the IDEA leadership team. Both were nominated to fill the positions made available when Cynthia King and Grace Ramirez completed their two-year service on the leadership team. We want to thank Cynthia and Grace for their contributions on the IDEA leadership team.
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The Office of Reporting, Research, Analytics and Implementation (ORRAI) are pleased to welcome and congratulate our new staff members.
Latha Reddy joined ORRAI as a Information Systems Specialist 5 with the ORRAI reporting team working on behalf of Aging and People with Disabilities program. Reddy previously worked as a Power BI developer.
Seyoung Sung joined ORRAI as a Research Analyst 4 with the research team in ORRAI. Sung previously worked as a Hatfield scholar for Home Forward (Public Housing Authority for Multnomah County) and is currently a PhD candidate in Urban Studies at Portland State University.
Bill Verant joined ORRAI as an Information Systems Specialist 7 with the data warehouse team in ORRAI. Verant previously worked at Willamette Education Service District for 15 years supporting the student and finance information systems, data warehouse and reporting needs for 100 school districts in Oregon.
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