The Data Capacity Crisis Explained: A Q&A with Stephen Hardy

Across the country, community leaders are swimming in data but struggling to make sense of it. Dashboards multiply, datasets expand, and yet the people tasked with using data to drive change are often out of time, under-resourced, and overwhelmed.

At mySidewalk, we call this the Data Capacity Crisis: the growing gap between what communities could do with data and what their teams are realistically able to take on. 

Ahead of the webinar Solving the Data Capacity Crisis, CEO Stephen Hardy sat down to talk about why this problem hits so close to home, how it's changing the public and social sectors, and why this moment represents more than a workflow challenge. It represents a transformation in how communities build strategy, make plans, and demonstrate impact.

What do you mean by "Data Capacity Crisis"?

Stephen:
For years, communities were advised that collecting and sharing data would lead to better decisions. And in some ways, that advice has been helpful. Over the past decade, the public and social sectors have made huge progress in collecting and publishing data. We have more open data portals, outcome dashboards, and public reporting than ever before. But the reality is capacity hasn't kept up. 

Teams have more data than they can reasonably analyze, manage, or even find. Hours are spent tracking down numbers, reformatting spreadsheets, and recreating deliverables because nothing carries forward. 

The result is a strange paradox: Communities are rich in data but poor in the capacity required to use it.

This keeps many organizations stuck in reactive, gut-driven decision-making. This isn’t at all because they lack expertise, but because they lack time and tools. The worst part is that the most capable data analysts and storytellers spend 80% of their time on grunt work and only 20% of their time doing the work they are uniquely able to take on. 

Why is this hitting local governments and nonprofits especially hard? 

Stephen:
Because they’re mission-driven but resource-constrained. Cities, counties, and community organizations are under pressure to show progress on everything from housing affordability to public health to economic inclusion. However, they’re often doing it with small teams and outdated tools.

These are people with incredible expertise and commitment — they just don’t have the systems to keep up with the pace of data. When a media request or grant report comes in, someone ends up spending their week wrangling spreadsheets instead of serving their community.

What makes this even harder is that community development has historically relied on intuition and lived experience. Those things matter deeply, but today’s environment requires pairing that expertise with a clear, data-informed narrative.

What are some signs an organization is facing a Data Capacity Crisis?

Stephen:
There are a few clear indicators we see over and over again:

• Too much time spent gathering, not analyzing or communicating. If you’re spending more time wrangling data than turning what you've built into impact, that's a red flag.
• Reporting fatigue. Every deliverable feels like starting from scratch — no reusable workflows, no institutional knowledge building.
• Information silos. Different departments or partners each keep their own data, which makes collaboration slow and error-prone.
• Analysis bottlenecks. Requests for “quick data” take days or weeks to fulfill because only one or two people have the skills or access.

If any of that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. It’s happening across organizations big and small — from city halls to community foundations.

So, how do we start solving it? 

Stephen:
First, by naming it. You can’t fix what you don’t see.
Once teams recognize that capacity is the real bottleneck, they can start designing systems that work for them, not against them.

That might mean investing in a shared data platform, building reusable templates, or bringing automation into your workflow. But it also means giving your people time and tools to think.

At mySidewalk, we believe insight and storytelling shouldn't be what you save for last; it isn't a luxury. Every community should have the capacity to make data-informed decisions and be given the tools to communicate effectively about those choices without burning out the people behind the work. 

But there’s something transformative happening too, and it’s important:
AI is becoming a fundamental part of closing the capacity gap — not as a magic trick, but as an amplifier of human expertise.

AI doesn’t replace the knowledge community leaders bring. It bridges the gap between that knowledge and the technical skills typically required to analyze data. Natural language becomes the interface. Subject matter expertise becomes the driver. And suddenly, building a data-informed strategy becomes achievable for teams who have historically struggled to get there.

You've compared building a strategy or crafting a community development plan to writing complex software. What do you mean by that? 

Stephen:
I love this topic! I spent a decade as a city planner. I spent years building plans (hand-in-hand with residents) that were intended to provide the rules for how our communities would operate and grow. 

Creating a strategic plan (whether for public health, neighborhood revitalization, or economic mobility) is a lot like building complicated software. To do either historically has meant overcoming jargon, dependencies, a huge amount of outlining, structuring, and iteration. You have to synthesize many sources and create something legible, maintainable, and truly aligned.

Plans will stop being static PDFs that sit on shelves. They’ll behave more like living models. They are truly institutional knowledge that can be queried, updated, and applied in real time.

That’s a profound change in how communities make progress, and it means we should fundamentally shift how we do this work.

What can attendees expect from the upcoming webinar? 

Stephen:
This webinar is about getting practical. We’re going to unpack what data capacity looks like in real life — and how organizations can start reclaiming their time and focus. Plus we will share some actionable tips for how other organizations can start creating more capacity immediately. 

I’ll be joined by Sarah Harrison, Vice President of Programs at the Community Foundation Boulder County, and AAron Davis, Director of the Public Health Initiative at the Community Engagement Institute of Wichita State University. They’ll share how they’re bringing transparency, efficiency, and repeatability into their work, and how that is freeing their teams to focus on the mission that matters most. 

This isn’t a tech story. It’s a people story. Solving the Data Capacity Crisis isn’t about having more data. It’s about giving teams the support, structure, and tools to use that data well.

Join the Conversation

If your day-to-day work depends on insight, but your week is consumed by spreadsheets, this conversation is for you. 

Join Stephen Hardy, Sarah Harrison, and AAron Davis for the live webinar:
Solving the Data Capacity Crisis
📅 December 4 @ 1pm CT
🔗 Register Here
📚 Take the quiz - assess your current level of capacity. We’ll share anonymous trends and practical takeaways live! 

Because solving the Data Capacity Crisis isn’t about getting more data — it’s about giving teams the time, tools, and clarity to use it well.