Improved information and data systems would enable regional actors to further meet the shifting demands on our adult education and training systems. With ongoing implementation of WIOA, stakeholders have mechanisms to test and scale new practices based on demand-driven strategies and industry engagement. Appropriate data and analysis can help refocus educational and training programs around shared goals, illuminate additional strategies for inclusive growth, and demonstrate economic outcomes across approaches or geographies. For example, good data — disaggregated by race, gender, income, disability, or neighborhood — can reveal the economic conditions that different communities face and their barriers to achieving upward mobility. By connecting existing datasets, educators and training providers would enhance their ability to adjust programming and curricula in response to local and regional needs. Enhanced information and data systems are also necessary to pursue other regional strategies, such as rationalizing and coordinating specific educational programs across multiple providers. In pursuing these goals, CMAP and partners should emphasize the need for relevant and accurate data that can be reliably located, integrated, and analyzed. Action 1 Expand integrated data systems and provide better data by building on lessons learned from development of the Illinois Longitudinal Data System and Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership’s Career Connect. Implementers State and local policy makers, in partnership with workforce funders Action 2 Invest in the development, integration, and availability of longitudinal workforce and education data that best informs public policy. Implementers Federal, state, and local policy makers, in partnership with workforce funders Action 3 Identify appropriate opportunities to address gaps, scale cooperation, and leverage data to inform programming and decision making. Implementers Education and training providers Action 4 Provide the data that education and training providers require to connect their programs to business performance and participant outcomes. Integrated data systems should support metrics like time to job placement, speed to job promotion, length of continued employment, cost of recruitment and training, or employer productivity and quality outcomes. Implementers State and local policy makers, in partnership with workforce funders Action 5 Develop and implement a shared vision for inclusive growth in northeastern Illinois, as well as define key metrics to track regional progress toward inclusive growth goals. Implementers Governments, business and civic leaders, and other regional actors