Programmatic Management Support and Services for National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
Environment and Climate Resiliency
The Cloudburst Group provides program management and support for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Environmental Tracking Program (Tracking Program). The Tracking Program is the ongoing collection, integration, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data from environmental hazard monitoring, and from human exposure and health effects surveillance. CDC provides funds to 26 state and local health departments to develop local tracking networks. These networks feed into the National Tracking Network. The Tracking Program makes use of workgroups, teams and forums to collaboratively develop desired functionality and capabilities of the Tracking Network. These various workgroups, teams and forums are comprised of CDC staff, CDC contractors, state and local health and environmental agencies, academia, national organizations, and other federal organizations. The Cloudburst Group provides the facilitation, coordination, recordkeeping and knowledge management support and the facilitation for all the project related workgroups and teams.
Over the last twelve years the Tracking Program has significantly enhanced access to environmental health surveillance information and expanded environmental health capacity nationwide. The Network, officially launched in 2006, serves as a standards-based environmental public health surveillance system that allows researchers, members of the public, decision-makers, and environmental health practitioners means to access and use data and information on environmental conditions, health outcomes, and potential exposure pathways. In addition to development of a national portal, Network participants have established more than two dozen other portals across states and one city (NYC). This extensive Network not only provides access to nationally-consistent and state-specific data at multiple resolutions, but to reports, tools, and success stories reflecting epidemiologic studies, interventions in communities at risk, and public policy recommendations based on use of the data. More than two hundred public health actions have been documented based on the Tracking Program and Network between 2002 and 2013.
The Cloudburst Group provides technical expertise to the CDC Tracking program by developing and summarizing studies, analyses, and reports related to public health and environmental surveillance programs. We also offer strategic thinking/planning support to the Tracking Program vision, goals, and objectives as needed which includes identification or gathering of success stories, facilitation of strategic thinking around Network content and structure, and promotion of novel ideas and options that help to further Tracking content and goals.
Our research partners for the Tracking Program are Ross Strategic and Social & Scientific Systems.