# Data submissions

**Data Midsouth is only as useful as the data it contains.** 

Whether you work for an organization that collects civic data or you're a community member who knows something useful exists — **there's a way for you to contribute**.

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### Ways to contribute

You don't need technical skills to make the portal better. 

Here are **three ways** to **get involved**:

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### Submit a dataset you know about

Even if you don't have the file yourself, tell us it exists. If you know a local agency, court, or organization collects data that isn't in the portal yet, that tip alone is valuable.
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### Recommend a tool or resource 

Know of a dashboard, report, or data tool that helps people understand conditions in Memphis? We can review it for inclusion in the catalog.
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### Request an improvement

Spotted a missing field, a confusing definition, or a dataset that hasn't been updated in a while? Let us know. For more guidance, visit [request-or-suggest](https://help.datamidsouth.org/data-midsouth-portal/contribute-and-participate/request-or-suggest "mention"). 

Small fixes make a big difference for everyone using the portal.
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## For organizations

Most community members use Data Midsouth to explore and download. But some people also contribute.

### Share your data

If your organization **collects data** about **conditions in Memphis and Shelby County** — housing, health, public safety, education, economic development, or anything else that affects our community — we'd love to talk about adding it to the portal.

### Who can submit data?

**Any organization** that collects or maintains civic data relevant to Memphis and Shelby County is welcome to reach out. 

Past and current data providers include local **government** agencies, **nonprofits**, **research** institutions, and **community organizations**. You don't need to be a large organization or have a perfectly clean dataset to start the conversation.

***

### What the process looks like

Getting data into the portal is a collaborative process — the DMS team works with you at every step.

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### Reach out

&#x20;Email the Data Midsouth team at <datamidsouth@innovatememphis.com> to start the conversation. Tell us a little about your organization and the data you have. We respond within 1-3 business days.
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### Review

The DMS team will review the data for scope, quality, and fit with the portal. We may follow up with questions about how the data was collected, how often it's updated, and any privacy or access considerations.
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### **Data-sharing agreement**

If the data is a good fit, we'll work with you to establish a formal data-sharing agreement that defines how the data will be used, attributed, and maintained.
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### **Preparation and publication**

The DMS team handles cleaning, formatting, and publishing the data to the portal. We'll work with you to write accurate metadata and documentation so users understand what they're looking at.
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### **Ongoing maintenance**

We'll stay in touch about refresh schedules and any changes to the data over time.
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### What makes a good submission?

You don't need to have everything figured out before reaching out — that's what the conversation is for.&#x20;

That said, data that tends to be a **strong fit** for the portal is:

* **Collected consistently** over time, with a defined update cadence
* **Relevant** to conditions in Shelby County
* Not subject to privacy restrictions that would prevent public sharing
* Accompanied by enough **context** to be useful to a non-specialist audience

***

#### Ready to contribute?&#x20;

Email us at <datamidsouth@innovatememphis.com> — whether you have a dataset to share, a resource to recommend, or just a hunch that something useful is missing. We'll take it from there.


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