16 Cities Join Bloomberg's What Works Cities Initiative
Portland, Oregon
Since April 2015, the program has assisted 90 mayors and 1,700 city employees share best practices regarding analytics and data-driven decision making.
The Bloomberg Philanthropies has surpassed the halfway mark in its goal to include 100 mid-sized cities in an initiative to help city halls embrace data-driven decision making and citizen engagement strategies.
In an announcement released Monday, a total of 16 new cities—including Portland, Oregon, and Virginia Beach, Virginia—joined the New York City-based organization’s What Works Cities initiative, bringing the number of members to 55 across 33 states.
The network of municipal leaders represents 19 million residents and oversees budgets exceeding $63 billion and, when connected with global experts and vendors, together they can begin to assess services, boost performance and address persistent problems like poverty.
“Mayors in every part of the country and across the political spectrum recognize that data can help city governments continuously improve how they serve citizens, and they are eager to learn from one another,” former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement.
What Works Cities launched in April 2015 and in its 18 months assisted 90 mayors and 1,700 city employees share best practices concerning analytics among other lessons.
Through the initiative San Jose, California, used behavioral insights to curb illegal dumping while Mesa, Arizona, created an index to identify and steer $780,000 in targeted funding to its most blighted neighborhoods.
Selected cities commit themselves to making data more accessible to citizens, publicly track progress toward goals and launch programs increasing contracting accountability.
The other 14 cities in the latest cohort are: Des Moines, Iowa; Hartford, Connecticut; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Olathe, Kansas; Boulder, Colorado; Lincoln, Nebraska; Salt Lake City, Utah; Fort Worth, Texas; Birmingham, Alabama; Syracuse, New York; Madison, Wisconsin; Knoxville, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; and South Bend, Indiana.
Support organizations include The Behavioral Insights Team, Sunlight Foundation, Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, and Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Click here for more information on the initiative.
Dave Nyczepir is a News Editor at Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Washington D.C.
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