What Works Cities expands to 12 more cities, launches toolkit for city leaders
Twelve U.S. cities have been selected to join What Works Cities, a national program to help municipalities do more with their data, according to an announcement Monday.
The new member cities join 27 more that are already participating in the Bloomberg Philanthropies-sponsored initiative, which provides technical assistance and advice on how to best analyze and use data to make decisions. The initiative is overseen by Results for America.
The new cities are:
- Baltimore
- Buffalo, New York
- Cape Coral, Florida
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Greensboro, North Carolina
- Gresham, Oregon
- Kansas City, Kansas
- Naperville, Illinois
- Providence, Rhode Island
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Topeka, Kansas
- Wichita, Kansas
“These city leaders are committed to utilizing data to make better decisions, engage residents and hold themselves accountable,” James Anderson, the head of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ government innovation program, said in a release.
[Read more: ‘What Works Cities’ network uses Slack to trade open data ideas]
In addition to announcing the newly selected cities, the organization also released a free online toolkit for selected cities and other municipalities interested in data. The toolkit includes helpful links and resources that cover how to get started within the What Works Cities movement, how to build policies and implement open data, how to manage city performance with technology tools, ways to include contractors in the process, as well as videos and testimonials from successful cities who have already been a part of the program.
Launched last year, What Works Cities aims to help 100 cities use data and evidence more effectively through 2018. The initiative will look to reach 61 more cities between now and then.
Contact the reporter who wrote this story at jake.williams@statescoop.com and follow him on Twitter @JakeWilliamsDC.
