Twenty-two different mayors from North and South American cities have banded together to join the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance to be able to make better informed decisions based on data collection.
The group aims at being able to target issues such as virus outbreaks, address inequalities, managing hospital capacities, communicating with the public, and understanding lockdown policies.
“These local governments are already leaders in using data to transform public services and deliver more for residents, especially those who’ve been left behind,” said James Anderson, who leads Government Innovation at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how central data is to government that works. The Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance will help these cities detect problems earlier, manage resources more effectively, and target resources to those who need them.”
The investment total of this new group will be $60 million, which will give mayors and their senior staff training around using critical data capacity in areas like performance management, procurement, evaluation, or data as a service.
Some of the cities that will be participating in this group include cities from seven different countries, including Baltimore, Md.; Baton Rouge, La.; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Charleston, S.C.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Detroit; Fortaleza, Brazil; and Guadalajara, Mexico.
“This group was hand-selected because they’ve already demonstrated they’re committed to using data to drive impacts in their communities,” says Beth Blauer, associate vice provost for Public Sector Innovation at Johns Hopkins University and a leader of the new program. “But the reality is that no city has fully integrated this practice across all of their work. The City Data Alliance will define the future together with these mayors who already have been pushing the field forward.”
