News & Media
See all the latest about GovEx from our blog posts, podcast episodes, and media coverage.

Welcome to GovEx’s new online hub
The Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence is proud to debut our updated website, which includes a new look and new features and represents the launch of an ongoing effort to create an online community for data-focused public sector professionals. Among the new...

City AI Connection: Using Value Sensitive Design to Advance Equity in Government AI
City AI Connection is a series of posts on emerging ideas in artificial intelligence, with a focus on government application. These articles are initially shared exclusively with the City AI Connect community and subsequently with a broader audience via the Bloomberg...

GovEx Report: Cities can strengthen State of the City addresses with data
State of the City addresses offer mayors the opportunity to tout achievements and lay out a vision for their cities. Mayors can not only recount the past, but chart a data-driven course toward a brighter tomorrow. By using facts and figures, mayors can showcase not...

Cities Across the Globe Realize the Benefits of Data Strategies
By Amy Edwards Holmes Over the past few years, cities around the world fully and publicly embraced data strategies as a way to advance their visions and deliver real results for their residents. From Little Rock, Arkansas to Maipú, Chile, mayors not only devised and...

NOOO Borders (Italy): Generative Urban AI: le città “intelligenti” ridisegnano il futuro

Government Technology: With Governance, States, Locals Shape Data Strategies

Beyond the Chatbot: AI-Powered Solutions for Cities
City AI Connection is a series of posts on emerging ideas in artificial intelligence, with a focus on government application. These articles are initially shared exclusively with the City AI Connect community and subsequently with a broader audience via the Bloomberg...

Maceió Povão (Brazil): Trabalho do Instituto de Planejamento promove inovação e melhorias urbanísticas em Maceió

Albuquerque Journal: City council passes bill making it harder for Neighborhood associations to protest developments

GovEx convenes city, state, and federal leaders to discuss financing integrated data systems
This week, GovEx partnered with the National Association of Public Administration (NAPA) to convene city, state, and federal government, philanthropic, and nonprofit leaders for a virtual discussion about clarified guidance to help public sector leaders from all...

The Fast Mode: Five Ways GenAI Will Transform Telecommunications as We Know It

Prefeitura de Maceió (Brazil): Ações do Instituto de Planejamento promovem inovação e melhorias urbanísticas em Maceió

GovEx Year In Review 2024
The Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University supports and coaches public sector leaders and their teams to build data-driven operations that use data, research, and analytics to better understand pressing municipal concerns, engage...

Luján 365 (Argentina): Luján de Cuyo avanza hacia una gestión municipal innovadora y eficiente junto a Bloomberg Philanthropies

Derecho y Algoritmos (Digital): Inteligencia Artificial en la gestión municipal: El caso de la Ciudad de Mendoza.

Data for Equity: Reflections on Data for Black Lives III
By K’lila Nooning and Angel Aliseda with the help of Perplexity.AI This November, we were honored to attend and present at the third-annual Data for Black Lives Conference (D4BL III) at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami. D4BL III brought together activists, researchers,...

MeriTalk: GSA Open Government Panel Sees AI as ‘Priority’

JHU Hub: With new initiative, Johns Hopkins aims to enhance its collaborations and impact in Baltimore

Plurale (Brazil): Bloomberg Philanthropies firma parceria com Urban20 para impulsionar ações ambientais

Bloomberg Cities: Taking AI experimentation to the next level in cities

AOL: Opinion: Paterson is a city that seizes opportunities

NECoPA 2024: Public Sector Performance Enhancers
Earlier this month, members of the GovEx team were honored to present during the Northeast Conference on Public Administration (NECoPA) held at Pace University in New York City. GovEx coaches supporting Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative's Data track—Rachel...

Celebrating a year of City AI Connect
Two weeks ago, GovEx marked the one-year anniversary of City AI Connect, the global learning community and digital platform for cities to trial and advance the use of generative artificial intelligence to improve public services. In the year since GovEx and Bloomberg...

Episode #90 – Strengthening Community Food Systems: Resilience Strategies in Adams County, Colorado
In this episode of Data Points, GovEx’s Meg Burke sits down with Tessa Cushman, the Food Access and Systems Coordinator in Adams County, Colorado and a Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellow, to discuss Cushman’s experience putting the Food System Resilience Planning Guide, which GovEx created in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future in 2022, into action.

Cyber Security in the Age of AI — Five Steps for Protecting Government Data
City AI Connection is a series of posts on emerging ideas in artificial intelligence, with a focus on government application. These articles are initially shared exclusively with the City AI Connect community and subsequently with a broader audience via the Bloomberg...

GovEx joins mayors and innovators from around the world in Mexico City for Bloomberg CityLab
Last week, GovEx joined more than 500 mayors and leading policymakers, innovators, and creatives in Mexico City for Bloomberg CityLab, the annual global summit for cities. As the CityLab website explains, the event was founded 11 years ago “on the principle that...

Bloomberg Cities: The most memorable moments from Bloomberg CityLab 2024

Episode #89 – Co-creating Solutions for Economic Mobility: The Opportunity Accelerator
In partnership with Results for America, GovEx helps empower communities to solve problems.

Bloomberg: What It Takes to Make City Solutions Go Viral

DenAI 2024: Uniting Public and Private Sectors for an AI-Enhanced Future
By Maeve Mulholland, Andrew Nicklin, and ChatGPT 4o The DenAI summit, organized by the City and County of Denver in collaboration with the Colorado Technology Association, Slalom, and Visit Denver, drew around 1,000 attendees from the tech world. The day-long event...

Chronicle of Philanthropy: The ‘World’s Mayor’ — How Michael Bloomberg Uses Philanthropy to Change the Way Cities Are Run

CDO Magazine: 4 Critical Data Strategy Success Factors for State and Local Governments

Episode #88 – The GovExperts: Potential of Public Sector AI with Andrew Nicklin
We discuss what generative AI is good at, how cities are interacting with it, and what it means for the workforce.

Acento (Dominican Republic): Bloomberg Philantropies, City Data Alliance y alcaldías

Bloomberg Cities: Strategies for spreading AI throughout local government

2023 Impact Report: GovEx leads the way to data-driven cities of the future
GovEx is proud to present its 2023 Impact Report, “Leading the Way to Data-Driven Cities of the Future.” The report details a year of innovation and evolving efforts to expand the use of data to improve lives around the world. In 2023, GovEx: Expanded our work into 10...

Episode #87 – Increasing Access while Reducing Emissions: Iowa City’s Fare Free Pilot Program
Iowa City and GovEx collaborate to solve a problem: How do you gather ridership data without fares?

TAPinto Paterson: Mayor André Sayegh Kicks Off Paterson’s Participation in Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance

La Prensa Oriente (Colombia): Rionegro se une a la estrategia “City Data Alliance” ¿En qué consiste?

Rochester Beacon: Evans names Rochester’s first chief data officer

City AI Connection: AI and Misinformation
City AI Connection is a series of posts on emerging ideas in artificial intelligence, with a focus on government application. These articles are initially shared exclusively with the City AI Connect community and subsequently with a broader audience via the Bloomberg...

Contexto (Argentina): El programa City Data Alliance en la Capital: eficiencia e innovación

Acciones Verdes (Guatemala): La Ciudad de Guatemala implementará uso de datos municipales e Inteligencia Artificial para beneficio de los ciudadanos

MeriTalk: Bloomberg Philanthropies Taps 23 New Mayors to Join City Data Alliance

Smart Cities World: How Scottsdale is using data to empower the city

Telegraph-Journal: New alliance will help city use data, AI to improve housing, services

Inside Halton: Oakville joins data alliance aimed at improving services

Viví el Oeste (Argentina): Tres de Febrero es una de las cinco comunas argentinas en un prestigioso grupo americano

New Haven Register: New Haven turns to AI and more data to improve city services

91.9 The Bend (Canada): Moncton looks to leverage data through international consortium

Diario Mendoza (Argentina): Luján de Cuyo participó de la City Data Alliance, por su compromiso con la transparencia

Municipal Information Network (Canada): Moncton – City selected to participate in Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance

Diario VI Region (Chile): Municipalidad de San Fernando ingresa al “City Data Alliance”, consorcio internacional que promueve el uso de datos e inteligencia artificial (IA)

Municipalidad Provincial de Piura (Peru): Piura se une a la élite mundial: Alcalde Madrid es seleccionado para el prestigioso Programa City Data Alliance de Bloomberg Philanthropies

Diario Lo Nuestro (Argentina): Con la de otros, el intendente Lanús se fue a los EE.UU y se la hicieron ver clarita

Conurbano Digital (Argentina): San Isidro se suma a City Data Alliance de Bloomberg Philanthropies

El Comercio Online (Argentina): San Isidro se une a la City Data Alliance de Bloomberg Philanthropies

Athens CEO: Athens-Clarke County Selected to Join Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance

Government Technology: The Growing Role of the City-Level Chief Data Officer

CitiesToday: More than 20 cities join international data alliance

Enterate (Argentina): San Miguel de Tucumán se une al City Data Alliance: usar datos para mejorar la vida de las personas

Verdict: How AI is helping smart cities become more data-savvy

El Diario 24 (Argentina): Rossana Chahla se unió a una alianza internacional que promueve el uso de datos para mejorar la vida de las personas

Tucuman Despierta (Argentina): Suman a la intendenta Chahla a una alianza internacional que promueve el uso de datos para mejorar la vida de las personas

NBC Bay Area: Mayor Mahan seeks to use AI to combat San Jose’s biggest problems

Oakville News (Canada): Burton joins team of international mayors with Bloomberg’s City Data Alliance

Hoodline: Tampa Joins the Prestigious Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance, Aiming for Smarter Governance

The Reporter: Carli named to Bloomberg Data Alliance

Smart Cities World: Bloomberg welcomes 23 mayors to the City Data Alliance

WUGA: ACC Joins International Data Alliance, Hopes to Improve Public Service Implementation

WBAY: Mayor Eric Genrich to join Bloomberg Philanthropies’ City Data Alliance

CBS News: Bloomberg’s city data alliance is improving Baltimore communities, 23 mayors from around the world gather in the city to learn how

WYPR: Bloomberg’s City Data Alliance: Lessons in better data capture, decision making

StateScoop: Bloomberg Philanthropies names 23 new mayors to data alliance

Barrett & Greene: What Motivates Local Government to Use Performance Management?

How Machine Learning Really Works
City AI Connection is a series of posts on emerging ideas in artificial intelligence, with a focus on government application. These articles are initially shared exclusively with the City AI Connect community and subsequently with a broader audience via the Bloomberg...

In the News: “How the ‘Most Significant Advancement in Government Transparency’ Came About”
In May, GovEx celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the federal Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act, the country’s pioneering open data law. This groundbreaking, bipartisan legislation mandated an unprecedented level of transparency in federal spending,...

Governing: How the ‘Most Significant Advancement in Government Transparency’ Came About

The Risks of Generative AI: Familiar Challenges and Emerging Threats
City AI Connection is a series of posts on emerging ideas in artificial intelligence, with a focus on government application. These articles are initially shared exclusively with the City AI Connect community and subsequently with a broader audience via the Bloomberg...

Bloomberg Cities: This mayor is innovating on a universal city challenge

Mississippi Today: Crime, potholes, homelessness: Jackson turns to data for answers

GovEx receives Diversity Leadership Award; offers guidance for localizing content
Last week, the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University (GovEx) received a prestigious Diversity Leadership Award from the university’s Diversity Leadership Council. The council has recognized over 200 awardees at its annual ceremony...

La Voz de Maipú (Brazil): Municipalidad lanza “Datos Maipú”, una plataforma de información abierta creada con el apoyo de Bloomberg Philanthropies

Episode #86 – Celebrating 10 Years: Reflections on the DATA Act and the future of open data
GovEx Executive Director Amy Holmes introduces highlights from the organization’s recent event marking the DATA Act’s 10th anniversary.

Celebrating 10 years of the DATA Act
Last week, at GovEx’s event to mark the 10th anniversary of the Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act, Robert Shea, a former leader at the White House Office of Management and Budget, described the Act as “the most significant advancement in government...

Johns Hopkins in Washington, DC: Why data is important for policymakers

Civic Texts: At the 10th anniversary of the DATA Act, bipartisan collaboration around improved transparency shone bright

Fast Company: 3 inspiring projects working to implement real change

Hoodline: Seattle Marks 10 Years of Open Data Mastery at National DATA Act Anniversary Event

White House issues clarified guidance for local governments to support data and evidence investments
By Amy Edwards Holmes Last month, the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updated its Uniform Grants Guidance to explain that federal grants can be used to support data and evaluation. This change will have a major impact,...

Tech Talk Seattle: Seattle Celebrates DATA Act Anniversary

World Economic Forum: These 5 cities are making innovative use of generative AI

Next City: Cities Are at the Forefront of AI and Civic Engagement

WWNO NPR Affiliate: 5th Circuit sees uptick in voting rights cases; LSU gets $160 million grant to study clean energy

Episode #85 – Teaching Mayors to Tap Data’s “Sneaky Super Power”: Bringing People Together
The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative Data Track helps leaders to see the people behind city-level data.

City AI Connection: Take a moment to understand the AI tools cities are rushing to adapt
City AI Connection is a series of posts on emerging ideas in artificial intelligence, with a focus on government application. These articles are initially shared exclusively with the City AI Connect community and subsequently with a broader audience via the Bloomberg...

Bloomberg Cities: When Montevideo ran out of water, data provided a lifeline

Episode #84 – Women’s History Now: The Women Behind the Coronavirus Resource Center
Launched in January 2020, the CRC became
the indispensable COVID-19 data source.

Em Tempo Notícias (Brazil): Prefeitura e Bloomberg Philanthropies lançam Estratégia de Dados para modernizar a gestão municipal

NAPA, GovEx join forces to expand support for local governments
Left to right, Tony Spearman-Leach, NAPA Director of Development and Philanthropy, Gillian Townsend, NAPA Business Development and Philanthropy Manager, Rudy De Leon Dinglas, GovEx Director of Planning and Operations, Terry Gerton, NAPA President and CEO, Amy Edwards...

NBC News: Mayor Frank Scott Jr. touts accountability, progress during 2024 State of the City address

GovEx Executive Director offers Congressional testimony on preparing for AI in public workforces
Last month, GovEx Executive Director Amy Edwards Holmes was asked to submit testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation on the importance of preparing public...

Blog do Magno (Brazil): Prefeitura do Recife lança estratégia de dados para a cidade

ABC News: Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Junior shares vision, goals in ‘State of the City’ address

Lado de Cá (Brazil): Niterói: Prefeitura lança estratégia de dados para a cidade

Niterói News: Prefeitura de Niterói lança estratégia de dados para a cidade

Route Fifty: 5 things your city can do right now to become more food resilient

O Dia (Brazil): Niterói lança estratégia de dados para a cidade

Episode #83 – City AI Connect: Risk vs. Opportunity in Government AI
GovEx launches a new platform for city leaders to trial and advance the use of generative AI in public services.

Seattle launches citywide data strategy as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance
Last month, Seattle became the latest city to release a citywide data strategy as part of its work with the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance. Seattle’s new three-year One Seattle Data Strategy, crafted in collaboration with the Bloomberg Center for...

Innovation in South Bend: I&T Highlights from 2023

Smart Cities Connect: The City of Seattle Launches A Data Strategy to Elevate City Decision-Making Practices

GovEx founder Beth Blauer testifies before Senate committee on implementation of AI in government
Putting artificial intelligence to work in government requires an investment in core data practices at all levels of public service. That’s what GovEx founder Beth Blauer told the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee this week as part of...

City Next (Italy): Piattaforme di analisi predittive per far crescere le smart city

Smart Cities World: Mayor unveils comprehensive One Seattle Data Strategy

Bloomberg Cities: 8 ways Bloomberg Philanthropies advanced public innovation in 2023

GeekWire: Seattle aims to unleash the power of open data through hackathon and new city strategy

GovEx Joins U.S. Tech Policy Network
By Amy Edwards Holmes Recently, I joined a group of local leaders from around the country at the White House to discuss how we can work to align new technology and data practices to improve the lives of all Americans. I’m proud that the Bloomberg Center for...

The Baltimore Banner: Inside Johns Hopkins University’s plan to make Baltimore a national hub for artificial intelligence

Route Fifty: Data literacy: the drive to educate the public sector workforce

American City & County: Report: Mayors are interested in generative AI, but adoption rates remain low

Elettrico Magazine (Italy): Città ancora più smart grazie all’Intelligenza Artificiale generativa

GovEx supports job readiness training in Memphis
This month, GovEx’s Kel Wang, Rudy de Leon Dinglas, and Latricia Boone traveled to Memphis to lead a two-day data and performance management workshop as part of Opportunity Accelerator (OA). GovEx partners with Results for America and other organizations on OA, which...

Barrett & Greene: Unlocking the Power of Data

Technical.ly: Johns Hopkins’ GovEx and Bloomberg Philanthropies launch platform to advance generative AI for public services

GovEx leaders speak at “Knowledge into Action” conference
This week GovEx Executive Director Amy Edwards Holmes, GovEx founder and Associate Vice Provost of Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University Beth Blauer, and Amanda Daflos, Executive Director of our sister center, the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation, spoke...

Rinnovabili (Italy): Bloomberg lancia City AI Connect, l’hub che integra l’IA nella pianificazione

CNBC: From town hall prep to disaster predictions: Mayors descend on Washington to learn how they can use generative AI in their cities

Smart Cities World: AI tools for city management launched at Bloomberg CityLab

Axios: Mayors test out AI tools in city government

Episode #82 – A Year In Review: A conversation with GovEx Executive Director Amy Edwards Holmes on her first year of leadership
Executive Director Amy Holmes reflects on past successes and future goals for GovEx.

GovEx launches City AI Connect, a global community for cities to explore generative AI
Today at Bloomberg Philanthropies CityLab 2023, Bloomberg Philanthropies and GovEx announced the release of City AI Connect, a new global learning community and platform for local governments to explore, collaborate, and accelerate the use of generative artificial...

GovEx founder Beth Blauer joins Impact Maryland panel on youth gun violence
This week, Beth Blauer, founder of GovEx and Associate Vice Provost of Public Sector Innovation at Johns Hopkins University, participated in a panel on youth gun violence in Baltimore as part of the inaugural Impact Maryland event, hosted by the Baltimore Banner....

The Johns Hopkins News-Letter: University announces new School of Government and Policy in D.C.

JHU Hub: Johns Hopkins opens new home in Washington, D.C., announces new School of Government and Policy

The Daily Record: Johns Hopkins launches school of government and policy from new DC home

Bloomberg Cities: How citywide data strategies can connect the dots, drive results

GovEx Spotlight: Baltimore Data Academy
Check out the latest GovEx Spotlight on the Baltimore Data Academy. Listen to our full podcast episode with Baltimore City Chief Data Officer Justin Elszasz here.

GovEx researcher collaborates on study that finds student mask mandates linked to politics, location, demographics
A team of Johns Hopkins University-affiliated education, public health, and data experts found that school mask mandates during the 2021-22 school year were most significantly related to political, demographic, and geographic characteristics, not the number of...

GovEx Chief of Staff Rudy de Leon Dinglas appointed to Maryland Transportation Commission, successfully defends doctoral dissertation
Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) Chief of Staff Rudy de Leon Dinglas was appointed to the Maryland Transportation Commission and successfully defended his doctoral dissertation — all in the same week! Dinglas has been with GovEx since 2019, when he...

New approaches to data collection, use could drive reductions in gun violence
When the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) recently hosted colleagues from the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Gun Violence Solutions (CGVS), a crucial fact emerged from the discussion: to effectively curb alarming rates of gun...

Government Executive: ‘Long, long overdue’: An oral history of the Government Performance and Results Act

Leaders of program training African mayors joins GovEx to share progress, best practices
Representatives from the African Mayoral Leadership Initiative (AMALI) Data Programme joined members of the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) team on Wednesday morning to discuss their efforts to help leaders of African cities leverage a range of data...

The Smart City Journal: How data-savvy cities can tackle growing ethical considerations

MultiPlatform.ai: Johns Hopkins University invests in data science and AI, strengthening capabilities to leverage emerging applications.

JHU Hub: Johns Hopkins makes major investment in the power, promise of data science and artificial intelligence

From COVID-19 to Climate Disasters: Why Food Resilience Matters More Than Ever
Communities across the nation are finding creative ways to build more resilient food system, able to withstand disruptions and disasters and respond to community health needs. These communities are addressing issues like high rates of food insecurity, pollution,...

Data Workforce: We Want to Hear From You!
GovEx is conducting a series of virtual focus groups to gather input on the future of data work in local government, and we want to hear from you! Whether you are a leader, HR professional, or a dedicated data officer, we want to know about your experiences working...

Detroit officials discuss innovative street view program at GovEx
Last week, GovEx and our sister center, the Bloomberg Center for Government Innovation (BCPI), together with 21st Century Cities hosted a presentation from Detroit officials Tamara Fant and Ted Schultz, who discussed their innovative Street View program. In 2018, the...

StateTech: Cities Team Up to Make Data More Effective

Jornal Imprensa Regional (Brazil): Mogi das Cruzes compõe delegação latino-americana em centros de Inovação Pública e Excelência em Governo

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott touts city data usage during meeting of international mayors hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies

Alagoas Alerta (Brazil): Prefeito JHC vai integrar programa de excelência de dados composto por 20 líderes mundiais

CBS News: Mayor Scott among speakers discussing data’s role in serving communities at alliance at Johns Hopkins

Government Technology: Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance Adds 20 New Mayors

Tudo Em (Brazil): Mogi das Cruzes agora é uma das 100 cidades do Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance

Smart Cities World: Data alliance welcomes 20 North- and South American mayors

Memo (Argentina): La Ciudad de Mendoza y Ulpiano Suarez, elegidos para unirse a la City Data Alliance

NPR: The COVID public health emergency ends this week. Here’s what’s changing

NPR: CDC to stop reporting new COVID infections as public health emergency winds down

Bloomberg Cities: A new frontier in data: upskilling everyone in city hall

Technical.ly: Is Baltimore a leading data city?

Bloomberg Cities: Stream these: 10 city-related podcasts to add to your playlist

Cities Today: Baltimore launches data academy for city staff

Albuquerque Journal: City hopes to boost Black home ownership with support of national accelerator

JHU Hub: Johns Hopkins COVID-19 data hub ends after three years

CBS News: City launches ‘Baltimore Data Academy’ training program for city employees

JHU Hub: Johns Hopkins winds down pioneering pandemic data tracking

NPR: As the pandemic ebbs, an influential COVID tracker shuts down

Bloomberg Cities: Finding “the best” at using data is just the beginning for What Works Cities

New Food System Resilience Planning Guide Helps Cities Prepare for Disruptions
The guide offers food system resilience strategies and tools that can be customized by local governments and policymakers. The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) and the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence developed a new tool, Food System...

‘We must not grow numb to such sorrow’: COVID death toll in US reaches 1 million
The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center dashboard is referenced in this May 2022 article by USA Today. — When the U.S. surpassed 1 million COVID deaths Tuesday, the somber milestone provided yet another reminder of the enormous human toll extracted by...

In wave after deadly wave, COVID has claimed 1 million lives in the U.S.
The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center dashboard is referenced in this May 2022 article by NPR. — One million. That’s how many people have now died from COVID-19 in the U.S. since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University. It’s a toll...

Opportunity Accelerator Launched to Help Governments Drive Economic Mobility and Advance Racial Equity
New Collaboration of Five Organizations—led by Results for America—Will Make Population-Level Progress on Key Outcomes. Results for America, the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, Code for America, the Harvard Kennedy School Government...

Covid-19 data reporting is becoming less frequent, making trends harder to track
Our Johns Hopkins University Centers for Civic Impact Executive Director Beth Blauer is quoted in this April 2022 article by CNN. — Many states are scaling back on how often they report key Covid-19 statistics, a shift that some experts worry might hinder efforts to...

Lessons from the COVID data wizards
Our Johns Hopkins University Centers for Civic Impact Executive Director Beth Blauer is quoted in this March 2022 article by Nature which discusses the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. — In March 2020, Beth Blauer started hearing anecdotally that COVID-19...

New Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance Launches in the U.S., Latin America, and Canada with $60 Million Investment
Program will Help 100 International Cities Set a New Standard of Excellence for Using Data to Make Policy Decisions, Evaluate the Impact of Public Services, and Improve Residents’ Lives New York, NY – Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced the launch of the...

The pandemic’s official global toll surpasses 6 million known virus deaths.
Our Johns Hopkins University Centers for Civic Impact Executive Director Beth Blauer is quoted in a March 2022 article by The New York Times. — Though many global coronavirus trends are rapidly improving as countries emerge from surges driven by the highly...

Four ways to make data work better for residents
If you’re reading this and you work in local government, chances are you already know the importance of data. You might also feel pressure to do more with data: generate more, analyze more, report more. If this neverending push for more makes you feel overwhelmed,...

The US still isn’t getting Covid-19 data right
Our Johns Hopkins University Centers for Civic Impact Executive Director Beth Blauer is quoted in this February 2022 article by CNN. — As the Omicron wave recedes in the United States, public health officials are faced with a new round of decision-making on the best...

U.S. Covid-19 Infections Top One Million After Holiday Backlog
Our Johns Hopkins University Centers for Civic Impact Executive Director Beth Blauer is quoted in this January 2020 article by the Wall Street Journal. — More than one million new Covid-19 infections were reported in the U.S., a sign of the rapid spread of the Omicron...

Covid-19 Data Is a Mess. We Need a Way to Make Sense of It.
Our Johns Hopkins University Centers for Civic Impact Executive Director Beth Blauer along with Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times on November 23, 2020. —...

Data storytelling – Maximizing one pager reports to tell your story
A crucial part of every successful performance management program, — really, of any program — is communicating outcomes. To engage local constituents, the ability to capture their attention and tell them a compelling story is vital. One-pager reports are one tool...

Banish the thumb drive: a call for better internal data sharing
Some people’s pet peeve is loud chewing; others hate the Oxford comma. Here’s mine: thumb drives. First of all, can we choose one name for these things? They’re also referred to as “flash drives,” “jump drives,” and “USB drives,” plus a few other names. Let’s choose...

A Message from Our Executive Director, Beth Blauer
Centers for Civic Impact stand with those fighting against racism and police murdering black people. We unequivocally believe that Black Lives Matter. We acknowledge our organizational privilege and commit to work with public sector organizations who are ready to use...

Algorithm Toolkit Released to Reduce Bias Affecting Residents from Automated Decisions Made By Local Governments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 17, 2018 Contact: Connie Ress, [email protected] CENTER FOR GOVERNMENT EXCELLENCE RELEASES FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND ALGORITHM TOOLKIT TO REDUCE BIAS AFFECTING RESIDENTS FROM AUTOMATED DECISIONS MADE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS Today, the Center for...

4 Tips to a Clear and Friendly Dashboard
A city dashboard’s primary goal is to give citizens a clear, user-friendly tool to see how well their city is doing. When designing your dashboard, always keep in mind how easy it would be for the average citizen to use. If you include too many factors into your...

So you want to start a data academy…
By: Eric Reese Data can be powerful. But to really harness your data, you need people skilled in analysis, data management, and data-informed decision-making. Many cities are taking that lesson to heart and launching their own data academies to help employees learn to...

GovEx Releases New Smart Cities Guide As Part of Research Collaborative
Today, the Center for Government Excellence (GovEx), part of Johns Hopkins University, announced the release of its new Smart Cities guide. Smart cities projects have proliferated in recent years, and this guide captures some of the best examples around the country...

On the Right Path: Improving Bike Safety & Infrastructure in Florence
Since closing its city center to most traffic and launching Europe’s first free-flowing bike share, the Municipality of Florence has become one of the most walkable and bike-friendly cities in the European Union, achieving what Mayor Dario Nardella pledged while...

Taking Charge of Health: Lincoln, NE’s KPIs
Lincoln, NE developed 132 performance indicators to measure the City’s progress toward the 39 goals in the eight outcome areas. On its Taking Charge website, the city displays justification and support for each performance measure and describes the strategy to achieve...

Richmond, VA’s Neighborhood KPIs
Richmond is in the process of aligning its priorities, goals, and metrics. The city has identified 44 KPIs in its seven focus areas to track progress toward the city’s strategic priorities. Richmond tags each Key Priority Indicator (KPI) to the associated initiative...

Being ‘Sensitive’ about Data Sensitivity
Open data is great because it’s open. But not all data is meant to be open. A lot of it is “sensitive.” What could be “open data” is often classified as “sensitive data” to protect the personal information and identity of individuals. Sensitive data may be restricted...

Performance Measures – How Less Becomes More
One day last fall, I was talking with a colleague about a question that had come up from our partners in Baltimore’s performance management program, CitiStatSMART. Those folks were looking to identify key performance indicators (KPI) to use with certain city...