City of Cambridge Achieves 2021 What Works Cities Gold Certification. Cambridge Recognized as One of the Best American Cities at Using Data and Evidence to Improve Residents’ Lives
[ad_1]
The City of Cambridge announced today that it has received What Works Cities Gold Certification 2021. What Works Cities certification, the national standard of excellence for data-driven city government, assesses how well cities are managed by measuring the extent to which city leaders use data and evidence in their decision-making. What Works Cities is a national initiative by Bloomberg Philanthropies to help cities use data and evidence more effectively to meet their most pressing challenges.
Cambridge is one of only 13 gold certified cities in the country.
“I am incredibly proud of this advancement from silver to gold certification as it shows the city’s continued commitment to data-driven decision making,” said Louis A. DePasquale, Cambridge City Manager. “Our commitment to What Works Cities has enabled us to more effectively deliver services and programs to the Cambridge community.”
What Works Cities Certification evaluates cities based on their data-driven decision-making practices, such as: For example, whether they are using data to set goals and track progress, allocate funding, evaluate program effectiveness, and get desired outcomes from third-party contracts. The program also measures whether cities are communicating publicly and transparently about their use of data and evidence.
“The technical support and learning opportunities from What Works Cities’ expert partners have helped the city’s team grow and enhance its data practices,” said Lee Gianetti, Cambridge Director of Communications. “Our increased capacity to use data and evidence in our day-to-day operations played a key role over the past year as the city implemented strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Over the past year, Cambridge has shown measurable progress in basic data practices. Some notable examples of the city’s use of data include:
“This certification represents years of hard work by departments, large and small, across town, leveraging data to better serve the public,” said Josh Wolff, Cambridge Data Analytics & Open Data Program Manager.
The 16 new cities that received certification this year include four gold-level cities (Austin, TX; Chattanooga, TN; Detroit, MI; and Gilbert, AZ) and 12 silver-level cities: Baton Rouge, LA ; Bellevue, WA; Fort Collins, CO; Glendale, AZ; Irving, Texas; Little Rock, AR; Madison, WI; Minneapolis, MN; Norfolk, VA; Portland, OR; San Antonio, Texas; and Syracuse, NY.
Additionally, three cities that were previously certified advanced to the next level of certification: Cambridge, MA (Gold); Memphis, TN (gold); and Phoenix, AZ (gold). Four cities renewed their certification this year: South Bend, IN (Silver); San Jose, CA (silver); Tempe, AZ (gold); and Topeka, KS (silver).
“City leaders are using data to understand and support residents’ needs like never before,” said Michele Jolin, CEO and co-founder of Results for America, lead partner of What Works Cities initiative. “During the COVID crisis and a historic reckoning of racial injustice, mayors have relied on data to identify and close racial gaps and make smarter investments that increase the opportunities for all of their residents. These cities test new solutions and measure what works, rebuild “Trust in government by engaging with their residents and using evidence and data to make faster progress on their toughest challenges.”
Cities that have received certification in the past few years include: Arlington, TX (Gold 2020), Boston, MA (Silver 2020), Boulder, CO (Silver 2020), Cambridge, MA (Silver 2020), Charlotte, NC (Silver 2020), Cincinnati, Ohio (Silver 2020), Kansas City, MO (Gold 2020), Los Angeles, CA (Platinum 2020), Louisville, KY (Platinum 2020), Memphis, TN (Silver 2020), Mesa, AZ (Silver 2020), New Orleans, LA (Silver 2020), Philadelphia, PA (Silver 2020), Phoenix, AZ (Silver 2020), San Diego, CA (Silver 2020), San Francisco, CA (Gold 2020), San Jose, CA (Silver 2020), Scottsdale, AZ (Silver 2020), Seattle, WA (Gold 2020), South Bend, IN (Silver 2020), Topeka, KS (Silver 2020), Tulsa, OK (Silver 2020) and Washington, DC (Gold 2020)).
Jennifer Park, Founding Director of What Works Cities Certification, said, “Since the inception of certification, cities have made tremendous strides in their ability to build the data capacity and skills needed to make decisions with data and evidence. Cities used data and evidence to guide their response to COVID, address budget deficits, rethink public safety, advance justice, and more. Data wasn’t just a valuable tool for city guides – it was a necessity. ”
What Works Cities Certification was developed by a team of experts from Results for America in close collaboration with the What Works Cities Certification Standard Committee. To rate cities, these experts ran a rigorous validation process of the cities’ certification ratings and took part in site visits in the top performing cities to determine the city’s level of certification.
The program has inspired a movement of cities to redouble their commitment to building the best-run local government, using certification as a roadmap. More than 200 cities have completed a certification assessment to compare their practices with the national standard. The assessment is the first step in obtaining exclusive support from What Works Cities to continue building more effective local government. To learn more about the program and how to participate, visit https://whatworkscities.bloomberg.org/certification/.
[ad_2]
