Giving Compass' Take:

• Bloomberg Philanthropies created the What Works Cities initiative that supports local city governments who use data and evidence-based management.

• How can donors support cities and local governments that are part of the What Works Cities initiative? How can civic tech benefit your city?

• Read more about the What Works Cities initiative and the 90 city network it created.


What Works Cities, a Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative that supports the use of data and evidence-based management within local government, has bestowed another round of certifications on cities across the country.

What Works Cities grades localities based on 45 criteria related to data- and evidence-based governance, including whether they use data to set goals and track progress, as well as their proficiency at engaging the public about their use of data and evidence. Other key factors for evaluation are whether there is dedicated staff for this work, whether contracts are being rewarded based on past performance, and whether meetings are focused on numbers, among other things.

A motivating factor for this system is to create benchmarks for this work, which for many years has been somewhat undefined. The end goal is to motivate and guide local government to make progress when it comes to driving results for their residents. Essentially, this is a structural program that gives awards when this type of governance is used to improve quality of life citywide. The certification program is open to any city in the U.S. with more than 30,000 residents.

Simply applying for certification can also have benefits for cities. After a city completes its certification bid, it gets access to pro bono tools provided by the organization, including online training resources via the What Works Cities Academy.

This year’s certification recipients were culled from a pool of 90 assessments:

  • PHILLY SMART CITY LEADER NAMED KNIGHT FOUNDATION LOCAL DIRECTOR
  • BOSTON MAKES ACCESSIBILITY UPDATES TO ITS WEBSITE
  • SYRACUSE, N.Y., CELEBRATES INAUGURAL TECH WEEK

Read the full article about What Works Cities certifications by Zack Quaintance at Government Technology.