Bloomberg study reveals ‘huge gap’ in data know-how

A new report conducted by Bridgespan Analysis and Bloomberg Philanthropies finds that although city leaders across the US are committed to using data to improve residents’ lives, they are hampered by a lack of expertise and resources.

The findings show that very few city halls have structures in place to analyse and act on the information they have in ways that can help them transform local government.

The Bridgespan Group spoke to 39 US cities visited by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities (WWC) programme and were supported by applications submitted by 115 cities–representing 40 percent of mid-sized cities in the US.

“Our 115 initial applications from cities indicated that while financial resources are helpful, cities are most looking for expertise, best practices and a peer network,” Sharman Stein, Communications Director at WWC, told Cities Today. “Financial resources were fourth on cities’ list of the support they needed.”

The findings reveal that on ‘releasing data’ 72 percent of city leaders said that while they have invested in a tool or platform to release data to the public, only 18 percent have an established process for regularly releasing data publicly. On ‘taking action’ 70 of the cities surveyed are committed to using data and evidence to make decisions, but just 28 percent modify existing programmes based on the results of evaluations.

“Cities are starting to see what’s possible with these practices, but they need help with the ‘how’,” added Stein. “The WWC Standard provides a roadmap of the steps cities need to take; the resources our partners have created are great ‘how to’ guides that can help all cities to do this work. The tools now exist for ‘do it yourself’ support, and we’ll continue to build more such tools to enable all cities to do this work.”

As a backdrop, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the addition of six new cities to the What Works Cities programme, including Boston, Charlotte, Little Rock, Milwaukee, Raleigh, and Victorville. What Works Cities is now working alongside 27 cities across the US and represent nearly 11 million Americans. The programme, launched by Bloomberg Philanthropies in April 2015, collaborates with participating municipalities to review their current use of data and evidence and provide technical assistance and strategic guidance on cities’ areas for growth.

Stein also confirmed that the study has helped further focus the WWC programme to better assist member cities.

“The results of our analysis frankly confirmed that much of our support is meeting cities’ needs,” she said. “It did emphasise the value of a peer-city network to help support practices. We had already started building that network, allowing similar, ‘peer’ cities to connect with each other to share best practices, but we’re working to enhance it.”

More cities will be announced as members of the WWC initiative on a rolling basis with the next intake due to take place over the US summer.