Fort Lauderdale is proud to announce that it has been selected as one of 12 new cities to participate in Bloomberg Philanthropies' What Work Cities initiative, one of the largest-ever philanthropic efforts to enhance the use of data in the public sector. As a What Works City, Fort Lauderdale will receive guidance as to how it can better analyze data to improve operations, and how it can share that data with its neighbors. Launched in April 2015, the initiative is now providing support to 39 cities in 25 states and will work with up to 100 mid-sized cities through 2018.
"Today, partnerships between governments and innovative initiatives like the What Works City program are more important than ever as a means of capitalizing on diverse skill sets and expertise in an effort to align strategies, identify efficiencies, maximize resources, and enhance service delivery," said Fort Lauderdale Mayor John P. "Jack" Seiler. "With that in mind, we are excited about this groundbreaking project that will strengthen our commitment to meeting the needs of our neighbors, while advancing the goals encompassed in our shared citywide vision to enhance quality of life and foster an active, vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable City."
Fort Lauderdale began tracking performance measures in 2012 as part of FL²STAT, the City's strategic management system. The goal was to ensure it stays on course to achieve the goals outlined in its citywide community Vision Plan, Fast Forward Fort Lauderdale. As a What Works City, Fort Lauderdale intends to take its strategic management system to the next level by closely examining the data it captures to determine the root cause of issues where performance measurements may be lagging. Based on the data, resources would then be adjusted accordingly to improve efficiency and expedite service delivery.
As part of the program, Fort Lauderdale will also receive assistance developing an Open Data Policy, which will provide a framework to make more data available to the public. By sharing the information it gathers, the City will enhance transparency and better educate neighbors about City operations. Sharing new data will also open additional channels of communication by engaging a broader audience of neighbors, businesses, stakeholders, and other organizations and entities in the governmental process.
Fort Lauderdale is one of the newest cities to join a growing movement of communities whose leaders are making a public commitment to enhancing their cities' use of data and to improve services, inform local decision-making, and engage residents. The cities of Baltimore, Maryland; Buffalo, New York; Cape Coral, Florida; Greensboro, North Carolina; Gresham, Oregon; Kansas City, Kansas; Naperville, Illinois; Providence, Rhode Island; Scottsdale, Arizona; Topeka, Kansas; and Wichita, Kansas, were also selected to join the initiative today.
The consortium of leading organizations that has been assembled by Bloomberg Philanthropies to provide a program of expert support includes the Behavioral Insights Team, the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, the Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, Results for America, and the Sunlight Foundation. For more information, visit www.whatworkscities.org
