Support the Municipal Data Network (US0090)

Local governments have the ability to enact change and revolutionize services and efficiency by using data analytics and encouraging transparency and the economy through open data. However, municipal governments face challenges in leveraging the data economy — challenges that range from legacy systems to limited resources, capacity, and skills in data. Cities and counties across the country will join to establish a Municipal Data Network, led by San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and supported by Data.gov within the General Services Administration. This network will identify methods to sustainably share and scale data successes related to open data, analytics, performance management, data culture and capacity, data infrastructure and tools, and data standards, so that local governments across the country can accelerate their efforts. In addition, this network will identify opportunities for cross-city partnerships as well as ways to join with the philanthropic and private sector and relevant Federal and state agencies to accelerate data efforts in a repeatable and scalable manner.

For details of these commitments, see the report: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/united-states-mid-term-report-2015-2017/

Commitment 38. Support the Municipal Data Network

Commitment Text:

Support the Municipal Data Network

Local governments have the ability to enact change and revolutionize services and efficiency by using data analytics and encouraging transparency and the economy through open data. However, municipal governments face challenges in leveraging the data economy — challenges that range from legacy systems to limited resources, capacity, and skills in data. Cities and counties across the country will join to establish a Municipal Data Network, led by San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and supported by Data.gov within the General Services Administration. This network will identify methods to sustainably share and scale data successes related to open data, analytics, performance management, data culture and capacity, data infrastructure and tools, and data standards, so that local governments across the country can accelerate their efforts. In addition, this network will identify opportunities for cross-city partnerships as well as ways to join with the philanthropic and private sector and relevant Federal and state agencies to accelerate data efforts in a repeatable and scalable manner.

Responsible Institution: General Services Administration

Supporting Institutions: State and local government leaders, academia, foundations, and civil society stakeholders

Start Date: Not Specified ....... End Date: Not Specified

Commitment Aim

This commitment aimed to establish a Municipal Data Network that would identify ways to share and scale successful data initiatives, such as those related to open data, analytics, and data standards, among others. The network itself further aimed to identify opportunities for partnerships among cities, as well as with philanthropic, private sector, and government actors.

Status

Midterm: Substantial

At the midterm, the government had made substantial progress on this commitment. The Municipal Data Network—now known as the Civic Analytics Network—was established in early 2016 as a network of municipal Chief Data Officers. [538] Members of the network held an in-person meeting in April 2016, with the network also holding monthly teleconferences. [539] By the close of the midterm reporting period, the General Services Administration was also working to link the network with similar initiatives under the umbrella of the US Data Federation (a coordinating mechanism of data.gov). [540]

End of term: Substantial

Progress on this commitment remains substantial at the end of term. Through the close of the end-of-term reporting period (June 2017), the Civic Analytics Network identified and shared a variety of scalable data success stories via blog posts on its website. One such post explores how the city of Boston leveraged data to identify parking meter prices that would reduce traffic congestion and increase parking availability. [541] Another post explores user-friendly features implemented on the city of Chicago’s revamped data portal. [542] While these posts help to share information, they nevertheless do not fulfill the commitment’s aim of clearly identifying methods of scaling the solutions they describe (i.e. facilitating their implementation in other contexts) in a sustainable manner.

On 7-8 November 2017 (several months after the close of the end-of-term reporting period), the Civic Analytics Network was expected to host the inaugural Harvard Summit on Data-Smart Government, comprised of trainings and workshops on “how to transform city services and government through the use of data,” [543] providing a potential forum for the network to identify opportunities for cross-city and cross-sector partnerships (i.e. partnerships involving civil society, philanthropic, private sector, and government actors). However, as this summit lies beyond the close of the reporting period, progress in this area remains nascent at the end of term. Moreover, while the Civic Analytics Network’s website lists a variety of key activities involving civil society and government at the time of writing—including the development of “use cases” in partnership with the University of Chicago’s Center for Data Science and Public Policy, leveraging the Harvard University Ash Center as a central advisory source for network members, and connecting the network’s members to other “data-driven government efforts” like What Works Cities and the Living Cities Accelerator—the IRM researcher was unable to identify concrete progress on these initiatives.

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Marginal

Civic Participation: Marginal

This commitment marginally opened government with respect to access to information and civic participation.

Concerning access to information, the Civic Analytics Network’s success-story blog posts serve to facilitate greater access to information on data successes among Network participants, interested members of civic society, and the public at large. These posts, while noteworthy, constitute a minor improvement relative to the status quo, as numerous other organizations—such as What Works Cities, International Business Machine's (IBM’s) Smarter Cities Program, and the Citi Foundation’s joint City Accelerator initiative—are directly engaged in similar efforts. The lack of concrete efforts to identify methods to sustainably scale successes (as described above) mitigates against a more substantial opening of government in this area.

Concerning civic participation, while the government’s midterm self-assessment report makes note of the network’s attempts to engage with philanthropic organizations and the private sector in the context of Network activities, more concrete efforts had yet to materialize by the end of term, preventing a more substantial opening of government. The November 2017 Summit on Data Smart Government represents an initial concrete step in that direction.

Carried Forward?

At the time of writing, the US government had not published its fourth national action plan, so it is unclear if this commitment will be carried forward. The Civic Analytics Network should nevertheless take more concrete actions to begin developing ties with philanthropic and private sector actors to maximize the network’s potential impact on the cities it serves, while engaging in efforts to scale and implement data successes in a sustainable manner.

[538] The website for original Municipal Data Network (no longer operational) is http://www.munidatanet.org/. The Civic Analytics Network can be found at http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/civic-analytics-network. Consulted 1 July 2017. For additional details on the Civic Analytics Network’s intended scope of activities, see Data-Smart City Solutions. “About the Civic analytics Network: A Network of Leading Chief Data Officers.” Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. 4 May 2016. http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/about-the-civic-analytics-network-826 Consulted 1 July 2017 See also, Civic Analytics Network “Data-Smart City Solutions: About the Civic Analytics Network.” 4 May 2016. http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/about-the-civic-analytics-network-826. Consulted 28 June 2017.

[539] Data-Smart City Solutions. “About the Civic analytics Network: A Network of Leading Chief Data Officers.” 4 May 2016. Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governacne and Innovation. http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/about-the-civic-analytics-network-826. Consulted 1 July 2017.

[540] Open Government Partnership. “United States of America Midterm Self-Assessment Report for the Open Government Partnership: Third Open Government National Action Plan, 2015–2017.” p.39. September 2016. https://www.opengovpartnership.org/sites/default/files/USA_NAP3_self-assessment-report_20160916.pdf. Consulted 2 October 2017.

[541] Cmar, Wyatt. “Using Data to Find the True Price of Parking in Boston.” Civic Analytics Network. 17 May 2017. http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/using-data-to-find-the-true-price-of-parking-in-boston-1045. Consulted 22 September 2017.

[542] Thornton, Sean. “User-Friendliness Defines Chicago’s New Data Portal.” Civic Analytics Network. 20 April 2017.  http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/user-friendliness-defines-chicagos-new-data-portal-1026. Consulted 22 September 2017.

[543] Civic Analytics Network. “Harvard Summit on Data-Smart Government: Overview.” http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/harvard-summit-on-data-smart-government-1118. Consulted 22 September 2017.