GovEx Data Points

--- Why cities need faster, smarter decision-making and why empathy, judgment, and trust still matter most in the age of AI. --- In this episode, Flowers reflects on his path from prosecutor to New York City’s first Chief Analytics Officer and explains how cities can use data to improve operations, break down silos, and better serve residents. He also discusses why governments are struggling to ke...

--- Matt Sokol discusses why better data is the foundation for successful AI, smarter services, and public trust. --- In this episode, Sokol shares how Washington, D.C. is breaking down data silos, improving data quality, and making open data more accessible through tools like DC Compass. He also reflects on lessons cities are learning from one another as they navigate modernization, transparency,...

--- Boston’s Chief Research and Data Officer, Shin-pei Tsay, shares how cities can shift from analytics to impact by focusing on user experience, transparency, and practical AI use. --- This episode explores how the chief data officer role is evolving as cities move from experimentation to real-world results. Tsay reflects on Boston’s approach to using data and AI to improve services, from rethink...

--- Justin Elszasz, former Chief Data Officer for Baltimore and GovEx advisor and CDO-in-Residence, shares what it takes to lead data strategy, navigate complexity, and guide responsible AI use in cities. --- Part of our Meet the CDOs miniseries, this episode explores how the chief data officer role is evolving alongside the rise of AI, why data sharing and governance remain persistent challenges,...

--- Melisa Breda, former Chief Data Officer for Buenos Aires, and GovEx advisor and CDO-in-Residence, shares a candid look at what it takes to make data and AI trusted tools of government. --- Part of our Meet the CDOs miniseries, this episode explores how the chief data officer role is evolving in the age of AI, why strong data governance remains the foundation of innovation, and how cities can m...

--- Results for America CEO Michele Jolin and GovEx's Oliver Wise discuss how governments can use evidence, data, and cross-sector partnerships to fund solutions that improve lives and rebuild public trust. --- In this episode of the Data Points Podcast, GovEx Executive Director Oliver Wise sits down with Michele Jolin, co-founder and CEO of Results for America, to discuss how governments at every...

--- Beth Blauer and Oliver Wise reflect on the roots, risks, and real-world impact of building a data-first culture in government. --- What began as a bold new idea for equipping cities with better data has become a national model for how local government leads with evidence. In this special retrospective, GovEx founder Beth Blauer joins current Executive Director Oliver Wise to share the untold s...

--- With support from the City Data Alliance AI Track, Luján de Cuyo embraced AI and shifted from reactive repairs to proactive service delivery. --- Matías Meric, Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Luján de Cuyo, Argentina, discusses his experience as one of the first eight city leaders to participate in the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance AI Track and the city’s journey from fragmented d...

--- The AI Capacity Quiz is helping cities reflect, compare, and take confident steps forward --- The GovEx team created the AI Capacity Quiz to help local governments understand where they stand with AI and where to go next. In this episode, Mai-Ling Garcia, Justin Elszasz, and Michael Montgomery joined the podcast to talk about how the tool came to life, what makes it different from traditional...

--- The city developed its AI prototype as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance AI Track --- As one of eight cities in the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance AI Track, Guatemala City worked with GovEx coaches to develop an AI prototype to determine where and how to build tree cover to best mitigate the impact of growing urban heat islands. City officials Julia Galindo a...

--- Mayor Renard Johnson’s participation in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative offers an example of the power of data storytelling. --- Today, Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence Executive Director Oliver Wise talks to Mayor Renard Johnson of El Paso, Texas, a participant in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. The city finds itself at the center of two national c...

--- With Conecta Recife and “zero-click” service delivery, the Brazilian tech hub is creating scalable solutions to address resident needs. --- Our new “City Spotlights” highlights GovEx city partners doing great things with data and AI. In this episode, we talk to two public servants from Recife, Brazil: Rafael Cunha, Secretary of Digital Transformation, Science and Technology, and Rafael Toscano...

--- Miami CDO Cheriene Floyd shares how Generative AI is shifting the way cities think about their data. --- A Chief Data Officer’s role in cities is to turn data into a strategic asset, enabling insights that can be leveraged for resident impact. How is this responsibility changing in the age of generative AI? --- We’re joined today by Cheriene Floyd to discuss the shift in how CDOs are making da...

--- Oliver Wise has been a data leader in local and federal government, as well as the private sector, and as GovEx’s new Executive Director, he’s betting on cities to lead the way to Gen AI-driven innovation. --- Learn more about GovEx --- Fill out our listener survey

--- The innovation program that helps African leaders leverage data tools to achieve legacy goals --- Today, we’re talking about the African Mayoral Leadership Initiative or AMALI, which helps African city leaders reach legacy goals and improve local governance. In particular, we’ll talk about the AMALI Data Program, which provides direct coaching and technical support city leaders focused on conn...

--- How can data storytelling improve health outcomes and save lives? The Lung Health Dashboard offers one example. --- Today’s episode explores how effective data storytelling connects the public with life-saving research, using the Lung Health Dashboard as an example. This project a collaboration between GovEx and the Johns Hopkins BREATHE Center, which promotes the science and medicine of lung...

--- According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, transportation accounts for 28% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. For short trips, flying is much more carbon-intensive than rail or bus travel. At Johns Hopkins, faculty members travel the most of all affiliate types, producing more than double the emissions of administrative employees and staff. --- The Johns Hopkins University Office of...

--- The GovExperts is a Data Points mini-series spotlighting the brilliant minds at GovEx who are shaping the future of public sector data work. Today we’re talking to Vidushani Jayalal, who works with cities in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. She talks about the importance of thinking not just about how data works, but about how people work together and solve problems using data...

--- The GovExperts is a Data Points mini-series spotlighting the brilliant minds at GovEx who are shaping the future of public sector data work. Today we’re talking to Dr. Bertran de Lis, GovEx’s Director of Research and Analytics, about her path from astrophysics to data science, what it means for cities to adopt a “Data-Driven Culture,” and her groundbreaking work on the Coronavirus Resource Cen...

--- How well do cities communicate with data? What opportunities are they missing? --- GovEx Senior Research Manager Dr. Jacquie Greiff and Senior Researcher Chance Carter address these questions and more in their recent analysis of 2023 State of the City speeches. Their key finding: While mayors often illustrate progress by referencing data, they rarely offer the kind of context and analysis most...

--- The GovExperts is a Data Points mini-series spotlighting the brilliant minds at GovEx who are shaping the future of public sector data work. Today we’re chatting with Dr. Jessica Arenda, GovEx’s Instructional Designer. She helps us understand what makes adult learning experiences engaging and effective, how to connect with city leaders, and how COVID re-shaped the world of instructional design...

--- Outgoing GovEx Executive Director Amy Edwards Holmes reflects on a momentous year for cities and data --- While the characters in Dr. Strangelove, referenced in the title of this episode, grappled with the invention of the atomic bomb, cities in recent years have only tentatively explored the potential of artificial intelligence to benefit residents. As outgoing GovEx Executive Director Amy Ed...

--- In this episode of Data Points, GovEx’s Meg Burke sits down with Tessa Cushman, the Food Access and Systems Coordinator in Adams County, Colorado and a Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellow, to discuss Cushman’s experience putting the Food System Resilience Planning Guide, which GovEx created in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future in 2022, into action.  --- Bur...

--- In partnership with Results for America, GovEx helps empower communities to solve problems. --- In the latest episode of Data Points, we get an overview of the Opportunity Accelerator, a recently completed program in support of place-based initiatives focused on economic mobility with the goal of specific, population-level outcomes. Place-based initiatives aim to improve quality of life and ac...

--- The GovExperts is the new mini-series from GovEx Data Points spotlighting some of the top minds in public sector data. In our inaugural episode we discuss what generative AI is good at, how cities are interacting with it, and what it means for the workforce. --- We’re chatting with Andrew Nicklin, Senior Research Data Manager at GovEx. Andrew takes us from his early days at the NYC parks depar...