The City of Columbia is the 100th city to join the national What Works Cities initiative

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin announces the City of Columbia has been selected as the final city to participate in the What Works Cities initiative. What Works Cities Initiative, part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies, assists partners in using data and evidence to address local issues.  The City of Columbia will be utilizing the partnership to create an open data portal to specifically address repairs and improvements to the local storm water system.

Benjamin says, “In alignment with our 2036 City Vision Statement, we are excited to commit to becoming a smarter city, and joining the What Works Cities Initiative will be a major component of that commitment,” said Mayor Benjamin. “Our utilities and engineering department is always implementing increasingly efficient services, and we’re excited to roll out the new policies.”

“When cities know how to put data at the core of their decision-making, they’re equipped with the tools to best solve local challenges and serve their communities,” said Simone Brody, Executive Director of What Works Cities. “We’re excited to welcome these five cities and very proud to reach our goal of working with 100 cities across the United States.”

Based on this initiative, Columbia will have access to a consortium of expert organizations assembled by Bloomberg Philanthropies to support our city including: the Behavioral Insights Team, the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, theGovernment Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, Results for America and the Sunlight Foundation.

For more information, the report “What Works Cities: How Local Governments Are Changing Lives” summarizes cities’ accomplishments with the initiative. For more information, visit whatworkscities.org.