Chicago launched OpenGrid, an open-source GIS application designed to give city residents easy views and ways to engage with city data. With OpenGrid, users can quickly pull up a map and visualize complex data. OpenGrid’s source code is available for anyone to use, and Chicago hopes that local businesses, community groups, researchers, and other cities will be able to replicate OpenGrid and access data in ways never before possible.

As part of the What Works Cities initiative, the Sunlight Foundation is collecting information on how much money cities are spending on open data. Their goal is to be able to provide cities considering open data projects with a clear and realistic sense of the costs of open data programs. The Sunlight Foundation is encouraging public leaders managing open data programs or budgets for their cities to complete the survey.

Stephen Goldsmith wrote about the importance of standards in open data policies. He explains how data standards lead to data that is shareable and useable, which will be key in moving data-smart innovation forward.

LinkNYC debuted the first of its free public WiFi kiosks in New York City. According to Engadget’s tests, the network speeds from the LinkNYC kiosks clocked in at nearly 10 times faster than the average American’s home network. Only a few kiosks have been installed so far, but LinkNYC aims to have 500 running by July and over 4,450 by 2020.

Govtech and e.Republic Labs unveiled the GovTech 100, a list of the top 100 companies focusing on helping government agencies improve with innovative tools and processes. The list is intended not only to recognize these companies for their work, but to allow governments easily discover companies that could help them with future innovative projects. The companies span the spectrum of civic tech, but many have their roots in open data and strive to help governments become more efficient through data analytics.

CivSource reported on Denver’s partnership with Panasonic on a new smart city project, aiming to make Denver more sustainable and efficient. The project includes programmable street lights to optimize energy usage and new transportation sensors to adjust traffic flows and provide real-time data to residents.

GovTech profiled six cities with populations under 100,000 that are using open data and tech in innovative ways: Manassas, VA; Albany, OR; Palo Alto, CA; Shawnee, KS; Bloomington, IN; and Evanston, IL. The projects range from budget transparency to a tool to help renters locate sustainable housing.

Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the launch of the 2016 Mayors Challenge in Latin America and the Caribbean, following previous rounds of the Mayors Challenge held in the United States and Europe. The competition aims to inspire cities to invent bold solutions for urban problems and improve city life, and will reward $5 million as a grand prize and $1 million to four finalists.

Drawing on UPS’s efficient fleet management, Steve Goldsmith discussed how good usage of data analytics and the Internet of Things could save governments enormous amounts of time and money. Engineers at UPS developed a sophisticated algorithm to ensure delivery vehicles take the most consistent time- and energy- efficient routes, and he suggests that perhaps a similar system could be used for waste collection and management. He notes that, in the future, the Internet of Things could be used to incorporate even more data and informatics to make these practices even better and more efficient.

Researchers at UC Berkeley in the Cool Climate Network developed a new way to visualize carbon emissions. The new mapping tool gives a more realistic visualization of the emissions caused by residents or neighborhoods. CityLab explains how the tool could be adapted by cities worldwide to give to leaders a better understanding of their emission problems and enact targeted policies to curb them.