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Civic Data

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This theme encompasses a broad cross-section of public sector data and technology work, which we explore through articles, resources guides, interviews with local leaders, reports on use cases, podcasts, and more. Our pieces highlight cities...

The Data-Smart City Pod

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Welcome to the Data-Smart City Pod! We want to help every listener become “data smart,” which means being better equipped to uncover and address civic problems through data sharing, civic tech, artificial intelligence, and more.

Civic Analytics Network: Helping Cities Unlock the Power of Data

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This article originally appeared in the Spring 2017 Communiqué of Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. By now, most are familiar with the trope expounding on the transformative power of data in our society today...

The Summit on Data-Smart Government Brings Civic Analytics Leaders to Cambridge

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Last month, the Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School hosted the inaugural Summit on Data-Smart Government, convening nonprofit, government, and academic leaders to share lessons, insights, and challenges from communities across the US and world. The...

Harvard Professors Release Guide to Help Civic Leaders Leverage Data for Responsive Governance

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September 2, 2014 The Responsive City Harvard Professors Release Guide to Help Civic Leaders Leverage Data for Responsive Governance The Responsive City: Engaging Communities Through Data-Smart Governance provides a compelling model for the future of more...

Data-Smart Civic Engagement Paper Series

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A Catalog of Civic Data Use Cases

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How can data and analytics be used to enhance city operations? What kinds of operations-enhancing questions have cities asked and answered with data and analytics? The catalog below is an ongoing, regularly-updated resource for those interested in knowing...

Beyond Civic Apps: Making All Apps More Civic

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September 26, 2013 Civic Data This post originally appeared on MIT Center for Civic Media and The Slow Hunch. A few years ago when I was working on the Civic Commons project with Code for America and OpenPlans, I did a presentation at Living Cities called...

Civic Engagement In Focus

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November 8, 2019 Civic Engagement Civic engagement is an ever-important facet of the working relationship between city governments and their residents. Civic engagement involves a meaningful relationship between municipalities and their residents in which...

Funding Civic Technology

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August 19, 2014 Innovation This article will be featured in the Civic Media Reader, forthcoming in 2015 from the MIT Press. As civic technology matures, a key challenge is the field’s lack of leadership and structure in a diverse, multidisciplinary...

Leveraging Civic Data to Improve Public Health and Emergency Management

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August 1, 2016 Public Safety Data is an increasingly important tool to improve city services. Among a city’s most challenging responsibilities is to prepare for, prevent, and respond to emergencies and crises. Several recent advances in technology have...

Building the Civic Switchboard

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April 1, 2013 Civic Engagement Let’s all park our smartphones for a moment and recall an American icon – the old-time switchboard operator. The switchboard operator of yesteryear did far more than connect phone lines – she managed the fabric of her...