City administrators are using technology to help them better deliver services, improve planning processes, and increase public engagement.
In their efforts to manage cities more effectively and efficiently, many local administrations are turning to “urban informatics”—the use of information and communications technology to better understand metropolitan needs, challenges, and opportunities. Recently, we conducted research, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, to determine which applications of urban informatics were being piloted around the world and what type of impact these efforts were having. We reviewed the published literature on the subject and interviewed more than 65 people in city government, academia, and the technology industry. Based on our analysis of 200 deployments, we have grouped these applications into three general categories:
Using existing city data to improve service delivery;
Building new data for better operational and planning decisions; and
Increasing public engagement to improve problem solving.
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