--- 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 conversations: immigration and AI infrastructure. The mayor is using data to broaden prevailing narratives about El Paso and elevate the social and economic opportunity the metropolitan region has to offer.

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--- 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, Executive Secretary for Science, Technology, and Business.

--- Recife, a city of 3.7 million people that was part of the third cohort of Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance cities, leveraged data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve service delivery. Today, the city continues to build its data infrastructure to make public service faster, fairer, more interconnected, and more human-centered.

--- Recife uses a “describe the problem” approach for requests for proposals, opening the door for creative, innovative solutions to meet residents’ needs. Their app, Conecta Recife, gives residents access to over 800 public services right from their smartphones, and a “zero-click” approach to service delivery automatically provides free parking permits to residents on their 60th birthday. The city views AI as an opportunity to continue the trend of robust digital service delivery by simplifying previously complex, cumbersome problems. For them, AI is not simply a tool, but a strategic pillar for building a more functional government for resident impact.

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--- 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 data work for their residents. Floyd discusses her path from serving as a strategic planning and performance manager in the City of Miami to becoming the city’s first Chief Data Officer. During her ten years of service as a CDO, she has come to view the role as upholding three key pillars: data governance, analytics, and capacity-building, helping departments connect the dots between disparate datasets to see the bigger picture.

--- As AI changes our relationship to data, it further highlights the adage, “garbage in, garbage out.” Floyd discusses how broad awareness of this truth has manifested in greater buy-in among city staff to leverage data to solve problems, while private sector AI adoption has shifted residents’ expectations when seeking public services. Consequently, the task of shepherding public data becomes even more important, and she offers recommendations from her own experiences to meet these challenges.

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--- 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.

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--- 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 Edwards Holmes discusses in this episode, many cities pivoted in 2024 - with GovEx support - to develop thoughtful use cases for AI, based on solid data and comprehensive data strategies. As Holmes prepares to move on, she also discusses the progress GovEx has made in recent years and the crucial work that lies ahead.

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--- 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 department to his pivotal role in launching the NYC Open Data platform, and how this experience led him to GovEx at the invitation of founder Beth Blauer.

Discover how cities are already using AI to power chatbots and manage documents, and why Andrew believes AI could help residents feel more comfortable accessing sensitive services like housing or food assistance. Wondering if AI will replace public sector workers? Andrew says rather than take jobs, it will most likely transform them, freeing up public servants to tackle big challenges. Plus, get an exclusive preview of GovEx’s new City Data Explorer, a tool that uses 1.7 million data points to track 40 key metrics across the 100 largest U.S. cities.  --- Learn more about GovEx --- Fill out our listener survey!

--- In this episode, we discuss City AI Connect, a global learning community and digital platform for cities to trial and advance the usage of generative artificial intelligence to improve public services.

--- Generative AI, powered by advanced machine learning algorithms, has the potential to analyze vast amounts of data to predict trends, helping cities improve emergency response, mitigate severe weather events, and target resources for infrastructure enhancements. The technologies might also be harnessed to design creative solutions that could transform government delivery by reducing processing delays, eliminating cumbersome paperwork, and expanding multi-language access to reach many more residents with vital, public services.

--- To maximize the potential and expand the availability of generative artificial intelligence learning for local governments, City AI Connect might offer locals officials a single destination to ideate, develop, and test new utilizations with peers across cities. Through social networking features, digital forums, virtual events, and a repository of blueprints and resources, city leaders might have the opportunity to exchange strategies and work with data and technology experts brought together by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University to accelerate implementation in their city halls.

--- We're joined by Beth Blauer, Associate Vice Provost for Public Sector Innovation at Johns Hopkins University and the founder of GovEx; Mary Conway Vaughan, Deputy Director of Research and Analytics at GovEx; and Denise Reidl, the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of South Bend, Indiana.

--- City AI Connect --- "Gen AI: Get Ready!" Webinar (City AI Connect Members Only) --- Fill out our listener survey!