Tempe Among Best Cities Using Data To Improve Resident Life

Press release from the City of Tempe:

July 21, 2021

For the second year, What Works Cities has awarded to the City of Tempe gold certification status for its use of data to make fact-based decisions for residents.

What Works Cities certification is the national standard of excellence in data-driven city governance. The organization evaluates how well cities are managed by measuring the extent to which city leaders incorporate data and evidence in their decision-making.

Only 35 cities nationally achieved any level of certification this year. Tempe is one of just seven with a gold rating. Cities are benchmarked against a national standard. Cities that achieve between 67% and 83% of the certification criteria are recognized at the gold level. Only two cities in the country rated higher to receive platinum status.

What Works Cities Certification assesses cities based on their data-driven decision-making practices, such as whether they are using data to set goals and track progress, allocate funding, evaluate the effectiveness of programs, and achieve desired outcomes from contracts with outside vendors. The program also measures whether cities are publicly and transparently communicating about their use of data and evidence.

“Data is an important tool for making decisions and finding ways we can improve our programs and services,” said Tempe Mayor Corey Woods. “I am proud that our city ranks among the best in the nation and is willing to do the hard work to track data, measure our effectiveness and benchmark ourselves against the best programs and practices.”

The city committed to using data to improve quality of life and to ensure residents get the most for their tax dollars in 2016. Today, residents can see Tempe’s progress and how it benefits them from measures such as fire response time, pavement quality index, walkability and our shade canopy.

Tempe’s commitment to transparency and the use of data can easily be seen on its data dashboards. How the city scores on more than 100 performance measures may be viewed at tempe.gov/StrategicManagement. These measures are grouped into five categories based off five Tempe City Council Priorities: safe and secure communities, strong community connections, quality of life, sustainable growth and development, and financial stability and vitality.

Tempe also displays its local COVID-19 data, including wastewater analytics, at tempe.gov/indicators.

“City leaders are using data to understand and support the needs of residents like never before,” said Michele Jolin, CEO and Co-Founder of Results for America, the lead partner in the What Works Cities initiative. “Throughout the COVID crisis and a historic reckoning with racial injustice, mayors have relied on data to identify and narrow racial gaps, and to make smarter investments that increase opportunity for all their residents. These cities are testing new solutions and measuring what works, rebuilding trust in government by engaging with their residents, and using evidence and data to drive faster progress on their toughest challenges.”

More than 200 cities have completed a certification assessment to have their practices benchmarked against the national standard. The assessment is the first step to receiving exclusive support from What Works Cities to continue building a more effective local government.

What Works Cities is a national initiative launched by Bloomberg Philanthropies to help cities use data and evidence more effectively to tackle their most pressing challenges.

This press release was produced by the City of Tempe. The views expressed here are the author's own.