Director of @DataSmartCities at @Harvard @Kennedy_School and network of Chief Data Officers. Host of the #DataSmartCityPod. Urban innovation & civic data.
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Articles by Stephen Goldsmith
Using AI to build shared context for governing
Soon after I was elected mayor of Indianapolis in the 1990s, I cut a ribbon on a park my predecessor had started building. Expecting acclaim, I instead found complaints: Older neighbors were upset that the designers placed the basketball courts—and the nighttime noise that came with them—on their side of the park. The overworked parks staff left the event convinced that no good deed goes unpunished.
Cleveland Data Governance Relies on Hub-and-Spoke Model
Cities building a modern data enterprise face a question of centralization: Expensive enterprise software, data warehouses, BI tools and GIS platforms pay off when standardized, but the people who actually use that software sit in dozens of agencies, each with its own operational reality. Try to centralize too hard, and IT becomes the bottleneck; agencies route around it with shadow systems.
San Antonio Digitizes Permitting, Focuses on Customer Service
Far too often, new digital products - whether introduced by private companies or developed by city data teams - focus more on show-casing technological advancements than on demonstrating tangible benefits for residents and businesses. However, a recent conversation with Michael Shannon, who until October served as the director of the San Antonio Development Services Department - he now leads the city's new Capital Delivery Department - reveals a different story.
Digitizing Trash, Snow Services in Syracuse, N.Y.
There are few city services that touch as many residents where they live as trash and snow removal. And yet little of the smart city buzz features the blue-collar public works departments that provide those services. The approach and results of the Syracuse, N.Y., Office of Analytics, Performance and Innovation (API) and its partnership with the Department of Public Works demonstrate what happens when these traditionally non-technical agencies go digital.
Robust Dallas Data Office Drives Efficiency, Saves Money
When folks say, "everything's bigger in Texas," they might not be thinking of the Dallas Office of Data Analytics and Business Intelligence (DBI). Yet this is one of the largest city data offices in the country, clocking in at nearly 50 employees that work with more than 40 agencies. Led by Chief Data Officer Brita Andercheck, this team has catalyzed dozens of high-impact projects, taught data analytics skills to hundreds of city employees and saved the city tens of millions of dollars.
Using GIS to Get Community Buy-in for Affordable Housing
More than 80 percent of Americans support affordable housing. However, when it involves their own block, barely half of respondents react positively. Elected officials know this tension well, frequently facing land use NIMBY responses when intense, localized objections delay or defeat rezonings for needed improvements. But as high-quality 3D modeling and layered spatial data become easier to produce, visual narratives emerge as powerful tools for policymaking.
Government AI, the Road to More Bureaucratic Discretion and Accountability
How new tech tools can streamline processes and make hidebound systems more rational When Mayor Zohran Mamdani created a new Office of Mass Engagement, promising to listen more closely to the needs of everyday New Yorkers, it was a welcome first step toward earning the public’s trust. But as Mamdani seems to understand, listening better, and to a broader swath of the public, is only half of the recipe for a more responsive local government.
Local governments could deploy AI for good. Here’s how
Two urban innovation experts lay out the case. [Source Illustration: Pixabay] BY Stephen Goldsmith and Oliver Wise Listen to this ArticleMore info When considering AI’s impact in cities, many residents and government officials envision a dark future of unbridled surveillance, hollowed-out city halls and unaccountable bots calling the shots based on biased training data. We, on the other hand, embrace a much more optimistic vision.
Stephen Goldsmith: Cities must innovate to deliver services better, cheaper
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Boosting Digital Success with Cross-Agency Collaboration
In 2016, the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech Singapore) was established to build technical capacity in pursuit of digital excellence. It was set up as an in-house agency staffed with engineers, designers and product managers to engineer a digital government and build tech for public good. This model allowed them to prototype and scale digital services more quickly, share tools across agencies and reduce long-term dependence on vendors.
Gay ice-hockey players, lesbian space princesses, and cute dogs: what to watch in February
As summer has well and truly set in, we hope you’re able to while away some hours in the comfort of air-conditioning. And what better way to spend that time than with some new treats to stream? This month, our experts are watching the smash-hit ice-hockey romance Heated Rivalry; getting familiar with Martin Scorsese and who he is behind the camera; and keeping the Australian Open vibes going with a new miniseries about Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
WIDE ANGLE : FACING FEARS WITH STRANGER THINGS
Beyond its monsters and 1980s nostalgia, Stranger Things resonates because it tells stories of struggles familiar to young people: trauma that lingers, identity that wavers, and friendships that buffer against fear. And by turning inner struggles into visible monsters, Stranger Things can provide a lens to discuss trauma, identity and resilience.
How adults can use Stranger Things to talk to young people about their mental health
Beyond its monsters and 1980s nostalgia, Stranger Things resonates because it tells stories of struggles familiar to young people: trauma that lingers, identity that wavers, and friendships that buffer against fear. And by turning inner struggles into visible monsters, Stranger Things can provide a lens to discuss trauma, identity and resilience.
How adults can use 'Stranger Things' to talk to young people about their mental health
Beyond its monsters and 1980s nostalgia, Stranger Things resonates because it tells stories of struggles familiar to young people: trauma that lingers, identity that wavers, and friendships that buffer against fear. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest sci-tech news updates. And by turning inner struggles into visible monsters, Stranger Things can provide a lens to discuss trauma, identity and resilience.
How adults can use 'Stranger Things' to talk to young people about their mental health
Beyond its monsters and 1980s nostalgia, Stranger Things resonates because it tells stories of struggles familiar to young people: trauma that lingers, identity that wavers, and friendships that buffer against fear. And by turning inner struggles into visible monsters, Stranger Things can provide a lens to discuss trauma, identity and resilience.
How adults can use Stranger Things to talk to young people about their mental health
Beyond its monsters and 1980s nostalgia, Stranger Things resonates because it tells stories of struggles familiar to young people: trauma that lingers, identity that wavers, and friendships that buffer against fear. And by turning inner struggles into visible monsters, Stranger Things can provide a lens to discuss trauma, identity and resilience.
How adults can use Stranger Things to talk to young people about their mental health
Beyond its monsters and 1980s nostalgia, Stranger Things resonates because it tells stories of struggles familiar to young people: trauma that lingers, identity that wavers, and friendships that buffer against fear. And by turning inner struggles into visible monsters, Stranger Things can provide a lens to discuss trauma, identity and resilience.
How adults can use Stranger Things to talk to young people about their mental health
1 hour ago In December, Australia became the first country in the world to ban social media for children under 16, blocking access to TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, X, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitch. The Australian government first proposed the landmark law citing research that showed the connection …
San Antonio Digitizes Permitting, Focuses on Customer Service
San Antonio reinvented its approach to what has traditionally been one of the most frustrating local services to access: permitting and inspection. While technology is part of the story, the city also made changes to business processes and culture, enabling multiple breakthroughs in customer service. Getting a construction permit has long been a time-consuming, bureaucratic, paper-based process.
No Single State Should Dictate National AI Policy
The California Legislature returned from summer recess on Aug. 18, and artificial intelligence is in their crosshairs. Almost 50 AI-related bills are pending in the state, and some major ones appear ready to advance to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. Many of these measures would aggressively regulate AI systems in unproven ways to unknown ends. The effect of those efforts would be for California to gain outsized influence on the development of an important sector, and interstate commerce more generally.
Fueling Smarter Infrastructure With Innovative Materials
There is an indisputable need for digital innovation in American infrastructure. As cities and states grapple with surging costs, aging roads and growing environmental threats, the conventional, prescriptive processes dominate, and much-needed breakthroughs remain bottlenecked.
Policy Change, Technology Key to Better Curb Management Original
As cities confront a falloff in revenues compounded by competition from a wide range of new uses for curb and sidewalk space, the time has come to appropriately price parking and other uses at the curb for what they are worth. Competition for this space is dynamic as drivers, deliveries, scooters, bikes and ride-share services jostle to use the same slivers of urban real estate. Yet many cities still approach the curb as one-dimensionally as Oklahoma City did with the first parking meter in 1935.
Collaboration Can Enable an Age of AI Innovation
Municipal officials buying technology face privacy and security challenges compounded by the fact that GenAI derives its power from access to data located across agencies and sectors. Further aggravating this complexity is the asymmetry of expertise between the companies developing AI and the municipalities acquiring their products. Pooling resources will help cities move forward with more confidence and speed.
NYC Moves to 3D Records for Property Valuation
The fundamental importance of the tax system, its tentacles in so many agencies and its effect on every resident, makes it particularly ripe for total technological reform. Over the last several years, digitization allowed several cities to take steps forward in terms of customer service. The next set of reforms will be bolder thanks to new technologies that streamline processes through integration around place.
Data-Driven Fleet Management Improves Safety in New York City
Rental companies and auto insurers already use telematics to provide incentives for safe driving habits based on information from in-vehicle monitoring devices that gather data from onboard GPS and diagnostics systems. Telematics that improve vehicle operation include information on speed, braking patterns, seatbelt use and acceleration.
Lack of Eviction Data Obscures Extent of the Affordable Housing Crisis
Evictions are a window into America’s rental housing crisis: In 2022, more than half of all renters spent over a third of their income on housing, and millions of tenants who miss rent payments are evicted each year. When renters are kicked out of their homes, the consequences can be disastrous. Families might lose their possessions when they are piled on the sidewalk, or can’t afford the fee to get them out of storage.
The Most Important Power That a Mayor Has
The actual authority of mayors derives from state laws and local charters. However, their ability to accomplish broad goals or take on complex or “wicked” problems depends in large part on their apparent authority, which derives from democracy itself. The public recognizes the mayor (or in some cases the elected county executive) as the person elected to lead them across many domains.
The Growing Role of the City-Level Chief Data Officer
In 2016, we received a call from Tom Schenk, who was then CDO for Chicago. He and six of his counterparts in other cities constituted the entire cohort of local government CDOs at the time, and they thought a working group could help develop the job into a profession and provide the support necessary for cities to use data more fully.
"A trailblazer and his work was a marker in time"
Most Sunderland fans my age would have become aware of Tom Lynn around the time the single Cheer Up Peter Reid was released, a tribute song to a manager of a team who I’m not sure were even top of the league at the time of its inception. Will a song ever make if from a Roker Park terrace to the record shop ever again? Well, no, cos none of those things exist anymore but you get what I’m on about. It fell just short of making the top 40 from memory.
Digitizing Trash, Snow Services in Syracuse, N.Y.
There are few city services that touch as many residents where they live as trash and snow removal. And yet little of the smart city buzz features the blue-collar public works departments that provide those services. The approach and results of the Syracuse, N.Y., Office of Analytics, Performance and Innovation (API) and its partnership with the Department of Public Works demonstrate what happens when these traditionally non-technical agencies go digital.
Local Government and the Need for Speed
Most unexpectedly, I received a clock without any numbers as a New Year’s gift. Instead of numbers, the clock’s face had only four words, all of which proclaimed “NOW.” The gift came from Brad Keywell, a ”serial entrepreneur” who was a co-founder of Groupon and, more recently, of Uptake Technologies, a provider of AI-powered fleet management software. Alongside the clock was a small book Brad had written, titled The Story of Time.
Stephen Goldsmith: Mall project is opportunity for downtown’s new start
The recent announcement by the city of Indianapolis and the equity owners of Circle Centre Mall that Hendricks Commercial Properties LLC, the developer of the successful Bottleworks District and Ironworks projects, will acquire and invest in the downtown mall is unequivocally good news. We should consider this encouraging announcement as phase one of an important shot in the arm for downtown.
Technology, Analytics Key to Improving Urban Air Quality
Choosing the right technology to solve a complex public problem requires a clear understanding of how stakeholders’ needs, compounded by their differing goals, affect the choice of technology and levels of evidence. Our work at Data-Smart City Solutions focuses on translation — helping senior city officials understand the transformative power of digital advancements.
Fighting Climate Change with Data-Driven Urban Forestry
Trees are part of the targeted responses needed to mitigate high urban heat; the New York Times reported a 31-degree temperature difference on a hot day between neighborhoods with and without heat-mitigating vegetation and shade. Microclimates within cities reflect neighborhood differences due to the imbalance of impervious surfaces like pavement compared to trees and other vegetation. Other factors include housing quality, traffic patterns and proximity to industrial sites.
Say Goodbye to the Last City-Owned Interstate Railroad
Cincinnati voters approved the sale of Cincinnati Southern Railway, which the city built in the 1880s. The railroad has been operated for over a century by Norfolk Southern, which plans to buy it for $1.6 billion. The final tally was 43,173 votes in favor of the sale and 40,559 opposed.
Boston experimented with using generative AI for governing. It went surprisingly well
Money 8 hours ago The Estate Taxes Catching Americans by Surprise The Wall Street Journal. - Ashlea Ebeling • 8h Karl Yee was about to pay a nearly $112,000 Massachusetts tax bill for his late mother’s estate when he got a reprieve from the governor. A retroactive change to the state’s estate-tax law had dropped the estate’s bill to $12,000. “Hallelujah!” he said, after hearing the news.
Ethical AI Procurement Requires Collaboration, Accountability
In the U.S., governments have been paying close attention to AI development and its use in the public sector for several years. Following two executive orders in 2019 and 2020 focusing on bolstering AI ethics and implementation in the public sector, the Biden administration launched AI.gov to keep the public informed about federal AI initiatives. The National Institute of Standards and Technology further detailed this commitment by releasing the AI Risk Management Framework and related resources.
Chicago Uses Tech, Resident Input to Improve Services
While transparency is a core value for many urban administrations, it can be challenging to fully enact a method for complete visibility for residents; there are often technical challenges, barriers to engagement and difficulties updating information in a timely manner. Yet in Chicago, officials are breaking the mold with their new data tool, the map-based Chicago Recovery Plan explorer.
Robust Dallas Data Office Drives Efficiency, Saves Money
While it may seem obvious that a larger team can accomplish more work, there are still several strategic ways that a data team must function to achieve this kind of success. And there are returns on investment that must be proven for a city leader to underwrite the creation of a large, well-staffed data office. Andercheck, a sociologist by training who had previously served as the city’s assistant director of transportation, understood the importance of putting wins on the board right away.
Netflix reveals Lego, chess and other games coming this summer
Missed the GamesBeat Summit excitement? Don’t worry! Tune in now to catch all of the live and virtual sessions here. Netflix announced this week which games are coming to its gaming platform throughout the summer. The streaming service has five games coming throughout the next few months, including one game based on a popular series and one from the popular Lego franchise.
How Chat GPT is changing SEO
The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 has been a real game changer for digital marketers across the world. SEO professionals are still trying to navigate the potential benefits and power of this technology. The ability to type in search queries through live chat and get perfectly and uniquely written content hosts several advantages for those looking to create more content rapidly and scale their online businesses.
Could ChatGPT Help Cities Better Vet Potential Vendors?
These challenges will become even more important as new federal infrastructure and environmental funding flows into cities and presents dramatically expanded opportunities for those contractors involved in building roads, railways, bridges, EV stations, solar and retrofitted buildings. So how will local leaders manage to efficiently award contracts and distribute funds without being taken advantage of by bad actors? The idea is simple, but the implementation difficult.
Instagram explains its recommendations and 'shadowbanning'
Instagram is, once again, trying to explain how its recommendations work in an attempt to dispel “misconceptions” about how the app’s algorithm works and whether or not the company engages in “shadowbanning” of certain creators. In a new blog post from Instagram’s top exec Adam Mosseri, he offers one of the most detailed explanations to date on how the app ranks content in various parts of the app.
Snowy White: "It's funny that I used a Strat for Pigs on the Wing. I was so used to my Les Paul – I was surprised I felt as comfortable as I did. I still hated it, but I got through it"
Known for his warm tones and buttery-smooth licks, Terence Charles White, aka ‘Snowy’, quietly positioned himself as one of the more sought-after rock guitar guns for hire in the 1970s and ’80s. -Advertisement- Though he’s long been known for brandishing a vintage Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, for many, White’s grandest moment came as an ancillary member of Pink Floyd’s ranks during the recording of the band’s 1977 album, Animals.
Feedback: I try to answer “how to become a systems engineer”
-Advertisement- I got some anonymous feedback a while back asking if I could do an article on how to become a systems engineer. I’m not entirely sure that I can, and part of that is the ambiguity in the request. To me, a “systems engineer” is a Real Engineer with actual certification and responsibilities to generally not be a clown. That’s so far from the industry I work in that it’s not even funny any more.
Beneil Dariush forecasts ‘domination’ of former champ Oliveira at UFC 289
With the exception of Islam Makhachev, Charles Oliveira has proved to be a riddle too difficult to crack for every lightweight opponent he has faced dating back to the summer of 2018 — but Beneil Dariush doesn’t see himself as another victim of the Brazilian’s outstanding arsenal of submissions.
Huobi Expands Into Hong Kong, Launches ‘Huobi HK’
-Advertisement- Crypto Live News Qadir Ak is the founder of Coinpedia. He has over a decade of experience writing about technology and has been covering the blockchain and cryptocurrency space since 2010. He has also interviewed a few prominent experts within the cryptocurrency space. Huobi, a cryptocurrency exchange company set forth an initiative or capability to provide the cryptocurrency trading opportunity to the users of Hong Kong called ‘Huobi HK’.
Navigate the world of AI before your competitors do by Ignite Visibility
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Netflix's 'MerPeople' trailer teases the ebbs and flows of being a professional mermaid
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2023 NFL schedule: Date, times, TV channel, live stream, matchups for all 272 games during regular season
The 2023 NFL season is finally here! The season will feature 18 weeks and 272 total games, a follow up to the biggest season ever (17-game schedule started in 2021). We have a full slate of games on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, along with another Christmas tripleheader and an expanded prime-time schedule that will feature plenty of the league’s best matchups each week. -Advertisement- This year will see some changes to the CBS and Fox slate, thanks to the new television contract in place.
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