Athens Reporter

The Athens-Clarke County, GA Unified Government (ACCGov) and Mayor Kelly Girtz have been selected to participate in the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance alongside 23 mayors from North America, South America, and the Caribbean. Other represented communities include Tampa, FL; Green Bay, WI; San José, CA; San Fernando, Chile; Montego Bay, Jamaica; San Isidro, Argentina; Rionegro, Colombia; and Ottawa, Canada. The Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance now includes 65 cities across 12 countries.

As part of the Alliance, ACCGov will receive multi-year operational and technical coaching on leveraging data and artificial intelligence to assess needs, strengthen services, and codify policies that enshrine results-based practices across the government. These efforts aim to enhance government delivery and resident outcomes such as increasing access to health care, expanding affordable housing, improving public safety, or reducing homelessness.

To commence the city’s participation, Mayor Girtz will join other new program mayors at a two-day summit beginning today at Johns Hopkins University. Together with international mayors and experts in data, innovation, technology, and urban policy, they will build a data infrastructure designed to improve residents' lives through evidence-based decision-making.

"Our work with the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance will allow us to leverage data, capitalize on emerging technology, and build the practices and policies that will enable our city to target our resources to optimally respond to our residents’ needs," said Girtz. "We are grateful for the capacity-building supports Bloomberg Philanthropies has provided to Athens-Clarke County for several years and are thrilled to work with them."

James Anderson of Bloomberg Philanthropies stated: "The mayors of these 23 cities want to put their municipal governments in the driver’s seat when it comes to leveraging data...and the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance will help them develop the policies and practices to do just that."

The Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance is delivered in partnership with the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) at Johns Hopkins University along with the Behavioral Insights Team and Public Digital. The initiative builds on the success of What Works Cities Certification led by Results for America. Athens-Clarke County achieved its second What Works Cities Silver Level Certification in 2023.

Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries worldwide focusing on creating lasting change in arts, education, environment, government innovation, and public health.

For more information about ACCGov's data initiatives contact the Geospatial Information Office at 706-613-3872 or visit www.accgov.com/gio. For more information on the City Data Alliance visit bloombergcities.jhu.edu.