Smart City Expo World Congress Barcelona 2025

I'm here with Rochelle Haynes. She is the managing director of What Works Cities, from Bloomberg Philanthropies that help cities use data to improve services, offering support and expertise. We'll be discussing city digitalization and the challenges that come with city digitalization. The first question I have is one of the challenges when we are digitizing a city is skills and capacity. How do you help local governments build the teams and the cultures needed to use data in a proper manner? Well, first, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here with you. And so at What Works Cities, we are the international standard of excellence on what it means to be good, well managed local government. And the way that we help cities build capacity is we first give them a benchmark on what good even looks like. And so giving them parameters around data management, data governance. If you build an open data portal, what should that look like? How do you design contracts and evaluation systems? And the way that we help cities is they take our assessment. And once they take that assessment, we're able to help them map out their assets, where they're strong and those data capacities, but also where there's areas of opportunity. And then we actually match that with free technical assistance, free coaching, intensive cohort style learning. And we also bring them together in cohorts to learn from one another. I think that's the beauty of this work. There's the training that my team and I can do to sort of help build the city's capacity, but we also bring them together with their peers globally to learn from one another. There's also another challenge and it's, political changes like every so often, every so many years, depending on where you are, it changes. So how do you sustain data driven practices when political leadership changes? Yeah. Sustainability is a number one concern and top of mind for us. But the way that we frame certification, it's the city's certification. Your city is data driven and efficient. And so it's really about government and how government shows up and operates. And that's politically agnostic. It's about making sure that there's processes and systems in place that outlive any administration, and also making sure the civil servant staff that are often there throughout mayoral transitions have the tools, the resources and the capabilities to continue that performance management based work, that data driven work. And honestly, you can't take apart systems when they're effective. And I think when citizens are able to see that their government is effective in driving results for change, can't really take that apart just because it's a new political party. So for us, it's really about making sure cities are equipped with the tools and resources that they need to be efficient, data driven and serve their residents. And that's something that can sustain any administration change and true sustainability. And what does equity centered innovation look like? Equity centered innovation looks like centering the voice of the community. For us first and foremost, what we do is about how do we make sure we're strengthening the resident experience and all the communities and cities that we're working in. Equity looks like being able to center the voices, being able to understand where there may have been underinvestment and being able to address that now. Equity looks like if you're building new digital tools and resources, making sure that your citizens actually have the digital literacy skills that they need. And so are you offering the free technology classes in third spaces? Are you asking your residents what they need? Are you thinking long term? Not about the needs of today, but the workforce for tomorrow? And I think about that a lot. When we think about AI, how are we making sure our youth are prepared for the future? Because they will enter workforces where AI is the norm, and not the new thing. And so how do we make sure they're ready? And there are tons of cities in our network that are doing this in a very purposeful, driven way. Belo Horizonte in Brazil, which is a certified city with us, they have an entire youth engagement approach on environmental sustainability. And they asked youth, what do you want to learn about? How can we help you? And at the end of the day, they're really supporting a need in the community around climate resilience. And so it's making those connections centering the voice of the community. But also empowering them with the tools and resources they need. And you just mentioned your city network. So are you seeing within all those city partners, are you seeing a change from tech first to impact first like mindset? We absolutely are. I think there was a time when technology led. We deployed the technology and then established the purpose for the technology. And I think now cities really understand, what is the impact that I'm trying to drive first before I find the technological tool to solve for that? And I love that approach because we're becoming more outcome based. So it's not about just the efficiency and the gadgets to get there, but it's about how are we moving the needle? How are we better serving residents? How do we show up in a big way for them? And I encourage our cities and our network, what's your vision? What's your vision from your city on day one? For a mayor. What's your vision for your city when you're no longer in office? What's the legacy that you want to leave? How do we codify that? But how do we also build the systems and technologies and tools and resources to support that? And so really having a vision and driving impact really is what I feel like cities are headed towards. And with AI, it's really exciting to see our cities are testing that, but in very practical, outcome based ways. And so public health is one area that I think cities are willing to try AI technology. In Mendoza, Argentina, they're using it for illegal dumping. Illegal dumping is a public health crisis. It's predominantly in vulnerable communities. So they're using AI technology. Like a vision AI? Vision AI, drone photography to be able to detect where there actually are illegal dumps, even small tiny ones. And then they're able to proactively go in and clear the area, which has public health benefits for residents, but more importantly, public health benefits for vulnerable residents, which we know are disproportionately impacted by lots of health challenges. And so that's just like one concrete, purpose driven way that I see cities are using AI and technology, and I'm excited about that shift. And so now that you mentioned residents, my next question is, how can city leaders build that trust with residents when using data and digital tools? Yeah, trust is important. Trust is delicate. It's very delicate. Right? Especially in a time of vision AI. Exactly. It's delicate. I think with how leadership can build trust is being transparent, being transparent, bringing citizens along, engaging them, being up front. If your government is using AI technology, have a policy around it and be upfront. This is when and where you can expect to interact with AI when you interact with government. I also think government can build trust by having citizens be a part of the process in a very thoughtful and intentional way. And one example I'll highlight is San Jose, California. They had a translation service, and when they initially rolled it out, it was based on AI technology, the feedback came back, it was a little bit culturally insensitive, and the residents were able to raise their voice and concerns. And the city didn't shy away from that, didn't say, you know, it's perfect. They said, okay, let's co-create it together. Let's fix it so that we make sure that we're being responsive to you in a way that connects with you. And I think that's how you build trust. I don't think citizens want you to explain every algorithm to them. Like, that's not it. Trust is be up front. Be transparent, be accountable, and do some co-design and creation. And make it understandable. Probably. Because you were saying about they don't want to know about every algorithm. No, no, they don't need to know that I think. But I do think digital literacy is important. And so just making sure citizens understand what is AI, what are the different versions. There's a big difference between predictive analytics and generative AI, which is what has actually sparked the biggest conversation right now. Predictive analytics has been around for a while. I use it when I was a former public servant for homeless prevention work. What's new is generative AI and its ability to transform services. Explain it to your residents, explain it and hear their ideas. Sometimes they have the best ideas because they have the lived experience on the ground about what's working and what's not. Yeah. 100%. And what lessons from the US could be valuable for international city networks pursuing digital transformation? The lessons that I have found are transferable is in the U.S. we spent a lot of time creating frameworks. Frameworks like the What Works Cities standard. Like what is good? What does good look like? What is good data governance? What is good data management? When and where do you deploy good evaluation policies? And I think that's what has been remarkable about What Work Cities growing beyond just being a US space program to now being in North, Central and South America has been, we have created a framework that we've tested, that we tried that is now applicable. And what we find is global cities are excited to have this framework because now they can anchor it, but also tailor it said their needs. Right. It's not just saying take a US based program and plop it here. It's take this framework, be inspired by it. And how can it be replicated and adapted to your use? And that's also the beauty of the network. We have over 1800 city leaders in it, and they're sharing best practices every day, but they're adapting it for the local use. Yeah. Okay. And then my last question is an example. Okay. Is there a city example where data was used to reduce inequity, whether in housing, mobility or public health? One that comes to mind. I'll say one of my favorite stories right now. Savannah, Georgia is one of our cities. They recently certified with us, and there was a public space and park that was underutilized, underinvested in for probably over 20 years. The legislator had decided they were going to invest in the park. But rather than just say what they thought was needed, they engaged their residents. There were focus groups. There were surveys to say, what do you envision this public space looking like? What do you want in this park to be able to utilize it and have it meet your needs? They had a pool that no one was using. Why? Let's learn from that. And so they did surveys. They did focus groups. Then they actually did mapping of all the physical assets in the park, every picnic table, park bench, playground equipment. And then they designed a plan. And what stands out to me is pool usage went up 47% afterwards because residents said this is what we need. Flexible hours, engagement, lifeguard service. They were able to design programs for their youth and youth workforce and engagement because the youth said, we would love to come to the park, but there isn't anything here for us. Can you design something that meets our needs? And then for seniors, they actually found out their seniors needed something like home delivery services for meals just by their survey. And so that stands out to me because it was resident engagement. It was data. But then it helped invest dollars in a way that it can be effective and then also connect with your residents. Smart projects, at the end of the day, need to be to make a city more livable. More enjoyable. Exactly. Yeah. So thank you so much for this conversation. I really enjoyed it. I hope you did as well. I absolutely did. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.