The City of Sugar Land is officially What Works Cities certified!
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that Sugar Land is one of nine newly certified cities that exemplifies the transformative power of data to create stronger cities and uses data to make better, smarter decisions that will influence future generations.
The What Works Cities certification recognizes and celebrates local governments for their exceptional use of data to inform policy decisions, allocate funding, equitably improve services, evaluate the effectiveness of the City’s programs, and engage residents, according to its website. With today’s announcement, Sugar Land is honored to be one of the 83 cities that have achieved the What Works Cities Certification distinction. More than 170 cities have submitted applications to become certified since 2017.
I am beyond proud of our team for achieving such an esteemed certification,” Sugar Land City Manager Michael Goodrum said. “Creating a life better than we can imagine is our goal and learning the best ways to make data driven decisions is essential to pushing towards that goal.”
The City embarked on a mission to set the standard for transparency, excellence, and data-informed decision making through the What Works Cities Certification last year. The City pulled together resources from several departments to work towards this goal. This certification proves that Sugar Land understands the vital role data plays in transparency and utilizing data to create a life better than you can imagine.
“Our efforts are paving the way to exceed a standard of efficiency and excellence,” Director of Data & Innovation, Kylie Jackson said. “Serving our community is a huge responsibility that we don’t take lightly, and using data driven decision making allows us to ensure we are acting in a way that is equitable, efficient, effective, and cost effective.”
There were multiple enhancements that were necessary to achieve this certification. The allocation of resources was essential to creating the department of Data and Innovation, who were able to make our trailblazing thoughts a reality. Sugar Land had the opportunity to host a site visit for What Works Cities representatives to display efforts made towards being a more data driven city.
The Department of Customer Experience was formed in December 2023 as a direct result of data generated in the 311 Contact Center that highlighted a need for improved customer service, both internal and external. The Sugar Land Regional Airport utilized data to perform a cost-benefit analysis on mowing operations, leading to a decision to explore autonomous mowers as an efficiency solution.
Similarly, Sugar Land Fire Department is using machine learning and EMS data to identify call trends and skills gaps in order to provide continuing education to their staff. Public Works uses technology in the traffic management center to respond to traffic conditions in real-time and troubleshoot reported concerns, while the Fleet division has been collaborating with Data & Innovation to enhance the efficiency and management of the City’s fleet via GPS systems.
Finally, the City of Sugar Land began its “Great Homes” program in February of 2023 to incentivize homeowners to make exterior improvements to their single-family homes, and data analysis, visualization, and transparency have been cornerstones of this project. Community Planning and Redevelopment has been able to visualize this data on dashboards and maps, which can be utilized internally and also shared with the public.
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The City of Sugar Land is officially What Works Cities certified!
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that Sugar Land is one of nine newly certified cities that exemplifies the transformative power of data to create stronger cities and uses data to make better, smarter decisions that will influence future generations.
The What Works Cities certification recognizes and celebrates local governments for their exceptional use of data to inform policy decisions, allocate funding, equitably improve services, evaluate the effectiveness of the City’s programs, and engage residents, according to its website. With today’s announcement, Sugar Land is honored to be one of the 83 cities that have achieved the What Works Cities Certification distinction. More than 170 cities have submitted applications to become certified since 2017.
I am beyond proud of our team for achieving such an esteemed certification,” Sugar Land City Manager Michael Goodrum said. “Creating a life better than we can imagine is our goal and learning the best ways to make data driven decisions is essential to pushing towards that goal.”
The City embarked on a mission to set the standard for transparency, excellence, and data-informed decision making through the What Works Cities Certification last year. The City pulled together resources from several departments to work towards this goal. This certification proves that Sugar Land understands the vital role data plays in transparency and utilizing data to create a life better than you can imagine.
“Our efforts are paving the way to exceed a standard of efficiency and excellence,” Director of Data & Innovation, Kylie Jackson said. “Serving our community is a huge responsibility that we don’t take lightly, and using data driven decision making allows us to ensure we are acting in a way that is equitable, efficient, effective, and cost effective.”
There were multiple enhancements that were necessary to achieve this certification. The allocation of resources was essential to creating the department of Data and Innovation, who were able to make our trailblazing thoughts a reality. Sugar Land had the opportunity to host a site visit for What Works Cities representatives to display efforts made towards being a more data driven city.
The Department of Customer Experience was formed in December 2023 as a direct result of data generated in the 311 Contact Center that highlighted a need for improved customer service, both internal and external. The Sugar Land Regional Airport utilized data to perform a cost-benefit analysis on mowing operations, leading to a decision to explore autonomous mowers as an efficiency solution.
Similarly, Sugar Land Fire Department is using machine learning and EMS data to identify call trends and skills gaps in order to provide continuing education to their staff. Public Works uses technology in the traffic management center to respond to traffic conditions in real-time and troubleshoot reported concerns, while the Fleet division has been collaborating with Data & Innovation to enhance the efficiency and management of the City’s fleet via GPS systems.
Finally, the City of Sugar Land began its “Great Homes” program in February of 2023 to incentivize homeowners to make exterior improvements to their single-family homes, and data analysis, visualization, and transparency have been cornerstones of this project. Community Planning and Redevelopment has been able to visualize this data on dashboards and maps, which can be utilized internally and also shared with the public.
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