Data collection and analysis promise to make our cities better, and more efficient, places to live. Though many cities are expanding their digital integration, several obstacles remain to realizing the full potential of the urban data revolution.
Tod Newcombe looks at the "growing trend in government towards more data and better uses for it," and the obstacles holding back more widespread adoption. "State and local governments will spend $58 billion on information technology in 2013, according to the market analyst firm Gartner. And while the ongoing fiscal problems have slowed IT investments, the use of technology and automation in states and localities will continue to grow, particularly where big data and analytics are concerned."
"So are we at a tipping point, where a new golden age of city innovation is about to burst forth? Well, not quite," says Newcombe. He identifies obstacles such as the failure of mid- and small-sized cities to embrace the trend and data governance issues as obstacles to greater data integration.
FULL STORY: Cities Ramp Up Data Projects
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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City of Edmonds
Harvard GSD Executive Education
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research