Civic Engagement and Public Policy

Learn about the Beeck/CPI Report: The Opportunity Project for Cities: Lessons from Saint Paul and San José and some key findings and lessons to inform wider efforts in the field of civic innovation.

MuckRock is a great tool to file, track, and share public records requests.

Visit the MuckRock Smart City Database to learn more about Automated Decision-making in America’s Cities.

Read up on CHI.VOTE for information on Chicago runoff election results and data.

The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis’ blog is a government site that communicates the story behind the numbers. They do a great job of telling the story of the numbers about issues that are front and center in communities.

Policy Map curates, normalizes and makes understandable data from across multiple siloed agencies and supplements that data with data they license from third party providers or create themselves. 

Learn how to understand the current decision-making process before delving into analytics by reading Public Policy Analytics: Code & Context for Data Science in Government by Ken Steif. 

Curious to learn more about Gigi Sohn? Here is a compendium of her written, oral and other recent policy work.

The U.S. Public Participation Playbook is a resource for government managers to effectively evaluate and build better services through public participation using best practices and performance metrics.

The US Digital Response is a ​​nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps governments and organizations respond quickly and efficiently to support the critical needs of the public.

Beeck Center Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University is a great partner to the Knight Foundation and provides resources for learning about how to deliver better outcomes for communities.

Check out the COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach Case Study, done in partnership by the Knight Foundation and the City of San Jose.

The Digital Divide

Everyone On has been dealing with and providing solutions for the obstacles faced by people trying to take advantage of affordable broadband. 

Digital Charlotte has established a county-wide Digital Navigator service. Any resident can call 311 to get help with things like signing up for EBB, etc.

The City of San Jose recently launched a technical support program to ensure people can connect through wired and mobile technologies, and get ongoing assistance to adopt and continue to use devices and applications.

The City of Minneapolis partners with local providers to offer free or low-cost internet services to residents.

Curious how cities are handling the digital divide? The city of Louisville, KY has physically owned fiber capacity, a digital skills program, and free devices for residents, however setting up an operating program is a challenge. 

This survey from the Pew Research Center explores how the digital divide persists even as Americans with lower incomes make gains in tech adoption.

NYC Mesh is a diverse group of volunteers dedicated to ending the digital divide and extending high-speed, reliable internet to all New Yorkers.

In May 2021, Next Century Cities released a report on broadband data, mapping efforts across the United States.

Check out this article to see how Bank of America is helping the digital divide.

Read From luxury to lifeline: Reducing the cost of mobile devices to reach universal internet access, to learn about the barriers in mobile phone costs. 

Check out Marcos Vilar’s piece, titled “Op-ed: We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to bridge the digital divide. Let’s seize it,” to learn about bridging the technological gap. 

Broadband Data and Delivery

NTIA’s Broadband Data and Map uses several different data sources to show information on broadband availability within the United States.

The Alliance for Affordable Internet is a global coalition working to drive down the cost of internet access in low- and middle-income countries through policy and regulatory reform.

Tech and Delivery with ARP has many available workshops and resources to learn about achieving delivery goals.

The State Chief Data Officers Network connects people with data leaders across states to improve policy and service delivery.

City Planning

Download and read the 2020 Menino Survey of Mayors, which explores mayoral perspectives on key issues occurring in U.S. cities during the COVID-19 recovery.

Learn more about Urban Periscope as well as other projects that make data more useful for American cities.

Read a story about Boston’s recognition of the need for ramps to remove barriers to outdoor dining.

The Roots of Structural Racism Project has an interactive mapping tool for cities in the US.

Explore this study on the relationship between landscaping or tree cover and reduced crime rates.

TOPcities sprint toolkit: a guide for community-driven innovation sprints in cities shares best practices and lessons from pilot sprints conducted in San José, CA, and Saint Paul, MN.

Autonomous Vehicles, Mobility and Transportation

Explore some autonomous vehicle scenarios for urban deliveries!

Wondering about people with disabilities? Here’s research from the Disability Visibility Project, of San Francisco. 

Check out this report from AARP (with assistance from RAND) on impacts of AVs and new mobility on older adults. 

Municipalities across the country have joined together to create a new global non-profit organization called the Open Mobility Foundation to support the development of open-source standards and tools that provide scalable mobility solutions for cities.

Get a full overview of the Knight AV Initiative and follow important updates.

The Knight AV Initiative team created a Framework for Shaping the Deployment of Autonomous Vehicles and Advancing Equity Outcomes. This report has a section on equity and engagement issues and another one on how to shape deployment — with a focus on ‘Tools and Levers’ cities can consider when working with the private sector. You can also find out more about the project at the Shaping the Future of Automated Mobility site.

The C.A.V.A. Plan lays out a vision for the transportation system of Miami-Dade county, as well as the steps to get there.

Miami-Dade Transit is redesigning the bus network to increase frequent bus routes and create better connections across Miami-Dade County. 

Learn about Miami-Dade Country’s initiatives for alternative transportation. Check out Go Nightly, and the GO Connect Mobile application.