Port St. Lucie - Sunday January 28, 2024: The City of Port St. Lucie has been awarded the 2023 Bloomberg Philanthropies - 'What Works Cities Certification', making it just one of 12 cities in the United States and Latin America that earned that recognition last year.
The certification is awarded to municipalities that have established exceptional data capability standards to inform policy decisions, allocate funding, improve services, evaluate program effectiveness, and engage residents. Those standards reflect the practices, policies, and resources municipal governments must have in place in order to effectively harness data for better decision-making.
160 cities have submitted applications for the 'What Works Cities Certification' distinction since it was launched in 2017. Just 74 of those cities, including Port St. Lucie now, have met the required standards. Port St. Lucie had to meet the new, tougher, equity requirements which were introduced in 2022, to earn the certification.
The 'What Works Cities Certification' continues to set a standard of excellence for data-informed local government.
“Our city has been transformed by significant growth in a short amount of time, which has placed a premium on utilizing data to ensure we are providing the right services to meet our community’s needs,” said City of Port St. Lucie Mayor Shannon Martin. “Data is guiding planning decisions, improving efficiencies and driving innovations that benefit our residents today while preparing a foundation for our future.”
The What Works Cities Certification Standard measures a city’s use of data based on 43 criteria. A city that achieves 51–67 percent of the 43 criteria is recognized at the Silver level of Certification, 68–84 percent is required to achieve Gold, and 85 percent or more is required to reach Platinum. The City of Port St. Lucie has earned Silver level of Certification and is working toward achieving Gold level. Port St. Lucie is only the second city in Florida, after Miami, to earn What Works Cities Certification.
A notable example of Port St. Lucie’s use of data includes building 35 miles of new sidewalks after a survey said fixing sidewalks was residents’ top priority.
“We are excited to welcome these 12 newly Certified cities which have a collective focus on how data can be used to build stronger communities,” said Rochelle Haynes, Managing Director of What Works Cities Certification. “These cities understand that local government data use is a pre-condition to solving problems, assessing what is working, and improving how their city halls do business – and they are investing their resources accordingly.”
“The Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification program represents a fast-growing community of policymakers raising the bar on what is possible for local government when it leverages data to address major challenges and opportunities facing the city,” said James Anderson, who leads the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “More than 160 cities across the Americas are seeking the What Works Cities Certification seal of approval because city halls – like any other effective modern organization – must be leveraging data to make better decisions. The program provides local governments with that North Star – and we are glad to see its reach continue to grow.”
In 2022, What Works Cities Certification released updated criteria for cities to achieve recognition for excellence in using data to improve local government operations and policies. The new criteria also includes the practice of disaggregating data to avoid algorithmic bias. Additionally, Certification now requires cities to show that they meet an internationally recognized standard on at least one of three outcomes: air pollution, the percentage of households with high-speed broadband subscriptions, or a high-priority outcome the city chooses that aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).
The twelve new Certified What Works Cities are: Alexandria, Virginia; New York City, New York; Port St. Lucie, Florida; Rochester, Minnesota; and Rock Hill, South Carolina in the United States and Bogotá, Colombia; Luján de Cuyo, Argentina; Medellín, Colombia; Monterrey, Mexico; Recife, Brazil; Rionegro, Colombia and Tres de Febrero, Argentina in Latin America. Further information about today’s announcement is available here.
The City of Port St. Lucie is proud to announce that it is one of 12 new cities in the United States and Latin America that has been awarded the Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification for establishing exceptional data capabilities to inform policy decisions, allocate funding, improve services, evaluate program effectiveness, and engage residents.
Strengthened in 2022 to include new equity requirements, What Works Cities Certification continues to set a standard of excellence for data-informed local government. The standard reflects the practices, policies, and resources municipal governments must have in place in order to effectively harness data for better decision-making. With today’s announcement, 74 cities have achieved the What Works Cities Certification distinction and more than 160 cities have submitted applications since 2017.
“Our city has been transformed by significant growth in a short amount of time, which has placed a premium on utilizing data to ensure we are providing the right services to meet our community’s needs,” said City of Port St. Lucie Mayor Shannon Martin. “Data is guiding planning decisions, improving efficiencies and driving innovations that benefit our residents today while preparing a foundation for our future.”
The What Works Cities Certification Standard measures a city’s use of data based on 43 criteria. A city that achieves 51–67 percent of the 43 criteria is recognized at the Silver level of Certification, 68–84 percent is required to achieve Gold, and 85 percent or more is required to reach Platinum. The City of Port St. Lucie has earned Silver level of Certification and is working toward achieving Gold level. Port St. Lucie is only the second city in Florida, after Miami, to earn What Works Cities Certification.
A notable example of Port St. Lucie’s use of data includes building 35 miles of new sidewalks after a survey said fixing sidewalks was residents’ top priority.
“We are excited to welcome these 12 newly Certified cities which have a collective focus on how data can be used to build stronger communities,” said Rochelle Haynes, Managing Director of What Works Cities Certification. “These cities understand that local government data use is a pre-condition to solving problems, assessing what is working, and improving how their city halls do business – and they are investing their resources accordingly.”
“The Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification program represents a fast-growing community of policymakers raising the bar on what is possible for local government when it leverages data to address major challenges and opportunities facing the city,” said James Anderson, who leads the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “More than 160 cities across the Americas are seeking the What Works Cities Certification seal of approval because city halls – like any other effective modern organization – must be leveraging data to make better decisions. The program provides local governments with that North Star – and we are glad to see its reach continue to grow.”
In 2022, What Works Cities Certification released updated criteria for cities to achieve recognition for excellence in using data to improve local government operations and policies. The new criteria also includes the practice of disaggregating data to avoid algorithmic bias. Additionally, Certification now requires cities to show that they meet an internationally recognized standard on at least one of three outcomes: air pollution, the percentage of households with high-speed broadband subscriptions, or a high-priority outcome the city chooses that aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).
The twelve new Certified What Works Cities are: Alexandria, Virginia; New York City, New York; Port St. Lucie, Florida; Rochester, Minnesota; and Rock Hill, South Carolina in the United States and Bogotá, Colombia; Luján de Cuyo, Argentina; Medellín, Colombia; Monterrey, Mexico; Recife, Brazil; Rionegro, Colombia and Tres de Febrero, Argentina in Latin America. Further information about today’s announcement is available here.
About What Works Cities Certification:
The What Works Cities Certification program, by Bloomberg Philanthropies (bloomberg.org) and led by Results for America (results4america.org), is the first-of-its-kind standard of excellence for data-informed, well-managed local government.
What Works Cities Certification recognizes and celebrates local governments for their exceptional use of data to inform policy decisions, allocate funding, improve services, evaluate the effectiveness of programs and engage residents.