Mayor Jane Castor has been chosen to join the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance, joining forces with 22 other mayors from regions including North America, South America, and the Caribbean.
Through this Alliance, Tampa will receive support in operational and technical areas, focusing on using data and artificial intelligence to evaluate community needs, enhance municipal services, and establish policies. These efforts are aimed at improving government operations in areas such as affordable housing and public safety.
Mayor Castor and her counterparts will participate in a two-day summit starting today, June 27, hosted at Johns Hopkins University. During this event, the newly inducted program mayors—representing nine countries and over eight million residents—will collaborate with international mayors and experts in data, innovation, technology, and urban policy.
"Joining the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance is a big step for the City of Tampa. By enhancing data collaboration across departments, we can allocate resources more effectively and better address our community’s needs,” said Mayor Jane Castor. “This initiative ensures our city's future will be guided by strategic, data-informed decision-making that will help transform Tampa’s tomorrow."
“Through the City Data Alliance, more cities are now using data across city hall agencies to tackle their toughest challenges, from expanding affordable housing to improving public transportation,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies and 108th mayor of New York City. “Today we’re glad to welcome 23 more cities to our program and provide them with the tools, support, and connections they need to capitalize on emerging technologies and put data to work on behalf of their residents.”
“Cities that are harnessing the extraordinary amount of data out there are better positioned to understand resident needs, source innovative solutions, and lead from the front when it comes to artificial intelligence,” said James Anderson, who leads the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “The mayors of these 23 cities want to put their municipal governments in the driver’s seat when it comes to leveraging data – and the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance will help them develop the policies and practices to do just that.”
The 23 new Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance mayors include:
THE CARIBBEAN:
Dominican Republic:
- Mayor Carolina Mejía of Santo Domingo, D.R.
Jamaica:
- Mayor Richard Vernon of Montego Bay, JAM
NORTH AMERICA:
Canada:
- Mayor Dawn Arnold of Moncton, New Brunswick
- Mayor Rob Burton of Oakville, Ontario
- Mayor Mark Sutcliffe of Ottawa, Ontario
The United States:
- Mayor Matthew Tuerk of Allentown, PA
- Mayor Kelly Girtz of Athens-Clarke County, GA
- Mayor Eric Genrich of Green Bay, WI
- Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, MA
- Mayor Justin Elicker of New Haven, CT
- Mayor André Sayegh of Paterson, NJ
- Mayor Eduardo Martinez of Richmond, CA
- Mayor Matthew Mahan of San José, CA
- Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa, FL
- Mayor John Carli of Vacaville, CA
SOUTH AMERICA:
Argentina:
- Mayor Esteban Allasino of Luján de Cuyo, AR
- Mayor Ramón Lanús of San Isidro, AR
- Mayor Rossana Chahla of San Miguel de Tucumán, AR
- Mayor Diego Valenzuela of Tres de Febrero, AR
Chile:
- Mayor Pablo Silva Perez of San Fernando, CL
Colombia:
- Mayor Jorge Humberto Rivas Urrea of Rionegro, COL
Guatemala:
- Mayor Ricardo Quiñónez Lemus of Ciudad de Guatemala, GT
Peru:
- Mayor Gabriel Antonio Madrid Orúe of Piura, PE
“As artificial intelligence rapidly advances, so too does the opportunity for local governments to put it to work for residents' benefit,” said Amy Holmes, Executive Director of the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University. “Doing this effectively, however, demands that municipalities have a foundation in place to guide the way data is collected, shared, and utilized through which the promise of new technologies can be harnessed. The Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance—comprised of the most determined data-led mayors across the Americas—brings the sophistication and standards into municipalities so they can leverage every tool available to transform how their governments operate, and we are thrilled to welcome these 23 new cities and support them in all they will be able to do.”