Submitter
Harry Black, City Manager
Company
City of Cincinnati
Industry
Government
Business Challenge
The City of Cincinnati aims to become the best managed local government in the nation. Achieving this means using data and performance management to enhance services and become more efficient, while making government more useful, relevant and valuable to residents; who have to be partners in this pursuit, though often are not treated as such.
Analytics Solution
The City of Cincinnati developed CincyInsights, an interactive, real-time portal to 47 unique dashboards designed to educate and inform residents about various aspects of City operations. CincyInsights aggregates data in Cincinnati’s open data portal and reconfigures it into heat maps and charts designed to be engaging, quickly relatable and more easily understood.
CincyInsights examines five priority areas: safer streets, growing economy, thriving & healthy neighborhoods, innovative government, and fiscal sustainability & strategic investment. Elements include: • Viz of the month: Visualization software transforms census data into colorful charts and graphs explaining who lives in Cincinnati. • Snowplow tracker: Allows residents to track snow and ice treatment routes and roads plowed in real-time during a winter weather event. • Trash collection: Monitored on an interactive map with colored lines corresponding to individual trucks, with updates every 10 minutes showing where trash has been picked up. • EMS: This emergency response data dashboard features a heat map plotting medical responses throughout the city. • Various Interactive data streams showing the City’s progress on filling potholes and locations where police officers and firefighters have responded to calls, including heroin overdoses.
All of this is possible due to the successful collaboration that takes place between the city’s chief GIS, performance management, and data executives.
Impact
Since its launch, CincyInsights has proven to be widely popular, receiving more than 100,000 visitors. One of the most desired dashboards is the heroin overdose tracker, which is used by service agencies and others to target resources.