Gilbert, AZ is a What Works Cities Gold Certified City!
July 2021
Gilbert is thrilled to be recognized by What Works Cities for our investment in data and transparency to make informed decisions in 2021.
What Works Cities helps cities use data and evidence to tackle their most pressing challenges and improve residents’ lives. What Works Cities Certification assesses cities based on their data-driven decision-making practices, such as whether they are using data to set goals and track progress, allocate funding, evaluate the effectiveness of programs, and achieve desired outcomes from contracts with outside vendors. The program also measures whether cities are publicly and transparently communicating about their use of data and evidence.
Gilbert is one of only 16 cities to be newly certified this year.
Gilbert, which achieved Certification at the Gold level, is one of only 16 cities to be newly certified this year and one of only 40 cities to be certified since the program was launched in April 2017.
Nearly 200 cities have had their practices evaluated against these criteria by completing a What Works Cities Assessment. Cities that complete a What Works Cities Assessment are taking the first step to committing to continuous data-driven improvement, in order to innovate and deliver better results for residents.
View all certified cities as of 2021 below:
The cities that achieve Certification are demonstrating excellence by investing in the people, processes, and policies to put data and evidence at the center of decision-making.
The What Works Cities Standard defines how local governments can create a strong foundation for the effective use of data and evidence. The Standard’s 45 indicators, organized around eight foundational practice areas, serve as the What Works Cities Certification criteria and define the fundamentals of data-driven governance.
Gilbert measures highly across the eight foundational practice areas.
Certification criteria were met at 100% in the areas of Open Data and Stakeholder Engagement, which includes this website, Alex!
Over the years, Alex has helped residents find holiday lights throughout the city, as well as information about community safety, growth and development, transportation options, and more. During COVID-19, Alex has proven invaluable by providing residents with a dashboard that shares information about community spread. We are using this data to make decisions that impact the safety of our community.
We look forward to building on this achievement moving forward to continue making a positive impact on the lives of residents. To learn more about What Works Cities and Gilbert’s open government initiative, visit gilbertaz.gov/data