Today, Cincinnati is proud to announce that it has been awarded the Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification at the Gold Level for exceptional use of data to inform policy decisions, allocate funding, improve services, evaluate program effectiveness, and engage residents. What Works Cities Certification sets the standard of excellence for data-informed, well-managed local government.   

“We’re extremely proud to have earned Gold-Level certification from What Works Cities. Every day, our core focus is to better understand the impact our decisions are making and implement the best possible policies. I want to extend my sincere gratitude for everything Bloomberg Philanthropies does to support cities like Cincinnati in that goal,” said Mayor Aftab.

In 2022, What Works Cities Certification released updated criteria for cities to achieve recognition for excellence in using data to improve residents’ lives. The new criteria embed equity priorities and better reflect the evolving best practices of data-informed governance so that cities move beyond achieving only pockets of excellence to achieving citywide scale and maximum resident impact. Additionally, Certification is now requiring 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). 

Since its inception in 2017, 62 cities have achieved What Works Cities Certification. In today’s announcement, Cincinnati joins seven newly Certified cities, six other currently Certified cities which have achieved a higher Certification level and seven cities being re-Certified. A city that achieves 51–67 percent of the 43 criteria is recognized at the Silver level of Certification, and  68–84 percent is required to achieve Gold.  

Some notable examples of Cincinnati’s use of data include: 

• Cincinnati's Emergency Communications Center historically has had three dispatchable tools for handling incoming 911 calls: the police department, the fire department and parking enforcement. But when calls involved mental health, homelessness and poverty crises, none of these tools clearly aligned with the need. In 2022, the City piloted a new public safety resource – Alternative Response to Crisis (ARC) – sending a Behavioral Health Technician and paramedic to low-risk calls rather than police. The City tracked the program’s progress on an ARC Dashboard. It found that over the first 12 months of ARC, the City was able to save more than 3000 hours of police officer time and freed up resources that could then be directed towards more high risk calls. Based on the data, the City doubled ARC’s capacity in the FY 2024-2025 Biennial Budget.  

“Under the new criteria, these cities have shown that they’re not just leading with data—they’re using data to make lives better by prioritizing equity and resident wellbeing,” said Rochelle Haynes, Managing Director of What Works Cities Certification. “Leaders from the seven cities join hundreds of data champions in our Certification community, where they will continue to grow their data practices, share innovative ideas, and inspire communities at all points on their data journey.” 

“The Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification continues to raise the bar for policymakers committed to leveraging data to understand community needs and deliver on resident priorities,” said James Anderson, who leads the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “We’re proud to welcome these newly Certified cities into this fast-growing international community and see the use — and impact — of the What Works Cities’ standard of excellence expand and improve lives.”  

The What Works Cities Certification program, launched in 2017 by Bloomberg Philanthropies and led by Results for America, is open to any city in North, Central or South America with a population of 30,000 or more. To learn more, visit whatworkscities.org. 

About What Works Cities Certification

The What Works Cities Certification program, launched in 2017 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.