Celebrating five years of the citywide Analytics Team

Today, Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) celebrate five years of the Citywide Analytics Team. Mayor Walsh created the Citywide Analytics Team in 2015 with the goal of developing innovative programs and improving performance across all parts of City government. The Citywide Analytics Team is the central data organization for the City of Boston. This year, the team compiled an end of year report highlighting major projects over the years as an effort to describe in detail how the team supports the City of Boston. 

"We created Boston's Analytics Team in 2015, and in five years, the team has helped make data driven decisions that positively impact residents in the City of Boston," said Mayor Walsh. "We use data, process improvement, and technology to make life better for everyone who lives and works in our city."

This end of year report also highlights plans for the future of data in the City of Boston. The Citywide Analytics Team has tackled major projects over the last five years which include the implementation of CityScore, Analyze Boston, VisionZero, the City's Short-Term Rentals Ordinance, as well as other performance and internal operations projects.

"As Chief Data Officer, the goal of this report is to inform residents and partners about our projects over the last five years, as well as provide a projection of our impact in the future," said Stefanie Costa Leabo, Chief Data Officer. "Through the use of data, our team continues to make a difference in many different aspects of city services including public health and safety, streets, housing and civic engagement." 

The City of Boston is always looking for the public to interact with Boston's data and projects. In 2017, the Citywide Analytics Team launched Analyze Boston, Boston's current open data portal. The site promotes transparency and accessibility, and includes data dictionaries and explanations that makes data more usable for the public and academic partners. 

The Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) works to engage and empower residents with up-to-date technology. The Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT) oversees and guides all technology-related activities associated with the delivery of products and services managed by every City department. The department provides a strategic framework and direction for leveraging technology to create business value. DoIT centralizes common shared services while offering dedicated, customer-facing teams for each service group to improve service delivery.