In December, Mayor Harrell launched the One Seattle Data Strategy, designed to optimize the City’s use of data to make better decisions, enhance collaboration, protect privacy, standardize best practices, and address the complex challenges faced by our city. Direction for the strategy is outlined in an Executive Order which has four key components:  

1. Direct all departments to join the One Seattle Data Strategy 
2. Direct all departments to develop an implementation plan to improve the use, governance, staffing, communication, and accuracy of data
3. Launch a new interdepartmental team to develop shared standards for demographic data
4. Establish a new internal governance board to align policies and standards across the City 

Innovation & Performance has been leading this effort and has so far launched a set of new resources for City employees on a new internal collaboration site. Resources include best practices for City workers to incorporate evidence into budget proposals, guidance for how to ask demographic questions so that data will be comparable across sources, tips for visualizing data, and much more. In support of the Executive Order, IP is partnering with Seattle IT to help departments develop Data Strategy Implementation Plans and launch the data governance board later this year.

As part of the Data Strategy, Innovation & Performance is highlighting stories that demonstrate promising practices of using the power of data to improve services for residents. Check out the first story in this series on how the Seattle Department of Transportation teamed up with Seattle IT to turn existing data into an near real-time external snow plow map that receives over a quarter of a million requests from the public, per snow event.

Read more on the City Innovation Hub blog.

Seattle is leading the way to transform our procurement process to be results-driven, accessible, and equitable. Seattle is one of two cities in the United States to be awarded a $1 million, two-year grant by the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation to help transform its approach to buying. The Bloomberg Procurement Transformation project is a partnership between the Seattle Finance and Administrative Services Department (FAS), the Innovation & Performance Team, and the Harvard Government Performance Lab. 

The Procurement Transformation team is hard at work redesigning an internal resource website, planning training opportunities for staff, and building a community of practice for equitable procurement and contracting here at the City. Last month's Procurement Community of Practice meeting, pictured above, was the largest in-person gathering yet for City staff to make connections and share knowledge.

As part of this project, we are highlighting a multi-part series of stories that demonstrate citywide promising practices that can better support our Women and Minority-Owned Enterprises (WMBEs). Check out the stories so far that highlight bright spots in Seattle’s work to make City contracting more efficient, results-driven, equitable, and strategic:

• How Seattle Public Utilities’ On-Call Contracts Give Smaller Engineering Firms a Foot in the Door
• Concrete Results: How Procurement Office Hours Open Doors for Small Businesses
• Seattle City Light leans into efficiencies, time savings in contracting
• Audit Your Way to the Top: How Seattle IT Maximized WMBE Spending

CiviForm, the City of Seattle’s unified benefits application tool, was recognized on January 30 with a 2024 Anthem Award. The program makes it easier for residents to find and apply for multiple City discounts and benefits in one place. It received a Silver Award in the Humanitarian Action & Services – Product category.

CiviForm was co-designed with residents as a simple tool to quickly and conveniently apply for City services to save residents time and money on basic living expenses such as childcare, transportation, and food. The tool was developed by Seattle’s Innovation and Performance team and Seattle Information Technology Department, with pro-bono support from Google.org Fellows – a program through Google’s philanthropic arm that provides technical expertise to help nonprofits and civic entities solve their biggest technical challenges.

CiviForm delivers impact for residents and government staff. The program reduced time for residents to apply to City discount programs by 80% and offers up to $23,000 in total possible savings for qualified households. CiviForm is continuing to grow in Seattle, with more programs coming on board through Mayor Harrell’s Executive Order expanding the Affordable Seattle initiative.

Read more on the City Innovation Hub blog.

Equity Enhancements Promote College Success for Seattle Promise Scholars Impacted by COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique set of challenges that impacted the ways that students—especially students of color, first-generation and low-income students—navigate access to higher education, including participation and rates of success in the Seattle Promise program.

To address these disparities, and in response to students’ feedback and recommendations outlined in a 2019-20 Racial Equity Tool kit, a suite of supportive programs were implemented between fall 2021 and fall 2022 funded with $10.7 million in both federal and municipal dollars to keep Seattle public high school graduates moving toward their college and career goals despite pandemic pressures.

Preliminary data supports the implementation of re-entry is positively impacting known race-based retention and completion gaps at Seattle Promise.

• Enhancements continue to support students furthest from educational justice and students of color. 
• Over 70% of students who re-entered Fall 2021 identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
• As of Fall 2022, about 290 students from cohorts 2020, 2021, and 2022 used the re-entry pathway with 68% (nearly 200 students) identifying as BIPOC. 
• Since the 2021-22 school year, more than 60% of BIPOC scholars receive an equity scholarship.

Read more: Equity Enhancements Promote College Success for Seattle Promise Scholars Impacted by COVID-19

‘Healthy Streets’ create more permanent outdoor space for Seattle neighborhoods

During stay-at-home orders at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, people had limited safe options to recreate, exercise, and socialize. This was especially true for those with limited access to private and public outdoor space.

In response, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) upgraded over 25 miles of Neighborhood Greenways to Healthy Streets in the spring and summer of 2020 to provide more public space for people to safely exercise and gather. Across Seattle, the Healthy Streets implemented during 2020 saw a 193% increase in the number of people walking and biking per day when compared to streets that were improved with a standard Neighborhood Greenway. Vehicle volumes and speeds went down, creating a safer and more comfortable place for people to walk, roll, jog, and bike.

Starting in 2020, SDOT talked to people and distributed surveys to understand how Healthy Streets were working, and what people would prefer for Healthy Streets in their neighborhood moving forward. As of January 2024, 14 locations have been selected for permanent upgrades, and SDOT will complete evaluations for the six remaining temporary Healthy Streets this year.

Read more: ‘Healthy Streets’ create more permanent outdoor space for Seattle neighborhoods