Allentown Launches Citywide Data Strategy

Posted In: Mayor's Office

Date: March 05, 2025

Mayor Matt Tuerk is proud to announce the launch of Allentown’s Citywide Data Strategy—a comprehensive plan to enhance how the city collects, manages, and uses data to better serve residents.

March 5, 2025 – As part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance, Mayor Matt Tuerk is proud to announce the launch of Allentown’s Citywide Data Strategy—a comprehensive plan to enhance how the city collects, manages, and uses data to better serve residents. This initiative aims to increase government transparency, improve efficiency, and ensure that city policies and services are driven by real data that address community needs.

"Good decisions start with good information," said Mayor Matt Tuerk. "By launching Allentown’s Citywide Data Strategy, we’re ensuring that our government is not just working harder, but working smarter—using data to understand challenges, measure impact, and make informed choices that directly improve the lives of our residents."

Cities that prioritize data-driven decision-making see higher resident satisfaction and stronger community outcomes. Through Allentown’s participation in the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance—an international network of 65 cities in 12 countries—the city is receiving multi-year coaching and technical support to build a strong data infrastructure, improve services, and institutionalize evidence-based policies.

With this initiative, Allentown is taking a proactive approach to:

Using data to enhance decision-making and improve public services.
Expanding public-facing data tools to boost government transparency and accountability.
Strengthening community engagement by aligning city policies with resident priorities.
Standardizing data practices to improve efficiency and accuracy across departments.

The key initiatives under the strategy include:

City Data Inventory: Cataloging city data assets to improve access and utilization.
Public Dashboard: Providing an easy-to-use online tool to share key city metrics.
Data Literacy Training: Equipping city staff with the skills to effectively use and analyze data.
Housing & Eviction Data Project: Refining the city’s approach to eviction prevention by using data to address housing instability.

“Mayor Tuerk and his team have created a transformative data strategy that is designed to deliver real results for Allentown residents,” says Latricia Boone, Senior Director of Partnerships and Strategy for the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence, which leads the City Data Alliance’s accelerator program, including executive education and individualized city coaching, consultation, and technical assistance. “This thoughtful plan emphasizes transparency and accountability and will allow city residents to see how new initiatives are affecting the city in real time.”

By embedding data into city governance, Allentown is building a foundation for long-term success—ensuring that decisions are guided by facts, not guesswork.

For more information on Allentown’s Citywide Data Strategy and its role in the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance, visit www.allentownpa.gov/data.

For more information on the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance, visit https://bloombergcities.jhu.edu/program/data-alliance.

About The Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance:

The Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance helps mayors and their municipalities utilize data to inform decisions, tackle complex challenges, communicate results, and look ahead. Participating cities also receive the program’s support to upgrade their approach to artificial intelligence, program evaluation, or data as a service—designing or packaging data that promotes cross-government collaboration or resident engagement. The Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance is delivered in partnership with the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) at Johns Hopkins University, along with the Behavioral Insights Team and Public Digital. The City Data Alliance aligns and builds on the success of the Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification, led by Results for America, a first-of-its-kind standard of excellence for data-informed, well-managed local government. Further advancing data leadership in cities, in October 2023, Bloomberg Philanthropies and GovEx launched City AI Connect, a global learning community and digital platform for cities to trial and advance the usage of generative artificial intelligence to improve public services, together. Comprised of more than 700 municipal leaders from over 250 cities around the world, City AI Connect is available at no cost for any local government official to use.

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