San Nicolás, Argentina

San Nicolás Uses Data and New Digital Infrastructure to Increase Access to Quality Health Care

Project Type:
Health and Wellbeing, Technology

At a Glance

Transformed health services to be data-driven and digitized, reducing emergency response time from nine minutes to three minutes to improve health outcomes for residents.

Used resident feedback to simplify and digitize the business application process, increasing the number of businesses authorized annually to 650 in 2023 – up from 316 in 2018.

The digital Single Citizen Service Center is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for complaints and questions about city services. It allows the municipal government to track resident satisfaction and evaluate the response time for complaints.

Undertook a digital transformation of city services beginning in January 2023. Now, renewing a driver’s license can be done completely online and takes a maximum of 90 minutes rather than two days.

For years, residents of San Nicolás without private insurance relied on 28 public health centers, scattered unevenly across the city, that offer neither comprehensive services nor weekend care, leaving families with limited options. Without the freedom to choose the right doctor or access treatment nearby, residents faced significant barriers to essential health care.

But change is underway. San Nicolás is transforming its health care system, using data, technology and new infrastructure, to make quality medical care more accessible to all.

In 2023, the City introduced Seguro Medico Municipal, a groundbreaking health voucher system designed to empower uninsured residents. This program allows individuals to choose care at public or participating private health care facilities, which gives residents more options for high-quality service closer to home. More than 40,000 of the city’s 165,000 residents participate in the voucher program, with eligibility regularly reassessed to prioritize resources for those most in need. Additionally, the City links the vouchers to residents’ National Identity Documents, ensuring accurate tracking of medical information while preventing fraud.

The City is also building three hospitals and decided on the locations for these hospitals using disaggregated data on residents’ demographics, income and health needs, with the goal of allowing residents to choose facilities based on preference rather than necessity.

Photo Courtesy of Sanatorio GO San Nicolás

The first of these, GO Sanatorio San Nicolás, opened in 2024 and has already delivered over 216,000 medical services. This hospital represents Argentina’s first public-private partnership in health care, with the municipality supplying the building while a private medical group oversees operations, staffing and cutting-edge equipment. Officials plan to replace the smaller, less efficient public health centers with the larger hospitals, creating a streamlined, centralized system.

The City has also embraced digital innovation to improve health care delivery. A virtual queuing system has reduced in-person wait times by allowing patients to join lines remotely. Digital appointment reminders and simplified cancellations have cut no-show rates from 40.6% in spring 2024 to 29.4% by fall. Emergency response times have seen dramatic improvements, dropping from nine minutes to just three, thanks to collaboration with doctors and researchers. Additional innovations include digital prescriptions, which simplify access to medications, and telemedicine, which expands options for patients unable to visit clinics in person. These services, combined with unified, digital medical records will ensure continuity of care across providers, as the system expands in 2025.

San Nicolás is setting a national benchmark for using data-driven strategies and technological innovation to build a health care system that prioritizes accessibility and quality for all its residents.

When you govern you have to have the humility to understand that you do not know everything. There are other cities that have faced the same challenges and maybe they solved something and you have to know how to take that experience and adapt it.

Mayor Santiago Passaglia

“What using data did was to professionalize management. It is like navigating before with a compass and then navigating with a GPS. It allows you to make decisions with knowledge and make management efficient.”

Mayor Santiago Passaglia

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Maipú, Chile

Data Transformation and Transparency in Maipú Water Services

Project Type:
Health and Wellbeing, Infrastructure and Utilities, Public Safety

In 2021, Maipú was going through a serious crisis in the drinking water and sewage service: more than 20,000 water leaks flooded its streets that year, affecting the quality of life of more than half a million inhabitants. A neighborhood came to be nicknamed “the Venice of Maipú”, and one resident mentioned that some leaks in her neighborhood had been going on for more than two years.

The Municipal Drinking Water and Sewer Service (SMAPA), the only municipally managed water company in Chile, was struggling with aging infrastructure, inefficiency and limited resources, while public trust in local government was low due to measures taken by the previous administration: bad management and a deficit of $31 billion pesos ($31 million dollars).

In response, since taking office in June 2021, Mayor Tomás Vodanovic has prioritized the management of SMAPA as a cornerstone of his administration’s agenda. It was decided to invest an additional $5 billion ($5 million dollars) for the maintenance of drinking water and sewage networks. However, the key to success was improving tracking and analysis. To save resources, city staff inspected water infrastructure and worked closely with the public safety team. Through mixed patrols between professionals from different areas, the tours were more efficient, since they only needed a mobile phone to travel. They then took this data in the field and created comprehensive dashboards, allowing real-time monitoring and analysis of water and sewer service reports. Today Maipú can better allocate resources and proactively address more problems.

Image courtesy of the City of Maipú, Chile.

This work was supported by administration support, with a commitment to building a data culture across government. Maipú joined the Digital Transformation Leaders Network, participated in the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance, and city leaders are active members of the What Works Cities Certification Community. In each of these networks, Maipú has learned from other cities and has developed a disciplined, consistent and challenging approach to data.

For example, the Urban Advisory Department developed the Maipú Territorial Information System (SITMA), powered by technology with ArcGIS. This platform helps the City optimize resource allocation by breaking down data by neighborhood and provides transparency by allowing residents to monitor projects and report issues.

“We only measure in terms of improving people’s lives. It makes no sense to use graphs, numbers and bars just because of our love of numbers and figures, they must effectively push municipal management to have a greater impact on the people.”

Mayor Tomás Vodanovic

“Teams no longer come with proposals unless they have data. “Hey, I think that’s a good idea” isn’t enough. Now people come with a georeferenced proposal, analyzed or compared with other municipalities. In other words, analysis is already part of the process.”

Natalie González, leader of the Government Center in Maipú, Chile

Transparency and rebuilding public trust have been integral to Maipú’s efforts to improve SMAPA. Management launched a robust communications campaign, using social media, newsletters and community meetings to inform and engage residents. In addition, educational initiatives, such as the Museum of Water, share the history and importance of SMAPA as the only municipal water service in the country.

Maipú’s efforts bore fruit: the City went from 29,000 water leaks in 2021 to less than 2,000 in 2024. Today, Maipú’s innovative approach serves as a model for other cities that want to make their public services reliable for the community. This is a testament to what can be achieved when technology and transparency drive public service.

“The What Works Cities Certification is an important tool for recognition and internal mobilization. It shows that we value the good performance of city workers and is an example for others to follow.”

Mayor Tomás Vodanovic

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Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

1,000 Trees Rooted in Data, Community and Sustainability.

Project Type:
Community Engagement, Environment, Health and Wellbeing, Infrastructure and Utilities, Technology

At a Glance

The City assessed tree distribution citywide to plant 700 new trees in areas that needed the most shade.

Raleigh’s Digital Inclusion education program has trained more than 3,800 residents, provided more than 1,000 computers to residents, and delivered more than 10,000 volunteer hours.

A biannual community survey gathers input from residents on issues that impact quality of life, which guides services and policies.

A cost-share program reduces water pollution and has helped fund more than 200 stormwater infrastructure projects (such as green roofs, cisterns, and rain gardens) on private property. Up to 100% of costs are covered for non-profits and lower income property owners.

For over 200 years, Raleigh has been known as the “City of Oaks” for its towering oak trees that line streets and shade neighborhoods. Yet today, the city, which has long celebrated its natural canopy, confronts a stark reality: More than a quarter of people in the Raleigh metro area live in neighborhoods that become heat islands in the summer, where temperatures soar above the city’s average.

Those extra degrees have a high cost — heat islands make neighborhoods less livable and increase the risk of heat-related health complications. These heat islands are disproportionately located in low-income neighborhoods. One reason for the heat islands is a lack of trees, which results in heat being absorbed in materials like concrete and asphalt. This heat is then slowly released causing temperatures to stay high even after the sun sets, making it difficult for neighborhoods to cool down overnight. This prolonged heat exposure can exacerbate the effects of heat stress and lead to higher energy costs and poorer air quality.

Today, the “City of Oaks” is working to combat heat islands through a data-backed street tree planting project.

At the start, the project wanted to learn how trees were distributed across the city. Then, the team wondered if planting more trees in certain locations could reduce the number of heat islands

The City analyzed U.S. Census data and an Urban Heat Island study. Then it conducted a walking survey of Raleigh’s current street trees. City staff mapped tree density and income levels, which showed that lower income neighborhoods had fewer trees than their wealthier counterparts. On average, there is one street tree every 1,000 feet in the chosen priority area, whereas other, newer parts of the city have street trees every 40 feet.

“Strong data practices have made us a better organization. We’re able to better connect with the community because there are decisions that are made based on what the data tells us. That data gives us a solid foundation to drive policy and resources.”

City Manager Marchell Adams-David

“I am proud but not surprised that Raleigh continues to achieve recognition for effectively using data and science to drive outcomes. I am also proud of our staff and their devotion to developing the data and using it to implement the solutions that improve the lives of our residents. This designation from Bloomberg Philanthropies is a result of their hard work.”

Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell

The City’s solution is to plant 1,000 street trees by the end of 2025, not located randomly across the city, but in the neighborhoods that need it most to reduce urban heat islands. Urban trees and nature can cool cities by up to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes heat-related illness less likely and reduces energy consumption, saving residents money. So far, 700 trees have been planted in low-income neighborhoods in southeast Raleigh, helping make the air cleaner, preventing flash floods during storms, absorbing carbon dioxide, and encouraging communities to gather and play outdoors.

Raleigh city staff know their numbers, but they aren’t missing the forest for the trees—community support and resident engagement are critical for long-term success. The project has connected with residents at community events for Earth Day and Arbor Day. Additionally, residents near potential tree planting spots receive paid-postage mailers from the City that allow them to select the tree species they want or say that they would not prefer a tree.

The Street Tree Project is just one piece of Raleigh’s climate efforts, and it represents more than a tree planting initiative — it’s a data-based strategy to ensure that all residents, no matter where they live, can share in the benefits of the City of Oaks.

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Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

Using Evidence to Improve Emergency Medical Care

Project Type:
Health and Wellbeing, Homelessness, Housing

At a Glance

The City of Oklahoma City became the lead for the Key to Home Partnership — a collaboration of over 50 organizations working to prevent and end homelessness — and successfully housed 1,610 individuals in 2024.

Developed an evidence-based emergency response strategy, providing nearly 100 trauma patients with life-saving blood transfusions in the field before they get to the hospital.

Launched an innovation team, which leads data governance efforts and partners with the “Leading With Results” performance management team to continually monitor, evaluate and improve City operations.

Formed a data governance board to engage city departments in finding ways to make data more shareable, secure and useful in decision making.

In January 2024, two Oklahoma City paramedics found themselves 120 miles from a hospital tending to a man who had been crushed by a bulldozer. They did something unusual in civilian trauma cases: They administered a blood transfusion in the field. The man survived the two-hour trip to the hospital, where he received additional treatment.

The idea of transfusing a patient in the field may not sound revolutionary, but it actually flips traditional protocols upside down. For years, the status quo in these trauma cases has been the same: Blood transfusions happen in the hospital, and the paramedics’ goal is to get to the hospital as fast as possible.

In Oklahoma City, paramedics with the Fire Department had an idea: What if instead of transporting the patient to the blood, they brought blood to the patient? It might buy trauma patients valuable time to make it to the hospital alive.

Rather than immediately launching a new program, Fire Department leaders started by looking at experiences of other cities. They reviewed the research on emerging practices and found evidence that the approach would save lives. Not only that, but their peers in San Antonio had started a groundbreaking program just like this in 2018. It was working so well it had become a national model.

Backed with hard evidence, Oklahoma City leaders built their new program. Two Fire Department emergency units carry mobile transfusion kits that include bags of refrigerated blood and a device that quickly warms the blood to body temperature. Paramedics are now able to transfuse patients in the field, ahead of additional care at the hospital. As Carl Cobb, Battalion Chief of Emergency Medical Services for the Oklahoma City Fire Department, puts it, “It helps the paramedics or EMTs that are providing care know that they are giving them the best chance of survival.”

“Our data governance board is an important piece of breaking down silos between departments, and it couldn’t happen without leadership support. It makes sure that departments know it’s not just that we want to measure stuff but that we want to make sure the measures are correct, easy to access, and actionable.”

Dr. Kelly Williams, Chief Innovation Officer

“The way our data governance board approaches issues is not about one department being better than another. It’s about all of us being good together.”

City Manager Craig Freeman

Oklahoma City paramedics prepare a blood transfusion on the scene.

Now, it’s making a big difference for Oklahoma City residents. Through the program, OKCFD and EMSA paramedics have administered whole blood to more than 90 patients in the field. Of those the Fire Department responded to, 89 percent survived the trip to the hospital. And 69 percent of them survived to hospital discharge.

The Oklahoma City program is a partnership among the Fire Department, Oklahoma University Health, EMSA, Our Blood Institute, the regional blood bank and more. The partners meet to review every case where whole blood is used to assess how the program is working. They’ve already made some tweaks based on their ongoing evaluations. For example, at first, only male patients aged 15 and up, and females over age 50 were eligible — there were concerns about risks of reactions to O-positive blood among women of childbearing age. Now, all patients aged 15 and up are eligible, and the partners are looking at whether the age limit can be lowered to 6.

Paramedics say the new program, grounded from the start in evidence that it would work, is a game-changer. “I’ve been working for 30 years,” says Oklahoma City paramedic Jennifer Hamilton. “No changes have made more impact in my work than the whole blood program.”

“Achieving What Works Cities Certification is more than just validation of the work we’ve been doing with data. More importantly, it sets us on a path where we can grow and get even better.”

City Manager Craig Freeman

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San Fernando, Chile

After the Flood, a Disaster Relief Upgrade

Project Type:
Environment, Health and Utilities, Infrastructure, Public Safety, Technology

At a Glance

100% of the municipal administrative process for climate emergency relief was digitized after the destructive floods of June 2023.

The average response time of the municipality to provide food and other assistance to flood victims in 2024 decreased from six to two days.

Introduced an emergency phone line that was able to receive a daily peak of 150 to 200 calls during winter emergencies, a significantly higher volume than its average of six calls per day.

Used data science to segment the population within the network of three primary health centers, which will reduce overcrowding in one of the centers by 79%.

In June 2023, disaster struck San Fernando. Residents of the provincial capital city, which sits along the Tinguiririca River in central Chile, watched as floodwaters rose following the heaviest rainfall to hit the region in decades. Nearly 600 families living in vulnerable neighborhoods were affected. Some lost everything.

To receive emergency aid, flood victims had to register with the government through a laborious process. The main communication channel connecting residents was the telephone—but the City could only handle eight calls at one time. Government officials met with affected residents, taking notes on paper to record individuals’ needs and locations. Sometimes documents would get wet and damaged, requiring additional work and slowing aid delivery. The analog process was time-consuming. Relief supplies, such as food and clothing, didn’t reach those in need for six days, on average.

Image courtesy of the City of San Fernando.

Following the disaster, the Municipality decided to create a Directorate for Disaster Risks, which leads and coordinates responses to climatic emergencies. (The Municipality also built a new retaining wall to mitigate future flood risks.) Leaders of this new office quickly made the decision to bring disaster relief administration into the 21st century, in support of San Fernando’s inaugural data governance strategy. Spanning 2024-25, it aims to improve data-driven decision-making, efficiency and performance management.

The Directorate analyzed and then digitized each part of the emergency aid registration process. Its team then implemented a cloud-based platform to capture data from in-person visits, including from a new GIS tool detailing exact locations of individuals in need. New digital infrastructure also sped up aid delivery reporting processes and allowed local officials to gain a more current understanding of disaster relief operations.

It didn’t take long for digitization to deliver value to residents. In 2024, the Tinguiririca River flooded again. There were fewer flood victims, thanks to improved physical barriers as well as flood awareness communications from the Directorate. The residents who did require aid saw help arrive within just two days, on average, thanks to faster relief registration and aid delivery processes.

This is just one example of the benefits San Fernando is seeing as it upgrades its digital infrastructure, says Mayor Pablo Silva Perez. He created the City’s Continuous Improvement and Data Science departments after his election in 2021. “Better data infrastructure sets the stage for improving our operations and decision-making. We see how it improves our city, and we’re just getting started.”

“In an era of tight budgets, data-driven decision-making allows government to optimize the use of resources and maximize benefits to residents. The What Works Cities certification process is so valuable because it supports all this, and much more.”

Mayor Pablo Silva Perez

“Data is an extraordinary tool for improving cities. If I could say one thing to leaders of cities around the world, it is: Don’t doubt the value of data and don’t hesitate to begin and then continue the work of creating a new governing normal.“

Mayor Pablo Silva Perez

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Vicente López, Argentina

Using AI to Detect Dengue-Carrying Mosquitoes in Real-Time

Project Type:
Environment, Health and Wellbeing, Technology

At a Glance

Vicente López developed a device powered by AI to instantly detect dengue-carrying mosquitoes with 90% accuracy, helping the City’s response time go from ten days to real-time.

The City’s data-driven recycling strategy implements weekly collections, new trash receptacles and environmental awareness campaigns. The goal is to reduce the amount of trash sent to landfill by 25%.

The 1000 Days Program aims to improve the comprehensive health of pregnant women, expectant mothers and children from 0 to 3 years old, especially those in vulnerable communities.

Vicente López is one of the first Latin American cities to publish a proclamation for the ethical use of artificial intelligence, helping the City stay updated and promote good practices in the use of Generative AI.

The City of Vicente López, Argentina, has a new tool in the fight against dengue. With artificial intelligence that can detect the presence of dengue-carrying mosquito species in real time.

The device is one of many data-based initiatives being developed in municipal government and has the potential to save lives in South America and around the world. As temperatures rise, dengue spreads to cities where it was not a significant problem before.

This is the case in Argentina, where the number of dengue cases shattered the country’s previous recorded records in 2023 and again in 2024. People who are bitten by a mosquito carrying the dengue virus often experience high fever and severe headaches and joint pain. In severe cases, dengue is deadly.

One of the City of Vicente López’s AI-powered mosquito traps.

“The use of data helps us improve our management and provide quality public services. It is not only about improving our processes, but also about having a positive impact on the daily lives of our neighbors.”

Vicente López Mayor Soledad Martínez

As part of its efforts to combat this disease, the municipal government has placed dozens of special AI-powered mosquito traps near health centers, schools, sports fields and other places in the municipality. The traps are approximately the size of a 500ml bottle and they use a fan, along with an attractant, to attract mosquitoes through a hole. Once inside, a camera takes a photo of the insect and sends the image to a database, hosted in the Amazon Web Services cloud, containing thousands of mosquito photographs.

That’s where artificial intelligence comes into play. AI classifies photographs to determine if the mosquito in the trap is the Aedes A species aegypti that transmits dengue, with an accuracy greater than 90 percent. This data is sent to the municipal health inspectors, who closely observe the flow of information. “When the alert arrives, a prevention protocol is activated and immediate fumigation,” said Juan Pablo Fittipaldi, Secretary of Digital Transformation of the Municipality.

It is too early to know if this innovation is having a real effect on dengue cases. However, what is clear is that Vicente López’s high-tech, data-driven approach has accelerated the speed with which they respond to the problem. The city’s previous detection systems relied on manual collection and analysis of samples that took up to ten days to detect the presence of dengue in the municipality. The new traps reduce that detection time to approximately one hour.

Vicente López City staff meet with What Works Cities Certification team.

The idea for this solution dates back to 2017, when two residents, the Barceló brothers, attended a hackathon at the Vicente López University Center that was aimed at using city data to find new ways to solve problems. They came up with the idea of the trap, which has gone through several iterations since then. The municipality is eager to share the solution with other cities where dengue is a threat to residents. Today, parts of the software code that feed the solution are freely available for anyone to use.

Through its innovative artificial intelligence traps and robust data management, Vicente López proactively confronts the growing threat of dengue and lays the foundation for a healthier community.

“What Works Cities Certification is not just about receiving an award, it is a process. It is about continuing to improve our management and being part of a network of cities that work with data to improve the lives of neighbors.”

Vicente López Mayor Soledad Martinez

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Caruaru, Brazil

A Data-Driven Approach Yields Progress on Early Childhood Development.

Project Type:
Community Engagement, Cross-Sector Collaboration, Education, Health and Wellbeing, Parks and Recreation, Youth Development

At a Glance

Launched a 10-year Municipal Early Childhood Plan with 60 goals for the health and wellbeing of expectant mothers and children ages 0 to 6.

The City is making measurable progress on key metrics, including rates of teen pregnancy, maternal mortality and congenital syphilis.

A new community center is the heart of municipal services, professional training, policymaking and research on what works related to early childhood development.

The sparkling new community center that opened in Caruaru in April 2024 is a unique headquarters for all things early childhood. Within its walls, expecting mothers get health checkups and prenatal care, teachers get professional training, parents learn positive parenting techniques in dedicated classes, and there’s no shortage of play areas for children to climb, tinker with toys, or make their way through a stack of picture books.

However, the space is more than a vibrant community center. It’s also a health and education research and collaboration hub, aimed at learning what works in early childhood, a critical time for brain development. The center and its programming relied on best practices (such as disaggregating data) from Urban95, an initiative that elevates children’s perspectives in urban planning. Learnings from the center will spread to the growing number of municipally run daycare centers springing up around the city of 400,000 near Brazil’s eastern tip.

Children play at the new Caruaru’s new community center.

These centers are the most visible products of Caruaru’s data-driven 10-year plan for early childhood, which kicked off in 2018. But there is much more behind the scenes. That plan includes 60 goals tied to measurable results. It’s bearing fruit. The number of cases of syphilis passed from pregnant mothers to their babies declined from 79 in 2022 to 19 in 2023, thanks to stepped up testing and treatment. Rates of teenage pregnancy are down 6 percent since 2022, and the number of pregnant women who died before, during, or soon after childbirth dropped from three to zero.

New parents receive support at Caruaru’s community center.

“Whether it’s health, education, social assistance, or other City Hall services, we have an obligation to deliver with quality. Data helps us measure how we are progressing and whether our investments are paying off.”

Caruaru Mayor Rodrigo Pinheiro

Two things stand out in Caruaru’s approach. One is a commitment to engaging residents — and children themselves — in the childhood development effort. A diverse advisory committee of 20 children between the ages of 4 and 12 meets regularly to discuss things they’d like to see in the community. Current priorities include creating a new water park, more activities for kids during an annual local festival and cleaning up the local river.

The City of Caruaru convenes the Comitê das Crianças (Children’s Committee).

The other standout is the way agencies across city hall, including health, education, planning and others, collaborate to get results. In fact, there are meeting spaces at Caruaru’s new community center specifically meant to be places where public-sector and nonprofit leaders can team up on youth and family initiatives. Caruaru’s shared, data-driven approach helps different partners stay focused on the results they are working to achieve together. “We do it in an intersectoral way,” says Mayor Rodrigo Pinheiro. “All the departments meet and work together.”

“Certification is extremely important for us to inspire a regional culture of using data. If we can do it in Caruaru, it will be replicated in 50 other cities in the region. By serving as an example, we can spread a culture of data-driven governance to other municipalities in our region.”

Dimitri Bezerra Almeida, Procurador-Geral de Caruaru

A young member of Caruaru’s Comitê das Crianças (Children’s Committee).

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Mendoza, Argentina

Using AI to Tackle Unregulated Landfills

Project Type:
Community Engagement, Finance, Health and Wellbeing, Infrastructure, Public Safety, Transportation

At a Glance

Used an AI-powered digital tool to identify small but harmful garbage dumps scattered around the city.

Created a Directorate of Digital Transformation, Smart Cities and Open Government to take advantage of data and make better decisions.

Built dashboards for data on commercial activity and entrepreneurship, waste recycling, public safety, and more after seeing the power of collating data during the pandemic.

Making progress toward 2030 climate goals through innovations from the Municipal Climate Change Committee, which is made up of the Secretary of Environment and Urban Development, science and technical organizations, universities, the Institute of Environmental Sciences, and more.

Like many cities, Mendoza has a problem with illegal dumping, particularly in marginalized neighborhoods near the foothills of the Andes. These small piles of trash pose major risks to water quality and public health. However, they are not always easy to see: many of the spill sites are small and hidden in ravines.

City leaders are now using artificial intelligence to locate and clean these micro-landfills. In collaboration with the Bunge and Born Foundation, Mendoza developed an algorithm that used drone photography to detect landfills as small as one square meter. The initiative is part of a broader effort to use data to make smart decisions related to climate change and the environment.

In just one part of the city, the tool found 1,573 detected trash tags. The algorithm can also identify whether the material in these piles is plastic, branches, construction debris, or something else. This gives city leaders a plan to direct their cleanup efforts, impacting and improving quality of life. of 2,000 families in 19 neighborhoods.

Recognizing the global need for such a tool, the team behind the technology has released the code and it has presented to cities throughout Argentina. And to make it replicable, they have adapted the algorithm so that it can use free images from Google Earth, instead of drone photography, which can be expensive. They believe the same approach could be used to detect other environmental hazards on the urban periphery, such as deforestation.

“Managing open dumps is an enormous management challenge for national, provincial and local governments,” said the Secretary of Environment from Mendoza, Sebastián Fermani. “Not only because of pollution and climate change issues, but also because it is a problem that disproportionately affects the vulnerable population.”

“Local governments may not have the resources of a regional or provincial government, but through data-driven decisions, we can generate a better climate and investment to create jobs and economic development.”

Mayor Ulpiano Leandro Suarez

Comparison of detection of small dumpsites by AI versus humans.

“What Works Cities Certification is both a recognition of the work done by a great team here, and also shows us how we can improve city management based on international standards.”

Mayor Ulpiano Leandro Suarez

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Luján de Cuyo, Argentina

Bajo Luján’s Journey to New Housing.

Project Type:
Community Engagement, Environment, Equity, Health and Wellbeing, Infrastructure, Public Safety, Technology, Transportation

At a Glance

Relocated more than 1200 families who lived in flood-prone areas.

Created a workforce development initiative that employed residents, renovated public land and expanded access to recycling centers.

Improved access to territorial data, which made getting land permit data faster—going from months of waiting to just three clicks. The platform, Luján 3D, allows renovations and housing development to have substantial improvements.

Improved accessibility for residents with disabilities through an adapted bicycle program.

In 2016, a survey conducted by the city of Luján de Cuyo, Argentina, revealed a heartbreaking reality. There were about 3,500 families who lived in marginal or informal neighborhoods, of which 700 were concentrated in the Bajo Luján area, often without basic services. The most vulnerable residents lived near a flood-prone river, underscoring the urgency for change. As a result, the City developed an ambitious urbanization and relocation project, supported by the World Bank.

At the heart of the initiative was a resident-driven approach. Residents were surveyed to identify and prioritize needs, including proximity to employment, family size, and level of need to minimize disruption to their daily lives. Efforts to monitor the impact of this relocation were key. A survey and audit process was initiated, capturing residents’ experiences before, during and after the move. This data was visualized through PowerBI dashboards, allowing real-time tracking of project progress.

“Governing is making decisions. Doing it well requires exceptional use of data. If we intend to achieve real impact in the community, our public policies must be data-driven. We dream of becoming an international example of well-managed local government.”

Esteban Allasino, Mayor

The result was the construction of 700 homes in 11 neighborhoods.

This enormous initiative not only provided new homes, but restored a sense of human dignity and trust in government for those who had long been marginalized.

Seven hundred safe and practical homes is a significant achievement.

Additionally, the community intervened and regularized other settlements benefiting 500 families, completing a very ambitious stage that managed to reach more than 35% of the most vulnerable sector of the City.

But the government did not stop there. City leaders knew that housing is only one part of poverty. Thus, in an effort to create employment opportunities, the city turned its attention to residents who worked at the landfills as urban recyclers.

These families made a living collecting recyclable materials from garbage dumps. To help them, the following public policies were promoted: Closure and remediation of garbage dumps, Social inclusion of urban reclaimers, Inclusive Recycling Program – Centro Verde. In this way, the city, together with a group of neighbors, mainly women, officially formed a cooperative. The City provided land and necessary infrastructure.

The Fortress of My Earth, which now has nearly 30 members, launched a program that uses geographic information system (GIS) data to strategically place recycling bins throughout the city. This project successfully increased the number of Green Dots from 8 to 65, ensuring that residents could easily find a container within 500 meters of their homes. This caused a notable increase in recycling from 2021 to 2023.

The story doesn’t end there. In 2021, the City cut the ribbon on Luján Park, located in the previously abandoned housing settlement Bajo Luján. The area has been transformed into a lively community space, with children’s play areas with equipment made from recycled plastic from the cooperative.

The Bajo Luján and Centro Verde projects reveal how intertwined initiatives can have an exponential impact on residents’ lives. They boosted citywide sustainability, helping hundreds of Luján de Cuyo residents achieve housing stability and financial independence and building much-needed trust in local government.

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Rionegro, Colombia

Leveraging Data for Fiscal Sustainability

Project Type:
Community Engagement, Infrastructure, Public Safety, Transportation

At a Glance

Has one of the lowest unemployment rates for mid-sized cities in Colombia at 7.5% in 2023, compared to the national unemployment rate of 9.3% in 2023.

Created the Tax Intelligence Center (CIF), through which the City developed its internal data management capacity and increased tax revenue by USD $14,000 in 2022.

In 2021, improved public safety by increasing the number of cameras throughout the City from 65 to 337, which has corresponded to reductions in theft, sexual and domestic violence, and extortion.

Implemented a data-driven triage system for hospital emergency rooms, saving the city $377,500 USD in operating costs (a 91% decrease according to the Secretary of Family, Health, and Social Inclusion).

In recent decades, Rionegro, Colombia, has invested heavily in sectors to improve quality of life for residents, such as housing, sanitation and public spaces. However, this investment has come at a cost, and since 2017, the Rionegro government has operated with a budget deficit. At the same time, the population of Rionegro has grown and its economy has diversified. At the same time, Rionegro’s population has grown and its economy has diversified, and while these developments open opportunities for Rionegro, they also come with challenges.

In response, Rionegro created the Fiscal Intelligence Center (CIF). CIF is a comprehensive citywide initiative to use analytics and business intelligence to monitor, manage, evaluate and optimize Rionegro’s financial decisions, notably regarding taxes. Through this data-driven approach, the City is better able to combat tax evasion by using data to choose who to audit. CIF’s work to revamp tax collection is about more than making sure residents contribute their fair share—it aims to transform the culture through taxpayer outreach so that residents see themselves in Rionegro’s development and build trust in city government.

What are CIF’s results?

Rionegro’s industry and commerce revenues increased by 22% in 2022 and another 24% in 2023.

Residents and city staff alike understand that more revenue means more opportunities for the government to address issues that matter, such as employment, security, community projects and health care.

For instance, Rionegro struggled with overcrowded emergency rooms as residents, especially those from rural communities, flocked to emergency rooms with non-emergency needs. In 2022, Rionegro found that 93% of patients were admitted to emergency rooms for non-emergency services.

With strong data practices and increased revenue, Rionegro launched the Te Acompaño platform in coordination with other health service institutions. Te Acompaño helps redirect patients who might not need emergency services from emergency rooms and educate them on how to best seek alternate forms of care. Within the first year, the platform reached 8,000 users, helped improve health care resource savings by 91%, and saved the city’s health care system USD $377,500 in operations costs. In a resident survey, 93% of Te Acompaño users said they were satisfied with the service.

CIF is not a behind-the-scenes government initiative, it’s a program that directly impacts residents. From health care to mobility to employment, Rionegro’s residents are seeing how increased digitization and efficiency allow the City to provide better services and build trust with residents.

“With the commitment, support and coordination between the municipal administration and all the actors in the network, it will be possible to improve access and opportunity to health services.”

Felipe Puerta, former Secretary of Family, Health and Social Integration

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