Cities are increasingly using data to drive decision-making processes, and it is also playing a role in their digital equity initiatives, which have been a key priority since the COVID-19 pandemic. Data powers local government AI initiatives, and data literacy can power more effective AI adoption.
“I think the common trend, theme, hot topic of the day … is AI: how cities can leverage AI for government operations,” said Rochelle Haynes, managing director of What Works Cities at Results for America. The organization works with a network of more than 220 cities, and she regularly hears insight from local government officials.
Cities are at different points in their AI adoption, with some already using it in operations and implementing policy to guide use. And regardless of their size or where they are in their data maturity journeys, Haynes said they are embracing technologies, including AI.
“To be able to leverage AI, you need to have good data management and data governance,” Haynes said.
The emergence of AI is also shaping the digital equity landscape, Zaki Barzinji, senior director for Aspen Digital, said. People already facing digital equity barriers will face heightened barriers with the rise of AI, he said, as there is more to learn.
There is a disconnect in the way communities understand and use AI, Barzinji said. Many do not understand these tools and so, importantly, they do not understand their limitations and risks — making these individuals susceptible to interpreting false AI-generated content as authentic.
“[AI] increases the digital divide — 100 percent,” Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, said. Each new technology tool widens these inequities, and AI is among the most impactful technologies, she said. Today, Siefer said, “even basic digital skills include AI.”
For example, digital skills training programs that teach people how to use a search engine like Google now need to include AI training, she said, as search engines now incorporate AI-powered search results at the top. In many instances, these results have been found to display incorrect and even dangerous information.
This example demonstrates the need for clean, accurate, and inclusive data to power accurate AI outputs. One of the biggest issues around AI is that so many new systems are being trained on data sets that are “fundamentally exclusive of certain communities,” Barzinji said. To develop better AI tools, more inclusive data sets are crucial, he said.
“I’m finding that cities are thinking about how they can better organize their data and leverage it, because AI tools are only as good as the data that you put into it,” Haynes said.
The biggest challenge for cities in data, she said, is getting started. But the value of doing so is clear to city officials.
“I've never talked to a mayor or a senior leader that didn't understand the importance of data and evidence-based practices and how to engage it in their decision-making and their management of their programs and policies,” Haynes said.
Local government data plays a major role in successful AI implementations, and at a foundational level, it enables initiatives to get communities connected to the Internet. To do so, officials need to use data to understand and address the barriers to connectivity, Siefer said — and how they disproportionately impact marginalized populations.
“It’s the data and the stories and knowing how people are impacted [that can] help define where the funding should come from,” Siefer said, noting that a person’s ability to use the Internet impacts their purchasing habits, their government interactions, and the broader social systems they are part of.
Data literacy powers the design of new civic technologies — including but not limited to AI — while digital literacy underpins the public’s ability to use these tools, Haynes said. And broadband access, she said, has become the bare minimum requirement to connect with the data and technologies that cities are developing.
Another important component of getting people connected to the Internet, Barzinji said, is ensuring they can use it safely.
Cybersecurity is closely linked to AI, as local governments work to defend data from evolving threats. People getting connected to the Internet for the first time can be the most vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, Barzinji said, emphasizing that cybersecurity is not separate from digital inclusion, and should be part of digital equity planning.
Work remains for cities to effectively implement new technologies and support their communities’ use of them, but AI adoption starts with digital equity — and that starts with data.
“Any city of any size and any data maturity can get started with just getting their data house in order, as I like to say it, and building a strong infrastructure to be able to leverage technology — but also be able to be more efficient in how we operate,” Haynes said.
