#ThisWeekInData November 8, 2019

STATE TECH MAGAZINE: HOW CITIES FULFILL THE DEMAND FOR PUBLIC WI-FI

As they introduce smart city programs, city governments are often also providing free public Wi-Fi by taking advantage of fiber required to power the Internet of Things. City-wide Wi-Fi has many benefits including helping cities run their infrastructure, improving public safety, attracting potential customers to business, and addressing the digital divide.

FED SCOOP: GAO’S NEW INNOVATION LAB IS EXPLORING AI AND ML FOR AUDITING

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a blog post with insight into its new Innovation Lab and forthcoming work regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). GAO, which tries to identify improper payments using just one dataset at a time, hopes AI and ML will increase its capacity to audit numerous datasets at the same time.

NEXT CITY: WASHINGTON, D.C., AIMS TO IMPROVE UNDERSERVED NEIGHBORHOODS THROUGH BETTER LAND MANAGEMENT

Washington, D.C.’s Department of General Service (DGS) is creating a data warehouse and introducing a land bank, which would allow the city to collect certain neglected properties to convert them into assets to guarantee that publicly owned properties are used for maximum community benefit. DGS, which oversees the city’s owned and leased assets, will also categorize vacant land in its portfolio to support D.C.’s urban agriculture program, which teaches school children about farming, nutrition, and environmental sustainability.

DIGINOMICA: NEW YORK RENTERS TAKE ON DODGY LANDLORDS USING OPEN DATA

JustFix NY, a group of people and organizations addressing the housing crisis in NYC, is using open data to expose dishonest landlords. The open data will map building ownership across the city as well as enable renters to take on landlords in court.

STATE SCOOP: SEATTLE’S NEW STREET CONSTRUCTION MAP REVEALS HUNDREDS OF PROJECTS

The Seattle Department of Transportation launched dotMaps this week, a new tool which publishes the city’s hundreds of sidewalk and street closures in an interactive map to help commuters and pedestrians over the next four years of planned downtown transit renovations. The tool enables residents to draw a digital boundary around parts of the downtown area they would like to receive regular information about via email.

GLOBAL TIMES: CHINA LAUNCHES BLOCKCHAIN-BASED SMART CITY IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM

As part of smart city infrastructure based on blockchain technology, China has introduced and independently developed an identification system for cities. The system was jointly developed by three institutes in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province, and the identification code of each city can realize connectivity and data sharing between municipalities using blockchain services and smart city construction.

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