CivMetrics Data, Documents and News
CivMetrics believes in measuring and presenting critical data, information and documents regarding local development, construction and governance. Our data covers selected critical types of community development, construction and programs. CivMetrics also seeks to provide macro context along with the micro details. See our actionable data and information regarding local economics, demographics, and market conditions. This includes data, RFPs, financing documents and other information on housing, labor, business conditions and demographics. Select any of the CivMetrics targeted topics for updated data, developments and directories.
CivMetrics Data, Documents and News
CivMetrics collects critical data, information and documents regarding local development, construction and governance. See our actional data and documents, including RFPs, financing documents and the latest stats on local metrics such as housing, labor, demographics and business conditions. Select a CivMetrics topic below for target data and documents.
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Slice, dice, and analyze metro-level data — including labor, real estate, and macroeconomic data – for hundreds of metro areas. Click the button below to test drive the beta versions of our dashboards.
Development & Housing
Local development, housing and construction projects, including large public construction projects.
Economics
Data on employment, inflation, labor markets, local GDP, housing, and other critical measures of local economic and business conditions.
Infrastructure
Large infrastructure, such as airports, transit, ports, stadiums and other large scale projects.
Incentives
Credits and incentives in connection with new local development, expansion or company relocations.
Civic Services
Non-profit and government services, including large private service organizations, cultural institutions, and units of local government.
People & Livability
Demographics and livability information, such as crime, weather, pollution, health, and other quality-of-life measures.
Latest News
Algorithms That Catch Food Stamp Cheaters Also Snare The Innocent
With losses from food stamp fraud estimated to average around a billion dollars a year, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) commissioned the creation of an algorithm called ALERT to sift through millions of retail transactions to identify potentially fraudulent...
Tech Expert Quits Toronto ‘Smart City’ Board Over Data Privacy Concerns
Saadia Muzaffar, founder of TechGirls Canada, has resigned from Sidewalk Toronto -- a "smart city" project -- over concerns about a Google-owned company which is now involved in the project. In her resignation letter from the Sidewalk Toronto advisory board, Muzaffar...
Results-Focused Government Requires Both Social Science and Data Science
Just because modern data science and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques produce results, it does not mean that more traditional way of social science (i.e. custom data sets created for a specific study) should be discarded. Data science has its own blind spots. A...
Scientists Slam Interior Department’s Two-Faced Approach to Data Transparency
An order issued by the Interior Department that is ostensibly meant to increase transparency and accessibility of research data may end up restricting the use of science-based studies in the formulation of federal policy. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) claims...
There’s An App for That: Waco, Texas Will Use App To Collect Real-Time Data Informing Policy Decisions
For all its effectiveness in processing huge amounts of archived information, data science is well-served by real-time, real-world inputs that adds a necessary ‘ground truth’ component that anchors the decision process in reality. The City of Waco, Texas has launched...
House Subcommittee Urges Greater Investment in A.I.; China Fears Propel Spending
Federal investment in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development nearly topped $500 billion as far back as 2015. But the House subcommittee on information technology believes that even with the expenditure of that much money won’t be enough to maintain the...
Data Science Champions Needed in Government
Mathematician D.J. Patil, the first chief data scientist for the US Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Obama, declared that city governments need the presence of data science champions in order to make smarter, more informed policy decisions. Here...
UK Junks ‘Right to Explanation’ Over Algorithm Use
The UK government has quietly squashed a plan that would have required government departments to create a process by which ordinary citizens could question policy decisions aided by the use of “black box” algorithms. The internal processes of these algorithms are...
Data Science: You Don’t Always Have to Follow the Herd
Just because your competitors are falling over each other in hiring data scientists doesn’t mean you have to grab the next one that walks in off the street. Stephen Gatchell, head of data governance at Bose Corporation, says that organizations must first figure out...
Why the Long Face? Algorithms Can Tell How You’re Voting Based on Microexpressions
‘Neuropolitics consultants’ say they know what's on your mind, even if you've left it unspoken. Maria Pocovi, founder of the Emotion Research Lab (ERL), is using algorithms to identify voters’ unspoken feelings. This ability could start a revolution in political...
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