October 2023

Making Informed Decisions with Data
About ten years ago, our team at the City
of Baton Rouge began hearing terms
we had never heard before – things like
open data, performance management,
data governance, and more.
It isn’t that these were necessarily new
terms. It’s that they were practices that
the private sector primarily used, followed
by larger cities with more resources.
Like so many IT departments in
cities our size and smaller, our Department
of Information Services historically
focused on the traditional IT needs of
our internal customers – networking,
I am sharing all
these details not to
brag or boast, but
to encourage any
municipality seeking to
be more transparent
in their government
operations and use
data to make more
informed decisions
to start down a
similar path.
computer and desktop support, and
application development, among other
functions. But we began learning about
these practices that were new to us involving
leveraging technology in new
and exciting ways – to be a more transparent
government, to drive innovative
thinking in how we structure programs
and services, and to use data more intentionally
to make better decisions.
I will admit that it felt overwhelming to
start. Many larger cities had well-established
data, transparency, and performance
management programs, with a
wealth of resources and infrastructure
to guide their efforts. Not only were
we lacking in the same level of resources,
but we also knew it would involve
a culture shift to help both
our team and other departments
realize the
benefits of working
differently versus
the way we and
they had always
worked. We took
our time studying
other cities and
borrowing best practices,
where we had
the benefit of learning
from both their successes and
challenges. We launched Open Data BR
with ten priority datasets that we knew
would add immediate value to both the
Baton Rouge community and our internal
departments, thereby building confidence
and trust in our work. We built
clear structures and defined processes
for making data more accessible to the
public and other departments without
compromising protected information.
And we engaged the community in this
new approach, holding dozens of presentations
with groups ranging from
homeowner associations and retiree
groups to college classrooms and app
developers.
We also focused on making data available
in multiple formats, such as taking
standard datasets and integrating
them into a map-based platform we call
Open Neighborhood BR, which allows
residents to search and view details on
what goes on around where they live –
from public safety and fire incidents to
new permitting activity. We also continued
investing in our EBRGIS program,
building maps and map-based tools
that brought our data to life in helpful
and engaging ways.
Over the past several years, we have
shifted from a heavy focus on establishing
the structure for transparency
and data-driven collaboration to using
the data to make better decisions. For
example, when our community experienced
several public safety incidents
involving local hotels and motels, we
leveraged location-based data to inform
new ordinances and direct
enforcement plans in areas
where these issues
were most prevalent.
We started using
maps and tablets in
the field to better
coordinate how we
efficiently responded
to potholes or
other complaints in a
given geographic area.
The foundation we set in
Open Data BR enabled other
tools like Open Budget BR, which digitized
our 500+ page budget book into
an easily searchable and viewable public
resource, and Open Checkbook BR,
which integrates with our budget platform
and provides detailed information
on real-time spending across City-Parish
government.
I am sharing all these details not to
brag or boast, but to encourage any
municipality seeking to be more transparent
in their government operations
and use data to make more informed
decisions to start down a similar path.
It takes time to do it right, and as you
can tell, we are ten years down the road
and continuing to build on our successes.
But I will say confidently that it has
absolutely been worth it. Our City-Parish
operates more efficiently, our residents
have greater access to our data
and trust in our work, and other areas
of our community are benefiting from
the brand we are building for Baton
Rouge in being a more digital city.
by Eric
Romero
City of Baton
Rouge/Parish of
East Baton Rouge
Romero is Director of Information Services
with the City of Baton Rouge/Parish of
East Baton Rouge. He can be reached by
emailing eromero@brla.gov.
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LMR | OCTOBER 2023