2000115-Strengthening-Communities-with-Neighborhood-Data

ESSAY
Technology, Data, and Institutional
Change in Local Government
Cory Fleming
Local governments exist to serve the needs of their communities.
One of those needs involves the collection and maintenance of data
related to the community. Many local governments have recognized the
value of these data and have begun to mine the data for critical business
intelligence. As a result, local governments have begun to change the
way they do business. This essay considers a few key technologies that
have been widely adopted by local governments and highlights how the
resulting data generated by these technologies are driving institutional
change in local government.
Background
Historically, local governments have maintained many of the official
records of their communities. This duty, particularly the maintenance
of property records, has been critical for the development and evolution
of communities and their economies. The existence of property
records at local government offices gave landowners clearly defined
legal rights and encouraged them to invest and make improvements
to their land, which in turn fostered growth and development in the
community. The records maintained by local governments have long
been recognized as authoritative sources of data and information for
many purposes.
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