The Athens-Clarke County Unified Government (ACCGov) has achieved What Works Cities Certification in recognition of its exceptional use of data to guide decision-making and improve residents’ lives. What Works Cities Certification - the national standard of excellence in data-driven city governance - evaluates how well cities are managed by measuring the extent to which leaders incorporate data and evidence in their decision-making. What Works Cities Certification, a national Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative led by Results for America, has awarded certification to 55 U.S. cities for outstanding data practices since 2017.

What Works Cities Certification assesses cities based on their data-driven decision-making practices, such as whether they are using data to set goals and track progress, allocate funding, evaluate the effectiveness of programs, and achieve desired outcomes from contracts with outside vendors. The program also measures whether cities are publicly and transparently communicating about their use of data and evidence.

Certification was developed by a team of experts from Results for America in consultation with the What Works Cities Certification Standard Committee and with support from other What Works Cities partners - The Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, The Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, and The Behavioral Insights Team. Over 200 cities have completed a Certification assessment, benchmarking their practices against the national standard. 

What Work Cities, a Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative, helps cities use data and evidence to tackle their most pressing challenges and improve residents’ lives. The initiative’s What Works Cities Certification program is the first-of-its-kind national standard of excellence in city governance that evaluates how well cities are managed and whether cities have the right people, processes, and policies in place to put data and evidence at the center of decision-making. For more information, visit whatworkscities.org/. 

For more information about the certification or ACCGov's data initiatives, contact the Geospatial Information Office at 706-613-3872 or visit www.accgov.com/gio.