AI tools for city management launched at Bloomberg CityLab

In addition to the workspace for cities to share their efforts, safely, with one another, City AI Connect will make aggregated data, anonymised case studies, and the latest insights and trends from cities pioneering generative artificial intelligence publicly available.

“From eliminating processing delays for critical city services – like Snap [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme] benefits, housing vouchers, and drivers’ licences – to transforming the ways local government can interact and service residents, there is extraordinary opportunity for generative artificial intelligence to upend the way cities engage with and deliver for communities – for good,” said James Anderson, who leads the Government Innovation Programme at Bloomberg Philanthropies.

“Collaboration between cities in the context of generative AI can lead to the development of innovative solutions and shared best practices for urban challenges such as traffic patterns, air quality, energy consumption, and demographic information”

“At today’s Mayors Innovation Studio at Bloomberg CityLab 2023, over 100 mayors from across the globe got their hands in the clay of new generative artificial intelligence tools and [are] committed to participating in City AI Connect so they rapidly discover, develop, and implement applications for this emerging technology – together.”

“Collaboration between cities in the context of generative AI can lead to the development of innovative solutions and shared best practices for urban challenges such as traffic patterns, air quality, energy consumption, and demographic information,” said Stefano Lo Russo, mayor of Torino, Italy.

“Generative AI can simulate various urban development scenarios, helping city planners visualise the impact of different management actions. Our digital twin of the city of Torino can be used to perform realistic and dynamic simulations through the generative AI.”

City AI Connect is available at no cost for any official local government to use. To learn more about City AI Connect – or for cities interested in registering to participate – visit cityaiconnect.jhu.edu.

Bloomberg Cities Idea Exchange

This marks the tenth Bloomberg CityLab 2023, the global cities summit organised by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the Aspen Institute. It also saw the launch of the Bloomberg Cities Idea Exchange, which claims to be a first-of-its-kind initiative to turbocharge the efforts of thousands of local governments to adapt and replicate ideas from other cities that address their most acute challenges. 

Through a $50m investment, the Bloomberg Cities Idea Exchange will provide a unified programme for local governments to source proven ideas across a range of emerging issues, transfer implementation knowledge between cities, adapt effective solutions for their local contexts, and measure the impact of their interventions. 

It will bring together local governments and leading global and regional organisations already advancing idea-sharing between cities around the world. The United States Conference of Mayors, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth, Red de Innovación Local, C40 Cities, and the Partnership for Healthy Cities will serve as the Ideas Exchange’s founding partners, contributing their expertise and insight. 

Together, these networks represent 3,000 unique cities, all of which will have access to the Exchange’s offerings. To spur solution-spreading between cities, Bloomberg Philanthropies will convene this collaborative group of partners annually.