Sunlight Foundation to participate in $42M smart cities initiative from Bloomberg Philanthropies

Bloomberg Philanthropies, Michael Bloomberg’s charity arm, announced Monday the launch of a $42 million initiative to help local governments make better decisions based on data.
Over 100 mid-sized cities — population 100,000 to 1 million — are eligible to apply for the What Works Cities initiative.
The research and collaboration with governments will be conducted through five organizations, including the D.C.-based Sunlight Foundation.
The nonprofit group has been advocating for and researching open data programs for local governments since about 2012. Through the grant — Sunlight’s share has yet to be finalized — the organization will be “helping to pass along what we’ve seen as the most effective ways for governments to open up data,” said National Policy Manager Emily Shaw.
“Part of the intention is to help communities understand how the cities are coming to the decisions that they are,” she said. Open data can be a “tool for everybody to get on the same page.”
Johns Hopkins University will also be involved, via a new Center for Government Excellence. Our sister site, Technical.ly Baltimore, has the details on Hopkins’ role.