[CITY]’s data strategy will be implemented and tested through the practical application of data work that helps deliver on the municipal vision set out in their [STRATEGIC PLAN].
Mission driven implementation
A mission-driven approach to government prioritises meeting clear, measurable societal goals, often aligned with addressing critical public needs such as climate change, social equity, public health, or economic resilience. Rather than focusing on processes, bureaucracy, or compliance, mission-driven governments use their available resources to deliver tangible results. This model emphasises cross-sector partnerships, evidence-based decision-making, and the engagement of communities to co-produce services. By setting ambitious but achievable objectives, mission-driven governments inspire a sense of purpose among public servants and stakeholders, accountability and momentum toward creating real-world change.
Aligning the delivery of the data strategy with the Strategic Priority Areas set out in [CITY]’s [STRATEGIC PLAN] will help the municipality deliver on those priorities while also ensuring that the institutional changes the strategy sets out are grounded in the reality of delivery. This work has already begun in the form of the initial ‘use-cases’ that accompanied the development of this strategy.
Multidisciplinary teams, test and learn
Rather than setting up data governance processes in isolation, [CITY] should create teams that create ‘demand-side’ pressure for change. The municipality should create and fund small multidisciplinary teams tasked to use data to help meet the goals of each Strategic Priority Areas. Multidisciplinary teams have all of the skills required to deliver and improve products and services. Typically, they might include a product owner, policy analyst, user researcher, designers and technologists.
The aim should be to start by creating multidisciplinary data teams around the goals of two or three of the Strategic Priority Areas, then scaling to other goals as the institutional knowledge grows and the new governance processes mature.
Rather than giving these teams a pre-defined project, they should be given the space and authority to test hypotheses about how data might be used to improve outcomes. For example, a multidisciplinary team focused on economic development might hypothesise that simplifying and improving access to trading permits could lead to an increase in small business activity, particularly in the informal sector. Currently, small traders often struggle with unclear permit requirements, slow processing times, and limited visibility into where they can legally operate.
To test this, the team could:
- Map the existing permit process – Identifying bottlenecks in the approval process using data from applications, rejections, and turnaround times.
- Pilot a digital permit tracking system – Enabling traders to apply online and track their application status in real-time, reducing the need for physical visits.
- Use location data to optimise trading zones – Analyzing foot traffic and economic activity data to propose better-designated trading areas that align with demand.
- Evaluate impact – Comparing the number of issued permits, compliance rates, and trader satisfaction before and after changes.
If successful, this experiment could inform broader policy changes, demonstrate the value of data-driven decision-making, and justify scaling similar approaches to other municipal processes.
Accountability and mandates
Mission teams will need clear mandates to collect, access and use data from across [CITY]. The teams will need to be led by product owners who are empowered to make key decisions. The Chief Data Officer and Data Council will play a key role in helping support this work by actively working to unlock access to data and systems.
Action Items
- Choose three Sustainable Development Goals to test the approach of mission-led implementation
- Create separate multidisciplinary teams, each with a single, empowered product owner
- Regularly report to the Chief Data Officer and Data Council with progress and blockers