Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote on CNN.com about how cities drive innovation. He has also been cozying up to former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
They say that politics makes strange bedfellows. That is being proven yet again as Bloomberg, a Republican turned independent who once mused about running for president, and Clinton, a Democrat who did try and run, are working together now.
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The two made a joint appearance this week at an event to promote a philanthropic effort that deals with women’s issues around the world. Data2x is a combined effort of the Clinton Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the United Nations Foundation. It collaborates with technical experts, policy and private sector advisors, and national and international partners. It hopes to, “spur a gender data revolution and identify innovative sources of data, including “big data, ” that can provide an evidence base to guide development policy and investment.”
Bloomberg and Clinton have collaborated in the past on issues involving New York. For seven years Bloomberg was Mayor concurrent to Clinton’s serving as a NY State Senator.
“We believe that if more and better data gets collected, we’ll see more progress in tackling these kinds of problems, ” said Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose foundation’s No Ceilings project focuses on “full participation” of women and girls in society. “That’s why when I was Secretary, we helped launch a number of new initiatives to fill these data gaps.”
“There are so many opportunities to improve lives around the world, but many are obscured by a lack of data. Having that data is essential to creating more effective policies and directing investment to where it’s needed most. The partnerships being announced today are a big step in the right direction, and they are going to make a big difference to millions of women and children, ” said Michael R. Bloomberg.
Meanwhile Bloomberg explained the work of his i-teams initiative on CNN:
“Helping cities increase their capacity to tackle their big issues is the focus of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ government innovation programs. For the last three years we’ve invested in innovation teams — we call them i-teams — to help mayors generate fresh ideas and deliver results. Here’s how they work:
The i-teams gather and analyze the data that city leaders need to understand problems and their causes — and later, to set goals, measure progress, and hold themselves accountable for success.”
