BROOKLYN, New York, April 12, 2022 – The Governance Lab (The GovLab) at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, along with CAF -  Development Bank of Latin America, the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), and the New Urban Mobility Alliance (NUMO) announce the launch of the Urban Mobility and Transportation domain of The 100 Questions Initiative, which identifies the most pressing, impactful questions regarding safe, accessible, inclusive and sustainable mobility which data and data science have the potential to answer.

This work is essential because cities need to steer the use of data more purposefully to better inform and shape policy decisions on urban development, clean transportation, equal access to economic opportunities and quality of life in urban centers. As urban growth across the world continues, ensuring safe, accessible, inclusive and sustainable mobility in cities is crucial.

“Technology and data are powerful tools for designing and implementing public policy, but evidence-based policy is currently the exception rather than the rule. Although cities have access to several data sources, policy makers often lack the tools and knowledge to convert data into actionable insight for better decision-making. The identification of the policy questions that need to be prioritized and answered is key for Latin American cities, not only to improve the management of their day-to-day transport systems but more importantly to anticipate and build resilient cities in the future” adds Angel Cardenas, Urban Development and Creative Economies Head at CAF –Development Bank of Latin America.

“We need to become more data-driven to make better informed decisions for urban mobility planning, to develop innovative and sustainable solutions, and to ensure that everyone benefits from these solutions” adds Stefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder and Director of the Data Program at The GovLab. “To meet modern mobility challenges, we first need to identify the most pressing questions that data assets, and data science can meaningfully and responsibly answer.”

The Urban Mobility and Transportation Domain, as with the previous initiative domains of migration, gender, air quality, future of work, and disinformation will tap the expertise of “bilinguals” to identify these questions. These practitioners across fields who possess both knowledge about a given domain (in this case urban mobility), and data science expertise, will work collaboratively to identify the 10 most pressing, high-impact questions answerable through a combination of new and existing data sources and data science methods.

“TUMI believes that for cities, data is a crucial enabler to make better as well as more informed decisions about sustainable mobility. With the development of an Urban Mobility Data Hub, we are working together with our partners on making mobility data available for cities in Africa, Latin America and Asia to shape the digital transformation of urban mobility in a climate-friendly way” said Lena Plikat, Transport Policy Advisor at TUMI.

"As we consider more sustainable, convenient mobility solutions to reduce emissions from car trips, data and technology have the potential to guide us in making meaningful progress to our climate and equity goals. To generate real impact and find the answers we seek, however, we first need to ask the right questions. NUMO is proud to partner with globally recognized organizations and practitioners to collaborate on asking and answering these most pressing questions that will impact our mobility ecosystems in cities around the world" added Sebastian Castellanos, Research Lead at NUMO.

Through the 100 Questions Initiative, The GovLab and CAF, along with TUMI and NUMO, will facilitate the establishment of data collaboratives — new forms of public-private partnerships that harness data from different sectors for public good. This effort builds on The GovLab’s, CAF’s, TUMI’s and NUMO’s many efforts to improve the effectiveness and legitimacy of governance through data and collective intelligence.

Professionals interested in collaborating are encouraged to send an email to [email protected]. For more information about the 100 Questions Initiative, visit the100questions.org, or contact Stefaan Verhulst, lead of the initiative at [email protected].

About the 100 Questions Initiative

The 100 Questions Initiative is presented by The Governance Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. This initiative seeks to map the world’s 100 most important questions in the most critical domains, such as gender, migration, and air quality, that could be answered if datasets and data science were unlocked and leveraged to their full potential, in a responsible manner. It is supported by a global advisory board comprising data science and subject matter experts from the public, corporate, and non-profit sectors. Members include Ciro Cattuto, scientific director of ISI Foundation; Gabriella Gómez-Mont, founder and former director at Laboratorio Para La Ciudad; Molly Jackman, leader of Content-Product Data Science and Engineering at Netflix; Vivienne Ming, founder of Socos Labs; Wilfred Ndifon, director of research at AIMS Global Network; Denice Ross, fellow at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation; and Matthew Salganik, professor of sociology at Princeton University. For more information, visit the100questions.org or https://the100questions.org/faq 

About The Governance Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering

The Governance Lab’s mission is to improve people’s lives by changing the way we govern. Our goal at The GovLab is to strengthen the ability of institutions — including but not limited to governments — and people to work more openly, collaboratively, effectively, and legitimately to make better decisions and solve public problems. We believe that increased availability and use of data, new ways to leverage the capacity, intelligence, and expertise of people in the problem-solving process, combined with new advances in technology and science, can transform governance. We approach each challenge and opportunity in an interdisciplinary, collaborative way, irrespective of the problem, sector, geography, and level of government. For more information, visit the thegovlab.org

About CAF- Development Bank of Latin America

CAF - Development Bank of Latin America is a development financial institution committed to improving the quality of life of all Latin Americans. CAF´s actions promote the sustainable development and integration of the region through loans, non-reimbursable technical assistance  resources, and support in the technical and financial structuring of programs and projects in the public and private sectors in Latin America. CAF works in 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as in Spain, Portugal through 13 offices, to serve the region.

About the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative 

TUMI is the leading global implementation initiative on sustainable mobility, formed through the union of 11 prestigious partners. Facilitated by GIZ and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Development  (BMZ), TUMI’s vision is thriving cities with enhanced economic, social and environmental performances in line with the New Urban Agenda, the Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement. TUMI is based on three pillars: innovation, knowledge, and investment. Website: www.transformative-mobility.org

About the New Urban Mobility Alliance

NUMO, the New Urban Mobility alliance, is a global organization that channels tech-based disruptions in urban transport to create joyful cities where sustainable and just mobility is the new normal. Founded in 2019 as an outgrowth of the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities, NUMO convenes diverse allies and leverages the momentum of significant revolutions in mobility to target urban issues — including equity, sustainability, accessibility and labor — impacted by the shifting transportation landscape. NUMO is hosted by WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. Learn more at www.numo.global 

About the New York University Tandon School of Engineering

The NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, the founding date for both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute (widely known as Brooklyn Poly). A January 2014 merger created a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a tradition of invention and entrepreneurship and dedicated to furthering technology in service to society. In addition to its main location in Brooklyn, NYU Tandon collaborates with other schools within NYU, one of the country’s foremost private research universities, and is closely connected to engineering programs at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai. It operates Future Labs focused on start-up businesses in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn and an award-winning online graduate program. For more information, visit engineering.nyu.edu

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