Theresa Reno-Weber is an assiduous tabulator, a performance driver and a groundbreaker when it comes to municipal data analytics. Hired in 2012, she helped craft Louisville’s strategic plan and spearheaded development of LouieStat, a performance platform that tracks progress on operational goals.
In 2014 Reno-Weber completed the complex task of incorporating city departments into the platform — a process that started with nine in 2012, increased by 10 in 2013, and finally included all 24 departments last year. The initiative supplies city officials and residents with regular updates on progress while holding the metro government to a higher level of accountability.
“We continue to work with each department to cascade their strategic plan goals into operational metrics that can be tracked on a consistent basis and be indicators of where there are opportunities for us to improve performance,” Reno-Weber said.
Despite the progress so far, she says Louisville is just scratching the surface of what data can do. The vision is to create a repository of operational and public data where analytics deliver instant intelligence and predictive forecasts for city planning. Logistically this means linking LouieStat with the city’s open data portal — 70 new data sets were added last year — and procuring new technology that automates analysis, visualization and predictive analytics.
Reno-Weber already is in talks with possible vendors and scouting various solutions.
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