This dashboard, launched in 2021, supports the first-ever Chicago open data project detailing the victims of violent crimes in support of the City's community safety strategy. Created together by the Office of the Mayor, University of Chicago Crime Lab, and the Department of Assets, Information and Services.

The launch of this site in 2021 was the first time the public could submit and track requests for public records (FOIA) to any city department from a single website. Created together by the Office of the Mayor, Department of Assets, Information and Services, Chicago Police Department, and GovQA.

Launched in 2020 early in the pandemic, the COVID dashboard was built upon an automated, open data infrastructure that joined data from labs across the local healthcare ecosystem. Created together by Chicago's Racial Equity Rapid Response Team, Office of Equity and Racial Justice, West Side United, Department of Public Health, Slalom, Chicago's Chief Data Officer, and Department of Assets, Information and Services. 

Launched in 2020, this site marks the first time the City published employee demographics measured against the resident population and easily broken down by race, age, gender, management, union, salary, and employee residence. Created together by the Office of Equity and Racial Justice, Bloomberg LP, Chicago's Chief Data Officer, Department of Human Resources, and Department of Assets, Information and Services.

Over 300 datasets have been updated over the past 3 years on the city's data portal. When many businesses were closed in the summer of 2020, the data portal was used to give residents an updated list of open grocery stores and pharmacies for access to food and medication. In 2021, new datasets were added focusing on the victims of violent crimes and their demographics to meet the call to treat violence as a public health crisis. Chicago's Open Data website is a joint effort of the Department of Assets, Information and Services, Office of the Mayor, and all city agencies.

In 2021, Mayor Lightfoot and First Lady Amy Eshleman launched the My Chi. My Future. Mobile App to connect teens and young people to a variety of rich, engaging, safe, and youth-centered out-of-school experiences and ensure all Chicago youth have a meaningful plan for the summer. This includes online and remote activities as well in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. MCMF has come to fruition through the combined efforts of government, community, academic, philanthropic, and corporate input including the Office of the Mayor, Department of Family and Support Services, EX3 Labs, and Northwestern University’s Office of Community Education Partnerships.

In 2019, the City used 5 years' worth of data on Uber, Lyft and Via trips to understand congestion patterns on Chicago streets. The study revealed, among other things, that the companies were primarily directing drivers to occupy the most congested streets of the city. The study resulted in a new dynamic congestion pricing ordinance that incentivized shared trips outside the downtown core and at off-peak hours. Created together by the Office of the Mayor, Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, and Department of Assets, Information and Services.

In 2019, the City introduced data collection requirements that set a new standard for evaluating the operations of Uber and Lyft. Cities from all over the United States have since studied Chicago's ridehail data standard, and the accompanying public dataset is routinely used by academics to study urban mobility patterns. Created together by the Office of the Mayor, Department of Assets, Information and Services, and Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

The My CHI. My Future. Data Working Group brings city and community representatives together to share and leverage youth and program data, break down data barriers with increased collaboration, plan and deliver data-driven projects to connect all youth in Chicago to out-of-school programs, and provide greater access, participation, and equity in the youth program search and connection process to empower youth to build their futures. Members of the data working group include the Mayor’s Office, DFSS, CPS, Park District, Chicago Public Library, City Colleges, CHA, and After School Matters

In 2021, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and City Leaders announced ‘Un[ ]spoken’, a citywide campaign to combat the negative stigma surrounding mental health and increase awareness of the publicly funded resources that have significantly expanded under Mayor Lightfoot and her Framework for Mental Health Equity. The campaign includes a website with a resource finder that makes finding help easier and more accessible. Residents can use an interactive map or enter a location to find a care center nearby. The resource finder was created together by the Department of Public Health and Edelman.

In 2022, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced two thousand vacant City lots available for purchase and redevelopment by private buyers through a new land sale portal. The “ChiBlockBuilder” online portal includes an interactive map of available properties, pricing information, and a digital submission process that will foster infill development and open space projects within local neighborhoods with the goal of putting vacant land to productive use in a community-driven way. Created together by the Office of the Mayor, Department of Planning and Development and DataMade.

In 2020, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice launched “Together We Heal”, a campaign aimed at building racial healing across Chicago. Born in part from COVID restrictions, The Office recognized a need for a digital space and decided that an interactive healing map that spotlights community work on racial equity would be an important way for the city to elevate other voices and literally “put them on the map”. It was created together by the Office of the Mayor, Department of Assets, Information, and Services, and ESRI.

Upon Chicago’s COVID shutdown, the team immediately created a digital resource to help residents connect with personalized guidance on dealing with COVID infections, at a time when tests and treatment were reserved for severe cases. Created together by the Department of Public Health, Office of the Mayor, MTX and Google.

Launched in June 2020, Chicago Connected is a first-of-its-kind broadband program which provides no-cost internet to qualifying Chicago Public Schools (CPS) families for four years. It is a partnership between the City, CPS, Kids First Chicago, 10 philanthropic donors, and more than 20 community partners. In 2021, the program expanded to City Colleges of Chicago. In its first two years, the program connected more than 60,000 unique households, equivalent to 100,000 students. Click on the image to check your eligibility or to learn more about the program.

The Chicago Digital Equity Council (DEC) was a cross-sector, community-driven effort to understand and tackle the nuanced barriers to digital equity and close Chicago's digital divide once and for all. The DEC was led by a group of community leaders, community-based organizations, government entities, and digital equity subject matter experts. Since launching, the DEC published a Digital Equity Plan for the City, and is convening partners citywide through a Digital Equity Coalition to implement recommendations. Click on the image to stay up to date on Chicago’s progress in closing the digital divide, access resources, and connect with the Coalition.