Baton Rouge, La. — September 30, 2021 — Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome announced the launch of the Citizen Data Academy: On Demand self-paced video series designed to educate and engage residents in the City-Parish’s open data program. 

The on-demand series builds on the success of the live Citizen Data Academy, which Mayor Broome launched virtually in 2020 as a resource for Baton Rouge residents to better understand and navigate the City-Parish’s various open data platforms and tools.

“Our inaugural Citizen Data Academy was a tremendous success, as our City-Parish open data experts helped empower numerous residents with hands-on training to use the vast resources publicly available through our Open Data BR and GIS programs,” said Mayor Broome. “This on-demand video series takes the same information and distills it into short, convenient segments that residents can use to navigate these data resources — regardless of their technical expertise.”

The City-Parish is introducing two training modules: one providing an introduction to open data and the other focused on tools, maps and resources involving community planning, land development and blight. Future modules will include topics such as “living in Baton Rouge” and City-Parish government, among others.

The Citizen Data Academy is part of Mayor Broome’s focus on government transparency, data-driven decision making and community engagement. In 2020, Baton Rouge was named a Top 3 Digital City by the Center for Digital Government and, in 2021, achieved silver certification from What Works Cities, a national initiative launched by Bloomberg Philanthropies to help cities use data and evidence more effectively to tackle their most pressing challenges. Programs like the Citizen Data Academy play a key role in the City-Parish’s ranking and continued success in open data.

For more information and to view the on-demand video series, click here or visit the City-Parish's YouTube page. To learn more about the Citizen Data Academy, visit brla.gov/dataacademy.