Data and research as key enablers of city outcomes: Forward-looking objectives for the City of Cape Town

Policy brief Cities and Cities that Work

This policy brief outlines recommendations for the stronger use of evidence to guide planning, decisions, and implementation in the City of Cape Town (CCT).

  • This policy brief aims to understand how the City of Cape Town (CCT) can use data and research to improve the efficiency of infrastructure investments and service delivery.  
  • It is recommended that the city focuses on its citizens' needs as core informers of the Core Application Refresh (CAR) and Digital Strategy. Rather than spending time on building apps, the city ought to create an enabling environment for other stakeholders to build apps that incorporate city services. 
  • It is also suggested that the city co-design the open data portal alongside users and other stakeholders while strengthening policy adherence and in-house skills around data and research.
  • The city should develop more clearly defined protocols for evaluating external research requests and the return of results while further developing demand-led research commissioning.