The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, in partnership with Microsoft, is pleased to announce the development of a new, innovative data symposium. The event aims to bring together various organizations to discuss the potential of new urban metrics and to solve pressing urban sustainability and transportation challenges—with the goal of identifying new data sources to measure progress towards more sustainable cities. This invitation-only symposium will gather leading data experts from the public, private, and non-governmental organization sectors to discuss new and emerging data streams.

Cities across the world, especially in developing nations that may lack strong institutions, often struggle to keep pace with rapid urbanization and have difficulty meeting the urban development and transportation needs of their citizens. At the same time, social media, the widespread adoption of mobile and smart phones, and new location-based services provide a wealth of new data to address these challenges.

“As an organization focused on sustainable, people-centered transport solutions, we see a great deal of potential for data to make transit more efficient and serve people better, in a way that benefits governments, citizens, and the environment,” says Jacob Mason, Transport Research and Evaluation Manager for ITDP, “this symposium is a great opportunity for transport and development experts to get the newest tools to improve quality of life in cities around the world.”

The symposium is tentatively scheduled for April 20, 2017 in San Francisco, USA.