What are we doing?
The Innovation and Performance personnel are looking into creating a citywide Social Media Policy report that will promote, strengthen, and coordinate social media announcements within the city social media channels in order to better engage the public. This report will include emergency management strategies to distribute information quickly and effectively through all social media channels and city website outlets.

What are we doing?
The city is working on improving its citizen engagement strategies to deliver the best services and to cater to the needs of residents. The growing use of technological tools to engage with citizens online has led the city of Pittsburgh to expand its social media and online presence. The city website attracts approximately over 198,000 visitors per month, and through the website residents can connect to the city’s different social media platforms.

Social media avenues such as Facebook and Twitter are used by several departments and the Mayor to promote events and engage the community. Twitter accounts like Pittsburgh 311, Innovation & Performance, the Department of Public Works, and City Planning are tools that the city uses to engage residents and partner organizations to promote emergency announcements, city events, and city government milestones. Through social media platforms, we have seen an active engagement of citizens as they can quickly and directly engage with the city and its various departments, city council, and stay tuned with the city government news.

What have we learned?
On average the City of Pittsburgh website engages approximately 5,688 visitors per day. Through the city website, residents can learn about city services, licensing and permitting and new City initiatives.

On twitter, Citizens can engage with the municipality through the city of Pittsburgh which reaches 48,000+ followers, the Mayor’s account with approximately 50,000 followers, Innovation & Performance 2,699 and the 311 call center 7,636 followers.

The 311 call center also utilizes its twitter account to track and follow-up with service requests and provide best customer services to its Twitter users.

@PghI&P | @Pgh311
Learn more...

What are we doing?
Welcoming Pittsburgh began its Citizenship Days program on June 27, 2015 in partnership with service providers, pro-bono legal resources, and financial empowerment partners to provide multi-lingual “one-stop” naturalization service events, hosted alongside nonprofit organizations to promote community connections. Welcoming Pittsburgh plans to host Citizenship Days at least twice a year with the possibility of increasing to once per quarter based on community interest. Citizenship Days will provide a consistent series of more accessible, visible opportunities for immigrants to connect with a range of resources necessary for the naturalization process. The events will support everyone considering becoming an U.S. citizen through access to free legal assistance, local service providers, and financial empowerment resources.

What have we learned?
In 2015, there were 2 Citizenship Days, connecting 60+ prospective citizens to pro bono legal assistance and immigrant-serving organizations. The local USCIS office held mock citizenship interviews, which was among the most useful and popular activity that provided valuable information for perspective citizens. In addition, in 2015 Pittsburgh saw 114 city residents become naturalized American citizens at five public naturalization ceremonies.
Visit Welcoming Pittsburgh

What are we doing?
The city in partnership with Heinz College III, School of Public Policy & Management at Carnegie Mellon University through their systems capstone project program developed a spatial analysis and a mapping of free Wi-Fi hotspots in Pittsburgh. Every year students from the local universities as part of the Master’s thesis project collaborate with the city government to tackle challenges through research and analysis and recommend best practices for the city to adopt. The spatial analysis and mapping of free Wi-Fi project studied digital equity in Pittsburgh and provided an overview of the physical infrastructure of Wi-Fi in different neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. The map provides a visual representation of all the facilities in which Pittsburgh residents can enjoy free access to the internet throughout the city. This map will be evolving as Wi-Fi connectivity and accessibility in Pittsburgh increase in the coming years.

What have we learned?
Free WiFi Map

What are we doing?
The web transparency portal is an easy-to-navigate web page that hosts quick links to relevant city information. This initiative was spearheaded by Councilman Gilman in collaboration with the Department of Innovation and Performance’s web team as part of a new transparency policy. The portal facilitates access to important city information and guide citizens to the right resources as quickly as possible.
Web Transparency Portal

What are we doing?
The Department of Innovation & Performance web team began the process redesigning and developing a new city of Pittsburgh website. The city website's first beta versions will be launched to the public in 2017. The redesigning of the website will include reorganization of information to reduce users searching time on the website, language accessibility, updated forms and information, and quicker access to frequent searches. The website will be tested to make sure it can be navigated quickly and deliver information effectively.

What are we doing?
The Pittsburgh City Channel is committed to keeping its residents informed and engaged in government news, work, and events by streaming live programming online and on its YouTube Channel. This year the city upgraded its equipment to keep up fast evolving technology and cablecast municipal events with state of the art city Channel equipment. The renovations support more efficient operations and provide Pittsburgh residents with a higher quality visual experience.

What have we learned?
The City Channel team is proud to meet its mission to provide citizens with fast and relevant city government news. In 2015, City Channel Pittsburgh cable casted over 500 hours of new programming and produced over 200 new and original productions. City Channel Pittsburgh is streamed 24 hours a day and uploads most productions to its YouTube Channel that receives over 2,000 views per month. In 2016, the City Channel Pittsburgh has already produced 217 video events so far. The City Channel is a vital venue where the city engages the community by reaching residents in the comfort of their homes and conveniently via portable Wi-Fi enabled devices.
Watch Pittsburgh city Channel

What are we doing?
Digital Badges is a rewards program to incentivize youth between ages 13-24 to participate in educational training and acquire new skills and credentials in the areas of math and technology. STEAM and Maker Partner organizations in collaboration with the city provide digital badges to youth who attend training events. These trainings offer a variety of classes ranging from marketing, visual design, and or maker related skills. The skills allows youth to remain competitive and get rewarded for learning happening outside the classroom. The Badges provides a form of credential and acknowledges the learning that happens throughout the summer and when is school is not session. The managing organization, the Sprout Fund along with several other service providers during the past year, convened a diverse group of educators to determine the core competencies important to the community, and to create badges and curricula to reflect them.

What have we learned?
In summer 2015 approximately 1,600 youth participated in program. A total of 7,000 badges were earned by Pittsburgh youth and distributed by 34 different organizations. Each youth that participated in the programs earned four badges on average. In 2015, the biggest participating organization was Learn and Earn, which recruited 460 youth that earned 3400 badges.

For more information
My Brother's Keeper Initiative | Digital Badge Lab

What are we doing?
This project is pending grant funding. The idea behind this project is to encourage library patrons to bring their own devices if they want access free Wi-Fi (BYOD). The library has learned that the use of desktop computers is declining and people are now bringing their own mobile devices. The library will launch a pilot program in which they will encourage people to bring their own devices but also have the capability to lend mobile portable devices for people to access the internet in their own time.

What we are doing?
This project is on-hold. This project will enable library kiosk to be placed at the Pittsburgh International Airport for people to download e-books there. The library was rethinking the project so that instead kiosk can be put at bus stops. In order to do this the idea needs to be pitched to Port Authority. Please contact Toby for status on this project.

What we are doing?
One new feature in the upcoming city of Pittsburgh website will be that all city departments will list contact information and electronic email address so that citizens can contact department employees directly. In addition, citizens will be able to submit feedback and requests to department's page directly. This new feature will be coming up as one of the beta versions of the new city of Pittsburgh website in early 2017.

What we are doing?
The City Channel Pittsburgh is currently in the process of digitizing 30 years of city channel events currently stored in VHS technology. Videos will be available and open to the public to enjoy City Channel Pittsburgh programming throughout the years.

What we are doing?
The City Channel is a vital venue where the city engages the community by reaching residents in the comfort of their homes and conveniently via portable Wi-Fi enabled devices. As the City Channel Pittsburgh focuses its efforts in covering all relevant municipality events, Pittsburgh residents can find the City Channel on their cable TV guides in their homes.

What have we learned?
City Channel Pittsburgh is cablecast on Comcast Channels 13 & 14 / Verizon Channels 44 & 45.

What we are doing?
On September 23, 2016, the City Channel Pittsburgh unveiled its new Fred Roger’s Studio and updated equipment that brought the City channel into the 21st century. The cable team equipment was outdated and not compatible with modern technology. The recent renovations will support more efficient operations and will provide Pittsburgh residents with a higher quality visual experience.