Cities Urged to Rethink Reliance on Dashboards

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A commentary piece argues that cities are overly reliant on data dashboards and need to shift their approach to focus more on community input, bottom-up tracking, and reducing the burden of too many technology tools. The author cites examples of cities like New York and Seattle that have found dashboards alone are not enough to drive better outcomes, and suggests cities start small by removing unused metrics, holding meetings without dashboards, and listening more to on-the-ground perspectives.

Why it matters

As cities invest heavily in data tools and dashboards, there is a growing recognition that this approach has limitations. Overreliance on metrics can create an illusion of control, discourage experimentation, and distract from the human insights needed to truly understand and serve communities. This commentary argues cities should rethink their approach to data and technology to avoid burnout and better connect with the people they serve.

The details

The commentary outlines how cities across the world have become overly dependent on data dashboards, with the average city toggling between 112 different applications. This comes at a significant financial cost, with state and local governments spending around $143 billion per year on IT. But the emotional toll is also high, with nearly half of city employees reporting burnout and emotional drain, not from the work itself but from the mental load of managing all these tools and data points.

• In December 2025, the New York City comptroller released a damning report showing the city's capital projects dashboard only tracked 47% of project IDs and 58% of planned commitments, with major departments like Education not even included.
• In Seattle, Councilmember Dan Strauss led walking tours, opened surveys with more than 1,000 responses, and held public hearings where 200 speakers shaped policy, which Strauss described as "incredibly successful" in shaping adopted amendments.

What they’re saying

What’s next

Cities can start rethinking their approach to data and dashboards by taking small steps like removing unused metrics, holding meetings without dashboards, and focusing more on community engagement and bottom-up tracking of the data that matters most to frontline workers.