City of Albany Data Analytics Initiative

The City of Albany developed and evaluated an automated housing registry as part of a Smart Resilience initiative using grant funding from Georgia Smart.

Albany’s housing inventory of 33,398 units had previously been managed through inefficient handwritten inspection sheets that were manually translated into multiple spreadsheets, consuming significant staff resources and creating substantial potential for transcription errors.

“The proposed work is directly related to one of our City’s six strategic goals and will establish an efficient inventory of key community housing and associated infrastructure conditions. This type of inventory will better serve to provide decision-makers with data driven information for the most efficient allocation of resources within our community.” – Sharon Subadan, Albany City Manager

The Albany Housing Data Analytics and Visualization Initiative sought to bridge the gap between available data and the need for a comprehensive, flexible, and accurate database capable of effectively managing the city’s housing inventory. The initiative resulted in the development of an automated data analytics and visualization reporting system that improved the measurement and tracking of public funds allocated toward housing and neighborhood infrastructure repairs and enhancements. The system also supported the city’s broader goals of promoting a safe and sustainable housing inventory.

Albany partnered with Georgia Tech professor Dr. Omar Isaac Asensio to streamline data collection and processing efforts. Dr. Asensio collaborated with the city to develop a robust and expandable data repository, establish best practices for housing data collection, and create data mining and analysis techniques tailored to Albany’s housing information needs.

Smart Community Corps students also worked with the Albany community across multiple summers to support related initiatives and implementation efforts.

Smart Community Corps students worked with the Albany community over multiple summers. You can find out more information about those projects here.