Urban informatics is an interdisciplinary field of research and practice that uses information technology for the analysis, management, planning, inhabitation, and usability in cities. The Graduate Certificate in Urban Informatics introduces students to this field, and includes not only technical skills for technology development and data analysis, but also opportunities to explore the ethical, legal, and policy questions created by new urban technologies. The certificate program is centered on several interrelated areas of professional innovation:

Urban Analysis. In response to the proliferation of public and private data sources, urban stakeholders are hiring a growing number of analysts to conduct applied data analysis. A growing number of governments, nonprofit organizations, and consultants conduct a range of applied data analyses such as constructing neighborhood change indicators, analyzing the impact of revitalization policies, and expanding community organization access to urban data.

Civic Technology. In conjunction with the expansion of urban data analysis, many urban stakeholders are rethinking how they use information technology to foster improved governance outcomes. Cities have launched open data portals, which make information available to the public and to third-party software applications, often through application programming interfaces. Other efforts have focused on improving the design of public websites, fostering online participation, and streamlining online applications for public services.

Smart Cities. Digital technologies hold the potential to transform the analysis and management of urban infrastructure, and a growing number of cities and consultants have launched smart cities experiments to explore how. The Certificate program involves U-M researchers pursuing related projects such as the real-time monitoring and management of various infrastructure systems including stormwater and transportation networks. These projects also raise important questions of participation, privacy, and ethics.

Smart Citizens. Urban informatics innovations can increase the agency of individuals, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders. The accessibility, usability, and operation of many urban systems depend on the participation of these actors. Indeed their involvement is required to ensure new technologies are shaped to reflect social values. Thus social innovation in cities will increasingly require new forms of citizen interaction and technology design.

Existing Professions. In addition to preparing graduate students for these new areas of practice, the urban informatics certificate supports innovation within existing urban professional fields represented at Michigan such as urban planning, public policy, public health, information science, natural resources, civil and environmental engineering, architecture, and landscape architecture.