Build a better future for social change.

For the last 15 years, we've studied storytelling. If we've learned anything, to tell a great story, you must first listen to what is going on around you.

We've listened to our customers, heard about their top challenges and wins, and learned from the data stories they create and share. We've also heard that the data they need to tell great stories is often out of their grasp—either they don't have it, can't use it, or simply don't know where to start. They can't ask great questions or think across disciplines when the building blocks to their story, in other words, their ability to observe and listen, are typically buried in spreadsheets or siloed to a "data person."

It's no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) has disrupted the tech sector. In fact 65% of technology and software companies around the globe have named AI as a top priority for their business over the next year. At mySidewalk, we've been thinking about how to leverage this kind of technology on our mission to democratize data for as long as we've been studying storytelling.

Ultimately, we believe AI can be a force for good. Especially in the work you do.

You deserve the best and most powerful of them to help you along the way. Utilizing AI in a way that is fundamentally responsible, ethical, and impactful for communities is critical—and our team of data scientists, storytellers, and industry experts live and breathe this stuff. 

On this page, you can find helpful information and resources about how we have incorporated AI into our platform and tools and how we believe you can harness it for good.

Have questions? Email support@mysidewalk.com or get in touch with our team to start a subscription.

As we were saying, we believe AI can be a force for good. In fact, we know AI will be a force for good because we are building the tools to bring this technology to you—and you're going to do amazing things with it.

Leveraging this technology to make it easier and more efficient for more people to access to the best community data and transform insights into engaging visualizations and context that are easy to share with anyone is core to our mission—and critical for those helping communities overcome some of the greatest challenges of our generation.

Typically, mySidewalk customers ask great questions and think interdisciplinaryly. Understandably, as some of the closest people to the problems communities face, they’re interested in understanding why things are the way they are and digging deeper. In addition, we know that to solve any problem, we have to look at community data through a connected lens. Gone are the days of a specific department owning a community's health, economic, or safety outcomes. 

Rather than forcing people who, let's be honest, already have more than enough on their plates, to learn software, we believe more progress can be made when we focus on what humans do well—naturally. With that in mind, we’re working to create intuitive interactions with data so our tools can:

• Allow humans to think like humans. That means those of us asking the right questions are going to be in the best place to guide our communities forward. 
• Enhance, not replace, roles. It's easy to feel a bit threatened when new technology unlocks new capabilities, but we belive those who harness this technology will become irreplaceable. 
• Help you spot hallucinations and bias. This investment in new tools and our commitment to always “showing our work” means you can trust the responses you get.

At the helm, our CEO Stephen Hardy understands how difficult it can be to navigate without data. As a former city planner, his first-hand experience helping communities rebuild after natural disasters, invest in sustainable infrastructure, and create oases for culture and connection extends far beyond the duties of the job. Read more about how he has guided our team's priorities toward innovative AI solutions below. 

Like many organizations now, there’s a push to do more with AI. And then come the questions. What should we do? How do we use AI responsibly? How should we bring AI into our organization? These are all good questions that any community decision-maker like yourself should ask—and you don't have to arrive at those answers alone.

At mySidewalk, we don’t believe in using AI for the sake of AI. We do, however, believe AI can enhance many of our responsibilities and roles today. That's why we have intentionally designed our data library to leverage innovative technology that you can trust. The best part? We've taken care of the heavy lifting when it comes to data preparation, maintenance, and quality assurance. 

So where do you get started? 

More than 5 billion AI-ready data points sounds like a good place, if you ask us. 

The work you do doesn't happen in a vacuum. In fact, mySidewalk's users know our platform and tools can give them superhuman-like powers to think critically about the many factors impacting their communities.

Having all of the data you need in one place is a start. Bringing critical indicators together for in-depth analysis and, ultimately, positive and impactful change, is where the platform for people who care about places really becomes your right hand to:

• instantly find the most relevant data from more than 8,000 data topics
• create visualizations like maps in minutes
• speak language that resonates with any unique audience

See how mySidewalk's tools turned three users into modern-day superhero below.