Digital Innovation Initiative

The City of Sandy Springs is at the forefront of digital innovation in mid-sized local government. Established in 2025, the City's Digital Innovation Initiative brings together the work of technical teams housed within multiple city departments under a unified digital transformation strategy.

Innovation Projects

Overlook Park Bird Sightings Digital Signage System - Coming Soon!

The What Works City Certification

What Works City is an internationally recognized program from Bloomberg Philanthropies that assesses a city’s capacity to use data for effective decision-making and provides a standardized framework to guide cities on their data-driven journey. It evaluates how well cities are managed and whether they have the right people, practices, and policies to prioritize data and evidence.  Sandy Springs is being evaluated based on more than 40 criteria across eight foundational areas. The City submitted its assessment in April 2025, and it is currently under review.Certification requires meeting several mandatory criteria, including: Implementing Data Strategy and Governance, Executive Commitment to a Data-Informed Government, and Selecting and Using Performance Metrics Aligned with Strategic Goals and Priorities.  

Partnership for Inclusive Innovation (PIN) Community Research Grant

In May 2025, the City applied for a PIN Grant in partnership with Georgia Tech to address the significant increase in permit requests since 2020 and to streamline the permitting process for residents. The proposal outlines an AI-driven system designed to transform the permitting process by automating data extraction and analysis during document review. Utilizing advanced OCR and image recognition technologies, the system will accurately identify, classify, and extract key data points from submitted documents. Capabilities include recognizing handwritten annotations, distinguishing between layers in architectural drawings, pinpointing critical sections in permit applications, and flagging inconsistencies or missing information for human review. If awarded, work will begin in September 2025. 

Initiative Structure

The Digital Innovation Initiative is led by the Director of Data Strategy, Analytics, and AI Integration, Keith McMellen.

Data Management Steering Committee Charter

The Steering Committee sets the high-level objectives and strategies for the data management team. Membership is comprised of department leads and City Management.

Technical Working Group Charter

The Technical Working Group is the implementation arm for the Steering Committee, recommending solutions for the priorities.  Members are from various levels and functions within the City. 

Digital Development Team

The City's Digital Development Team is an interdepartmental group working within the City's Communications and IT departments. The team develops software and information systems that meet the unique needs of our organization and the citizens we serve.