Today, my guest is Stephanie Deitrick, who is the Enterprise GIS [Geographic Information System] and Open Data Program Manager for the city of Tempe, Arizona.

She's also a program director for the Master's of Advanced Study in GIS program at Arizona State University. Stephanie has her PhD in geography from Arizona State and has spent her career building the next generation of data experts with a focus on GIS, but a broader lens on public data. 

As someone who consults with municipalities on digital strategy, I spend much of my time trying to paint a narrative of what mature digital practice around data and public service looks like. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled on the city of Tempe, Arizona and their open data portal and service performance dashboard. It was everything I'd been imagining for my clients and more. So I had to find out who was behind this category leading work. That's how I came across Stephanie, her team, and their work.

Tempe is a model city for these values and what can happen when great leadership and great teams come together. Tempe has launched not just a best of breed open data portal, but a performance dashboard featuring KPIs powered by real-time data that openly publishes their compliance with the various service levels and outcomes that they have committed to on behalf of their citizens.

This courageous approach is a model for how local government can rebuild, trust and engage with their community. I think you'll learn a lot from Stephanie's mindset, and even if you're not in government, it's helpful to understand the internal workings of government entities and how with the right alignment and leadership, organizations can find new ways to prove their value and serve their communities.

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Guest information:

Dr. Stephanie Deitrick LinkedIn

Open Tempe  "The City of Tempe is committed to transparency and to providing accurate and easy to access data about our community. Below are the tools you can use to get information about our community’s finances, strategic priorities and more."

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What Paul and Stephanie talk about:

• Tempe's approach to open data, including their "open by default" policy.
• The importance of courageous leadership in driving digital transformation and open data initiatives.
• Tempe's performance management program and its integration with budgeting.
• The city's work with opioid emergency calls for service and wastewater testing for opioids and COVID.
• The process of data classification and balancing public access with privacy protection.
• The impact of AI on data privacy and the need for continuous reassessment of data masking strategies.
• The importance of cross-functional teams, understanding subject matter, and building trust and communication with business units.
• The role of trust and communication in enabling the City of Tempe to achieve transformative outcomes in public service.

Resources Referenced in the Interview

 Simon Sinek, The Golden Circle.

Recorded in May 2025.

This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/

We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to [email protected].

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