Tom Schenk Jr
The product of too much SimCity and watching too much West Wing. Managing Director of Analytics
KPMG; former Chicago Chief Data Officer;
former Iowa Dept. of Education
- Wonderful. The CityKey program is a safe, wonderful program that should be emulated. Unfortunately, we are in a climate where this user-friendly portal is risky. If you reside in Chicago, do take a look at getting one at one of the in-person sign-up events.
- NEW: Chicago will no longer allow residents to apply online for a municipal ID card after ICE officials subpoenaed records identifying applicants for the ID, known as the City Key, City Clerk Anna Valencia announced @wttw.bsky.social
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrNEW: Chicago will no longer allow residents to apply online for a municipal ID card after ICE officials subpoenaed records identifying applicants for the ID, known as the City Key, City Clerk Anna Valencia announced @wttw.bsky.social
- This is shocking. I directly worked on designing the integration and protections of CityKey. It was designed to provide an ID, be a transit card, library and discount card. It was to *never* create a digital record while being compatible with state and city laws. Subpoena-proof.
- ICE subpoenas Chicago for records of applicants in city ID program used by immigrants www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/06/i...
- But it appears since December that it has changed. An online application means a digital footprint has been created and can not be deleted.
- The digital footprint since December is staggering.
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View full threadI don't see any warnings on the CityKey "how to apply" page about the implications of applying online. It needs to be clear. I hope there are additional safeguards to protect this from a subpoena. But it shouldn't have come to this.
- We have been working to define how we'll scale bringing science into policies at state and local governments. Bringing MetroLab into the Federation of American Scientists means we'll be able to bring incredible amount of expertise for new and exciting programs.
- 🗣️We’re excited to announce that MetroLab Network is now officially a part of the Federation of American Scientists. We’re looking forward to improving the delivery of evidence-based policy into local government. Learn more about this new chapter ⤵️ fas.org/publication/...
- I have also joined FAS board of directors to support the integration of these two organizations. Encourage that you take a look at FAS key issue areas, ranging from government capacity to emerging technology. fas.org/about-fas/
- Reposted by Tom Schenk Jr🗣️We’re excited to announce that MetroLab Network is now officially a part of the Federation of American Scientists. We’re looking forward to improving the delivery of evidence-based policy into local government. Learn more about this new chapter ⤵️ fas.org/publication/...
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrI've got my Chicago CityKey on me, do you? Proud to be one of the nearly 150,000 Chicagoans alongside @chicityclerk.bsky.social with one during the seventh anniversary of this incredible program that's eliminated barriers and increased access to all Chicago has to offer.
- This is a solid bill. Some of the most skilled folks I’ve worked with didn’t have degrees—they had hands-on expertise that grads often take years to develop. We needn't treat diplomas as proxies for talent for every job. chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/20...
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrLooking to talk to current or former federal workers at NOAA for a story for The Economist. Please share far and wide! I’m on signal at abraun.99
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrI have a couple of speaking gigs coming up: - UIC Law Thursday to talk about DOGE & data privacy www.eventbrite.com/e/second-ann... - BPS in late June to talk about Digi ID & ACLU's guidelines www.btcpolicysummit.org I could talk about these topics forever.
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrFigured I’d hop on here today for the 15th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. With everything going on right now, it’s easy to feel like regular folks can’t make a difference – but the ACA is a reminder that change is possible when we fight for progress.
- Reposted by Tom Schenk Jr[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrThis is amazing. Harvard has amassed a 16TB collection covering more than 311K datasets and a complete archive of federal public datasets linked by data.gov - with ongoing updates. lil.law.harvard.edu/blog/2025/02...
- Reposted by Tom Schenk Jr
last year, we stumbled upon chicago factbooks - the only source of historic chicago rent data, going back to 1930. without the resources for a larger digitization project, we took the simplest approach: manual data entry. once we adjusted the rents for inflation, the facts really came to life… 🧵 - Reposted by Tom Schenk JrDoes anyone have a favorite field experiment (or A/B test) with public data where there is outcome data over time, ideally something like daily data or even timestamped events? This is a common format in industry, but few public data sets look like this.
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrNew: DOGE's spending has been secret. No longer. My colleagues have uncovered it. www.propublica.org/article/doge...
- Am I the only person where chatGPT reduces the number of em-dashes being used?
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrCurrent* conditions near Chicago, IL:
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrThis is a very cool map that shows an overlay of the Chicago River as it was before the city expanded eastward via land reclamation
- Reposted by Tom Schenk Jr[This post could not be retrieved]
- This is absolutely right and the tension around USDS with existing departments was notable. The organizational structure was effective, but a gamble.
- It certainly is not responsible for the scale of what is happening, but eventually folks are going to have to reckon with how DOGE’s tactics mirror USDS’s & how more checks were needed. from 2017 federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-no...
- Reposted by Tom Schenk Jr
- Hey folks - anyone have seen good tracking on any public data that has been removed? Similarly, seeing any efforts to mirror data?
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrIn my latest @npr.org story, officials and data users warn that the reliability of the U.S. government statistics used to track the country’s economy and population is under threat because of budget concerns. That's before any new funding cuts by President Trump and Congress.
- Reposted by Tom Schenk Jr“I don’t understand what produce in the Central Valley has to do with fires in LA” this is the subject of one of the most famous movies ever made, in which it is explained to Jack Nicholson at length by the director of The Maltese Falcon
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrI'm co-leading some birding + diving trips to Indonesia this year. The 1st ones will be in Raja Ampat, home to pristine reefs & some wonderful endemic birds. We'll be on a four cabin catamaran w/ a dive instructor and a local bird guide. First trip in late Feb! DM me if you're interested. 🪶
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrMy wife secretly hand painted a number of wooden hex logos of #rstats packages I’ve created / worked on over the years, I love them so much!! Each is roughly the size of an open hand.
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrMy colleague Daniel @americalabs.org sheds light on what has happened to open government nonprofits in the U.S.A. over the past decade — which has been my sector of work. It’s been a hard era, at the worst time. www.thebulwark.com/p/open-gover... I hope funders read this, & act.
- I'm disheartened to hear that Raed Mansour will be leaving the city. During my tenure he was an excellent partner and bridge to Department of Health. Predictive food inspections and predicting elevated blood lead levels were greatly improved by his participation. chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrI wrote this post on residency requirements for working in city government a while back, and I'm re-sharing it now because I think it will be important for state and local governments to meet the moment that is coming. 1/2 civic.io/2015/10/10/r...
- I had a chance to work with Gia back when she was at Chicago Parks District. She's wonderful and innovative; always looking outside the proverbial box. This is great news.
- As my administration continues our goal to revitalize transportation in our state, I’m excited to appoint Gia Biagi as the next leader of @illinoisdot.bsky.social. Her portfolio and unique leadership experience will propel IDOT’s mission forward and strengthen our infrastructure efforts.
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrFirst starter pack. I assembled a collection of innovation / data professionals who work / have worked in and around municipal government. Let it be a reminder that there are talented, passionate people working to make communities better. go.bsky.app/2F5V9bSat://did:plc:dw7qhbl5fyuo43vlehpt3cte/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lazilq6dxa2n
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrFolks in #datavis, #opendata, and #civictech - my bookmarks folder is woefully out of date. What are your favorite government websites where gov agencies publish, visualize, and communicate data? Any country, any level of government. Thanks in advance!
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrNote that Alain Bertaud was skeptical of this sort of pedestrianization. Order without Design thought has taken over urbanism; but cities are not just job markets; they are also about consumption, especially in a world with remote work.
- A note on #opendata practices.
- I was just reminded that ISO 37120 exists and it is still unbelievably bad.
- We are in the proto-phase of arcologies. Density built with nature overflowing from the frames www.designboom.com/architecture...
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrNB: the new WH.gov/open isn’t linked to its own disclosures or the USA page on Open Government Partnership, just USGSA. There is no Open Government Memorandum or Directive, nor dashboard of updated agency #OpenGov plans, like NARA or Commerce. www.opengovpartnership.org/stories/six-...
- I'm hiring for more roles! DevOps Engineer (senior) www.kpmguscareers.com/jobdetail/?j... GIS Developer (specialist) www.kpmguscareers.com/jobdetail/?j... Power BI Developer (specialist) www.kpmguscareers.com/jobdetail/?j... Fullstack Developer (senior) www.kpmguscareers.com/jobdetail/?j...
- Mission: Understand businesses and develop solutions to accelerate their progress in corporate strategy and M&A Who We Are: Experts in data and analytics, including AI, data science, geospatial analytics, visualization, and optimization using Python, Power BI, ArcGIS, Databricks, R, and Azure.
- Reposted by Tom Schenk JrRemote work-fueled migration and plummeting demographics mean that cities are going to empty out of children, and are then at risk of further population declines unless they get migration. This may not yield affordability, depending on how demand for space evolves
- Oof, that decline from the early 10s...
