Using Technology Series Using Innovation and Technology to Improve City Services

Full text

Sherri R. Greenberg
The University of Texas at Austin
Using Technology Series
Using Innovation and Technology
to Improve City Services

Sherri R. Greenberg
Clinical Professor in Public Policy Practice
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
The University of Texas at Austin
Using Technology Series 2015
Using Innovation and Technology to
Improve City Services

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
www.businessofgovernment.org
Table of Contents
Foreword ...........................................................4
Executive Summary ...................................................6
Part I .............................................................8
Introduction .......................................................9
About this Study ..................................................9
Trends in Innovation at the Local Level ..................................10
Findings: Implementing Innovation and New Technologies .....................13
Finding One: Cities Need New Governing Structures for Innovation ..............13
Finding Two: Cities Need New Funding and Partnering Arrangements .............15
Finding Three: Cities are Leveraging Existing Technology Initiatives to Make Data
More Accessible ...............................................17
Finding Four: Cities are Increasing Public Engagement .......................20
Finding Five: Cities Are Making Performance Data Accessible ..................22
Finding Six: Cities are Enhancing Services to Residents ......................24
Actions Cities Take to Promote Innovation in City Services .....................29
Action One: Look for Targets of Opportunity ...............................29
Action Two: Build Capacity ..........................................30
Action Three: Seek Internal and External Champions ........................31
Action Four: Develop a Compelling Business Case ..........................34
Action Five: Formalize New Practices with Concrete Laws and Strategies .........34
Action Six: Foster a Culture of Creativity and Collaboration ....................36
Part II ............................................................38
Selected Best Practices: Case Study Cities ................................39
Austin, Texas ....................................................39
Boston, Massachusetts .............................................40
Chicago, Illinois ..................................................41
Kansas City, Missouri ..............................................42
Louisville, Kentucky ...............................................43
New York City, New York ...........................................44
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ..........................................46
Riverside, California ...............................................47
Salt Lake City, Utah ...............................................48
San Francisco, California ............................................49
Seattle, Washington ...............................................50
Washington, D.C. .................................................51
Appendix I: Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Appendix II: Glossary of Terms ..........................................54
Acknowledgements ...................................................56
About the Author ....................................................57
Key Contact Information ...............................................58

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
IBM Center for The Business of Government
David Hathaway
Foreword
On behalf of the IBM Center for The Business of Government,
we are pleased to present this report, Using Innovation and
Technology to Improve City Services, by Sherri Greenberg,
University of Texas at Austin.
In this report, Professor Greenberg examines a dozen cities
across the United States that have award-winning reputations
for using innovation and technology to improve the services they
provide to their residents. She explores a variety of success fac-
tors associated with effective service delivery at the local level,
including:
• The policies, platforms, and applications that cities use for
different purposes, such as public engagement, streamlining
the issuance of permits, and emergency response
• How cities can successfully partner with third parties, such
as nonprofits, foundations, universities, and private busi-
nesses to improve service delivery using technology
• The types of business cases that can be presented to mayors
and city councils to support various changes proposed by
innovators in city government
Professor Greenberg identifies a series of trends that drive cities
to undertake innovations, such as the increased use of mobile
devices by residents. Based on cities’ responses to these trends,
she offers a set of findings and specific actions that city officials
can act upon to create innovation agendas for their communities.
Her report also presents case studies for each of the dozen cities
in her review. These cases provide a real-world context, which
will allow interested leaders in other cities to see how their own
communities might approach similar innovation initiatives.
Daniel J. Chenok

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This report builds on two other IBM Center reports: A Guide for
Making Innovation Offices Work, by Rachel Burstein and Alissa
Black, and The Persistence of Innovation in Government: A
Guide for Public Servants, by Sandford Borins, which examines
the use of awards to stimulate innovation in government.
We hope that government leaders who are interested in innova-
tions using technology to improve services will benefit from the
governance models and tools described in this report, as they
consider how best to leverage innovation and technology initia-
tives to serve residents more effectively and efficiently.
David Hathaway
Vice President and Partner
IBM Global Business Services
david.hathaway @ us.ibm.com
Daniel J. Chenok
Executive Director
IBM Center for The Business of Government
chenokd @ us.ibm.com

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Increasingly, cities are the public sector service delivery engines in the United States. They
have heard a call to action: residents expect cities to find ways to improve services and cities
are gearing up to do so. City governments, residents, and interest groups are actively seeking
methods for better service delivery. This report examines how cities are using innovative poli-
cies, governance structures and technologies to improve city services.
Based on research conducted for this report, the author identified the following trends in local
government:
• Cities are using new policies and governance structures to eliminate departmental silos and
to include the public in policy making and implementation for better city service provision.
• Cities are using more inclusive governance structures to improve services.
• Cities are using digital and mobile technologies to improve city services.
• Cities are using numerous internal and external technology development methods.
• Cities are using technology as one method for improving service delivery by increasing
public engagement and collaboration.
• Residents are now expecting transparency, accountability, collaboration, and civic engage-
ment with technology from service providers, including easily accessible, exportable data
sets with context.
• Many cities’ constituents are now online and increasingly mobile.
The report presents five findings as to how cities are now implementing innovation and new
technologies:
• Finding One: Cities need new governing structures for innovation.
• Finding Two: Cities need new funding and partnering arrangements.
• Finding Three: Cities are leveraging existing technology initiatives to make data more
accessible.
• Finding Four: Cities are increasing public engagement.
• Finding Five: Cities are making performance data accessible.
• Finding Six: Cities are enhancing services to residents.
Based on the findings, the report offers six actions that cities can take to enhance their inno-
vation capability:
• Action One: Look for targets of opportunity
• Action Two: Build capacity
Executive Summary

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
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• Action Three: Seek internal and external champions
• Action Four: Develop a compelling business case
• Action Five: Formalize new practices with concrete laws and strategies
• Action Six: Foster a culture of creativity and collaboration
Part II of the report culminates in case studies of the following 12 cities: Austin, Texas;
Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; New
York City, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Riverside, California; Salt Lake City, Utah;
San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; and Washington, D.C.

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
IBM Center for The Business of Government
Part I

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
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“There’s a real opportunity for the city of Boston to leverage tech to have a substantial, posi-
tive impact on the lives of the people of Boston. It’s critically important that those experi-
ences be good ones, so people walk away feeling like, ‘Hey, I’m getting great service. My
government actually gets what I need and it’s helping me get there.’”1
Jascha Franklin-Hodge
Chief Information Officer, City of Boston
About this Study
Increasingly, cities are the public sector service delivery engines in the United States. They
have heard a call to action: residents expect cities to find ways to improve services, and cities
are gearing up to do so. City governments, residents, and interest groups are actively seeking
methods for better service delivery. This report examines how cities are using innovative poli-
cies, governance structures, and technologies to improve city services. A list of case studies is
presented on page 10. Additionally, the research undertaken for this report explores best prac-
tices and new tools.
The three primary methods for this research were:
• A literature review of relevant research and materials
• A review of cities’ documents and technologies
• Interviews with city officials and partners
The research revealed that exemplary cities are not content with their existing service delivery
levels or methods. Recent literature is rich with analyses and discussions of innovation, tech-
nology, and data in cities. This report examines specific actions that successful cities are tak-
ing to implement these innovations and technologies to improve services. The report answers
the following questions:
• Which policies, platforms, and applications do cities use for different purposes?
• How do successful cities partner with private companies and nonprofit entities and
universities?
• What is the business case for making these changes?
1. Colin Wood, “New Boston CIO Talks Open Data, Engagement and Access.” (magazine article) (Folsom, California: Government
Technology, July 2, 2014) Retrieved from www.govtech.com/local/New-Boston-CIO-Jascha-Franklin-Hodge-Talks-Open-Data-Engagment-
Access.html
Introduction

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
IBM Center for The Business of Government
Trends in Innovation at the Local Level
Change is in the air in many city governments across the United States. According to
McKinsey Global Institute research, 259 large U.S. cities (metropolitan areas with at least
150,000 people) generated almost 85 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in
2010, and 80 percent of the U.S. population resides in large cities.2 Bruce Katz, in The
Metropolitan Revolution, contends that cities are taking charge due to federal dysfunction and
limited state budgets.3 Residents are asking cities to improve current services and provide new
services and technology with greater efficiency and effectiveness. Mayors, council members,
city managers, and staff are seeking collaborations across various city departments, and with
residents, businesses, and advocacy groups.
Based on this research, the author identified the following seven trends in local government:
Trend One: Cities are using new policies and governance structures to eliminate departmental
silos and to include the public in policy making and implementation for better city service
provision. As Stephen Goldsmith and Susan Crawford write, “Bureaucratic structures must be
upgraded to accommodate the new technologies and their uses.”4 Many of the new practices
are just beginning as pilot programs or they are in the experimental stage. Not all of them will
be successful but some already are seeing results. On the other hand, cities have various cultures
and circumstances; hence, not every new technique can or should be replicated in all cites.
Trend Two: Cities are using more inclusive governance structures to improve services.
Examples are occurring nationwide, ranging from Entrepreneur-In-Residence Programs in San
Francisco to the Mayor’s Challenge Cabinet in Kansas City to the CityWorks Academy in
Austin. All of these programs bring constituents into city policy development through a formal
process. Today, cities are partnering with nonprofits, businesses, and universities on new proj-
ects, programs, and funding. Additionally, they are developing new city staff roles, such as
chief innovation officers and chief data officers, in an effort to eliminate city department silos.
However, new partnerships and staff roles must not be a passing fad; there must be a sound
business case for these new initiatives.
Trend Three: Cities are using digital and mobile technologies to improve city services. New
technologies can facilitate coordination within city departments, foster better constituent input,
2. James Manyika, James Remes, Richard Dobbs, et al., Urban America: U.S. Cities in the Global Economy. (report) (New York City:
McKinsey Global Institute, April 2014) Retrieved from www.mckinsey.com/insights/urbanization/us_cities_in_the_global_economy
3. Bruce Katz and Jenifer Bradley, The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros Are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile
Economy. (report) (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, June 2013) Retrieved from www.metrorevolution.org/assets/
TheMetropolitanRevolution-Forward_Introduction.pdf
4. Stephen Goldsmith and Susan Crawford, The Responsive City: Engaging Communities Through Data-Smart Governance (San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2014) p. 2.
12 Case Study Cities
• Austin, Texas
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Chicago, Illinois
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Louisville, Kentucky
• New York City, New York
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Riverside, California
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• San Francisco, California
• Seattle, Washington
• Washington, D.C.

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and fundamentally change service delivery. City governments use portals, websites, social
media, and mobile applications with tablets and Smartphones. Every day, more open source
platforms and tools become available to cities. Recently, some cities have built websites using
open source architectures, such as Drupal and WordPress, and open data platforms, such as
Socrata. The benefits for cities of using online and mobile platforms must outweigh the costs
and city officials must make the business case for using new technologies. Cities also are
using sensors for various challenges from pollution control to earthquake monitoring to traffic
management. The Internet of Things (IOT) is on the rise, allowing cities increasingly to com-
bine sensors, data and the Internet to improve services such as water conservation, energy
efficiency, traffic management, and snow removal.
No one ever spoke of telegram government, or telephone government, or fax government.
There is no e-government; there are government and people.
Technology is not a shiny new toy; it must be useful and improve people’s lives and business
dealings on either a daily or an as-needed basis. Cities can use these tools for better service
delivery in areas as varied as health care, transportation, and permit issuance. However, cities
must have the staff capacity and budgets for innovation and implementation.
Trend Four: Cities are using numerous internal and external technology development methods.
Cities are using numerous digital and mobile platforms to improve service delivery. Cities’ digi-
tal and mobile products must be useful to people in their daily lives. They must be accessible
and support an economic, service, or social goal for the individual or entity that is engaging
with the technology. As cities develop new technologies, usability from a resident’s perspective,
should be first and foremost. Successful city-level technologies include:
• 3-1-1 services (these services are described in more detail later in this report)
• Open data projects
• Hackathons (also described later in this report)
• Crowdsourcing
• Planning
• Virtual town halls
Trend Five: Cities are using technology as one method for improving service delivery by
increasing public engagement and collaboration. However, increasing public engagement
involves adding to, not subtracting from, current outreach activities. The traditional means of
city government’s public engagement—such as community input meetings and public hear-
ings—remain necessary but are not sufficient. To achieve greater public engagement and
improve services, cities must add new methods, including digital and mobile technologies.
Truly improving service provision requires cities to reach beyond the “frequent flyers” who
appear at most traditional public meetings and to engage larger segments of the community.
As the saying goes, cities need to “make new friends but keep the old.”
Traditional Digital
Enhanced
Public
Engagement

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
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Trend Six: Residents are now expecting transparency, accountability, collaboration, and civic
engagement with technology from service providers, including easily accessible, exportable
data sets with context. Open data portals must include visualization tools, catalogues, and
explanations to be truly useful. Cities benefit from greater knowledge, collaboration, efficien-
cies, and consensus, and the public benefits from partnering and co-creating with city govern-
ment during decision-making and implementation to provide better services.
Trend Seven: Many cities’ constituents are now online and increasingly mobile. According to
January 2014 Pew Research Center data, 90 percent of American adults have cell phones,
58 percent have Smartphones and 42 percent have tablets.5 Additionally, as of May 2013,
63 percent of American adults used their cell phones to go online. Some demographic groups,
such as young Latinos, frequently use Smartphones as their single means of communication.
Furthermore, an April 2014 Pew Center Survey found that 59 percent of American seniors age
65 or older go online.6 The Internet, Smartphones and tablets can bridge the digital divide
and allow people who had been left out of traditional forms of public engagement to interact
with their cities for better service delivery.
90% adults
have
cell phones
63% adults
use cell phones
to go online
59% seniors
go online
58% adults
have
Smartphones
42% adults
have
tablets
According to comScore, “May (2014) turned out to be a banner month for mobile, as it deliv-
ered on some huge milestones, which underscored just how impressive the medium’s ascen-
dance has been in the past few years. Mobile platforms—Smartphones and tablets—combined
account for 60 percent of total digital media time spent, up from 50 percent a year ago. And
perhaps more impressively, mobile apps accounted for more than half of all digital media time
spent in May, coming in at 51 percent.”7
5. Pew Research Center, “Highlights of the Pew Internet Project’s Research Related to Mobile Technology.” (fact sheet) (Washington, D.C.:
Pew Research Center, January 2014) Retrieved from www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/
6. Aaron Smith, Older Adults and Technology Use. (report) (Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center, April 3, 2014) Retrieved from
www.pewinternet.org/2014/04/03/older-adults-and-technology-use/
7. Andrew Lipsman, “Major Mobile Milestones in May: Apps Now Drive Half of All Time Spent on Digital.” (blog post) (Reston,
Virginia: comScore, June 25, 2014) Retrieved from www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/Major-Mobile-Milestones-in-May-Apps-Now-Drive-
Half-of-All-Time-Spent-on-Digital

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Finding One: Cities Need New Governing Structures
for Innovation
Different roles and organizational structures emerge, depending on whether the city has a mayor-
council or council-manager governance system. The cities examined in this study represent
both of these governing structures. The council-manager form is more prevalent in the Midwest
and Southwest United States and in growing cities. The mayor-council form tends to be more
prevalent in cities with more than 250,000 people. In mayor-council cities, the mayor is the
chief executive officer with executive sponsors typically located in the mayor’s office. In council-
manager cities, the city manager is the chief executive and the city council sets policy with
the champions and silo busters reporting to the city manager. Both governance forms can
produce successful innovation efforts in governance and technology implementation; the
important point is having the support of top management and having skilled staff with
authority to make necessary changes.
In some cities, innovation efforts reside in existing departments. In others, the information
technology department is also the innovation office. Some cities have established specific
offices to develop and implement innovation, public engagement, or data efforts, and in the
city’s organization chart, personnel in these offices may report directly to a mayor or city
manager. Examples from case study cities include the:
• Austin City Manager’s Innovation Office
• Mayor’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement in Kansas City
• Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics in New York City
• Mayor’s Civic Innovation Office in San Francisco
• Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston
• Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics in Philadelphia
Many cities have created new staff roles, such as chief innovation officer, chief data officer,
and technology engagement specialist. Some of these new staff members are in new depart-
ments or offices, some are part of existing structures, and some report directly to a mayor or
city manager. Currently, at least 19 U.S. cities have an innovation officer and at least eight
cities have a data officer or a similar title. The data position is the newest and appears to be
expanding in cities. Although, recently some cities have combined the innovation officer with
the chief information officer or chief technology officer. However, the title of the city staff posi-
tion is not the important factor; rather the position’s role, responsibilities, and authority are
most important. In some cities, these formal roles, along with a cohort, provide part of the
Findings: Implementing Innovation
and New Technologies

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infrastructure for governance innovation and for creating new digital and mobile access to city
services. As noted by Rachel Burstein and Alissa Black in A Guide for Making Innovation
Offices Work, these new roles are not the answer for all cities.8 Some rely on existing staff
and on direction from various internal and external champions and support from community
organizations to spur innovation, technology, and better service delivery.
8. Rachel Burstein and Alissa Black, A Guide to Making Innovation Offices Work. (report) (Washington, D.C.: IBM Center for
the Business of Government, 2014) Retrieved from http://www.businessofgovernment.org/sites/default/files/A%20Guide%20for%20
Making%20Innovation%20Offices%20Work.pdf
Staff Roles
3-1-1 Director: The 3-1-1 director determines what services to offer through 3-1-1, a special-purpose,
local phone number, which connects individuals to nonemergency-based municipal services. Many
311 services now combine the phone number and online access with growing mobile access and
performance tracking. (The 3-1-1 concept is described in more detail on page 23.)
Capital Improvement Program Officer: The capital improvement program officer is responsible for
strategic planning, investment funds development, and coordination of major city improvement proj-
ects. Capital improvement project planning and implementation often incorporate strategic technol-
ogy development.
Chief Data Officer, Data Architect, or Chief Digital Officer: The chief data officer (CDO), or simi-
lar title, is an emerging position, often reporting to the CIO or city manager or mayor. The CDO is
responsible for database system planning, governance, data quality and standards, open data, and
transparency. More than 12 U.S. cities have CDOs.
Chief Information Officer/Chief Technology Officer: The chief information officer (CIO) or the chief
technology officer (CTO) serves as the director of a city’s entire technology efforts, including plan-
ning and execution of: information systems, applications, networking and telecommunications, data
storage and data center, user information technology support and service, governance, and special
projects. Many U.S. cities now have a CIO.
Chief Innovation Officer: The chief innovation officer (CINO) is a new position, often reporting to the
city manager or mayor. The CINO is responsible for generating and recognizing new ideas, and coor-
dinating innovation efforts within the city and with the outside community. More than 15 U.S. cities
have innovation officers.
Chief Resiliency Officer: The Rockefeller Foundation requires cities that receive funding from its
100 Resilient Cities Challenge to establish the chief resiliency officer position to help the city adapt
and grow despite chronic stresses and shocks. The position often reports directly to the mayor or
city manager.
Chief Sustainability Officer: The chief sustainability officer typically devises, coordinates, and
implements environmental programs and other initiatives to make a city more livable and its
residents healthier. The position often reports directly to the mayor or city manager.
Public Information Officer: The public information officer (PIO) conducts a city’s external commu-
nications and media relations and can play a key role in developing a city’s digital plan and social
media. Many U.S. cities have a PIO who often reports to the city manager or mayor.
Planning Director: The planning director oversees city development and land planning initiatives.
The planning director can play a key role in developing geographic information system (GIS) and
digital applications, such as visualization and gaming, to engage residents in the city planning and
permit-issuing process.

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Table 1: 12 Case Study Cities
City Governance Chief Innovation Officer Chief Data Officer
Austin, Texas Council-Manager X X
Boston, Massachusetts Mayor-Council X X
Chicago, Illinois Mayor-Council X X
Kansas City, Missouri Council-Manager X
Louisville, Kentucky Mayor-Council X
New York City, New York Mayor-Council X X
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mayor-Council X X
Riverside, California Council-Manager X
Salt Lake City, Utah Mayor-Council
San Francisco, California Mayor-Council X X
Seattle, Washington Mayor-Council X
Washington, D.C. Mayor-Council X X
Finding Two: Cities Need New Funding and Partnering
Arrangements
Cities must develop, not only the personnel who can implement innovation and technology to
improve services, but also a sustainability plan. The plan should identify funding and infra-
structure and should be incorporated into the city’s strategic planning.
New Funding Models
Some cities set aside money for innovation projects, incubation, and beta testing. Cities dedi-
cate this funding to exploring options and management designates this funding for growing the
city’s technology and governance innovation capacities. In other cities, management does not
designate specific funding; hence, innovation and technology efforts may be sporadic, con-
ducted by city departments with outreach or technology funds in their existing budgets, or
through contracts that use those funds. Cities also are experimenting with using city and
neighborhood funding for specific projects, and with using online crowdfunding platforms for
specific projects.
There are several funding models that support new technology and governance efforts. Three
models are:
• The department funding or department/partner funding model. Through this model,
management assesses the innovation or technology to be appropriate for more than one
department. Then, each department determines the percentage of the cost that it will
cover. This model has many benefits, including cost sharing, leveraging technology and
service contracts, and perpetuating a consistent infrastructure.
• The central planning funding model. When a central planning department funds a project,
it usually provides funding for a certain resource, expertise set, or resource center that the
entire city organization can access. Typically, the city has tested the technology and has
deemed it appropriate for the entire organization.
• The partner/grant funding model. Partnership and grant funding comes from a combina-
tion of fund matching, donations, and grant application activities with foundations, non-
profits, industry, and universities.

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New Partnering Models
Nationwide, cities seeking to improve service delivery are partnering with a broad array of
entities. Many of the case study cities have partnered with foundations and other nonprofits,
universities, and start-up companies.
Foundation Partners
Numerous foundations are heavily involved in fostering innovation in cities. Case study cities
are partnering with many foundations, including: the Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Kauffman
Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Some foundations fund city initiatives nationwide while others are city-specific. Foundations
now involved with cities include:
• The Knight Foundation has started the Knight Cities Challenge contest to identify innova-
tive ideas that can make cities more successful in the areas of talent, engagement, and
opportunity. Eligible cities are the 26 existing Knight Communities where brothers John S.
and James L. Knight owned newspapers. The Knight Foundation selected the winners from
the first round competition in January 2015. The case study city of Philadelphia is a Knight
Community.
• The Kauffman Foundation, a large private foundation in Kansas City, supports entrepre-
neurial programs nationwide, including an annual Mayors’ Conference on Entrepreneurship.
Additionally, the Kauffman Foundation funds Kansas City education initiatives, and has a
Kansas City Civic Team that supports and funds innovation efforts to make Kansas City a
better place to live and work.
• The Rockefeller 100 Resilient Cities program selects cities through an application process
to receive funding for resiliency efforts to combat physical, economic, and social challeng-
es. To date, 67 cities worldwide have been recognized as resilient cities, including the case
study cities of Boston, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco.
• The Bloomberg Philanthropies has several government innovation programs to drive
innovation in cities, including funding the Mayor’s Challenge and Innovation Teams for up
to three years. The case study cities of Chicago and Philadelphia have won funding from
the Mayor’s Challenge that incentivizes cities to develop innovative policies to improve city
life. Bloomberg Philanthropies has selected case study cities Boston, Chicago, Louisville,
and Seattle to participate in the Innovation Teams program, which seeks to address
pressing city problems with data, partnerships, and performance evaluation through the
use of in-house innovation consultants.
• Living Cities, a collaboration of 22 large foundations and financial institutions, invests in
cities to help them develop innovative approaches to improving the economic well being of
low-income people. Living Cities, in cooperation with GOVERNING magazine, has initiated
an Accelerator City program. The first three cities selected from the competitive process are
Louisville, Nashville and Philadelphia.
Nonprofit Partners
In addition to foundations, many nonprofits are working closely with cities. These nonprofits
include:
• Code for America builds open-source software for local governments and organizes people
to address complex city challenges through several programs, including a fellowship
program that sends technology teams to local governments for one year to partner with
officials. The following case study cites have received Code for America Fellows: Austin,
Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, Louisville, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and
Seattle.

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• Fuse Corps is an entity that partners with mayors and civic leaders to place mid-career
professionals in cities for a 12-month Executive Fellowship to help with innovation efforts.
The case study city of San Francisco has had a Fuse Corps placement.
• EcoDistricts program is a collaborative effort. The goal of EcoDistricts is to create sustain-
able cities from the neighborhood level up and participating cities receive tools and training
for projects. The case study cities of Austin, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and
Washington, D.C. are participating in the EcoDistricts program.
University Partners
Nationally, many universities work with cities and several have been particularly active in part-
nering with case study cities on innovation and technology projects to improve city services.
Universities include:
• Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation Project on Municipal
Innovation, in which the case study cities of Austin, Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, New
York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle are participating
• The MIT Lab works closely with Boston
• GovLab at New York University works with New York City
• Other university partnerships include:
— University of Chicago works with Chicago
— University of Philadelphia works with Philadelphia
Business Partners
Numerous start-up companies and established businesses are working closely with cities on
innovative processes and technologies.
• Socrata works closely with many of the case study cities on their open data efforts.
• Mindmixer worked with Kansas City to develop KC Momentum to solicit community input
on city services.
• Connected Bits worked with Boston to develop the Citizens Connect App for residents’
online service requests and problem reporting.
• newBrandAnalytics partnered with Washington, D.C. to develop Grade DC, which allows
residents to evaluate city services.
Finding Three: Cities are Leveraging Existing Technology Initiatives
to Make Data More Accessible
Cities are Creating and Using Open Data
Open data projects involve publishing city data sets in accessible, exportable, online for-
mats. The city provides this data for individuals, businesses, and community groups to
improve city services and promote economic development. The data sets often include the
following information:
• Geographic variables
• Chemical and environmental data
• Building construction data
• Health and economic indicators

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• Information from the private and nonprofit sectors
Cities frequently provide data about city departments and functions to promote transparency
and accountability.
Providing open data requires that the data be clean and accurate and be accompanied by data
dictionaries. Visualization tools and application programming interfaces (APIs) help people
understand and use the data to their greatest potential. Private companies and nonprofit orga-
nizations often link data they collect to city data to provide a better understanding of the city
and to develop applications for public use and private profit.
Figure 1: Riverside Open Data
Source: riversideca.gov/transparency/data/dataset/list
Figure 2: New York City Open Data
Source: https://nycopendata.socrata.com/
Cities are Using Hackathons and Challenges
Hackathons are occurring in numerous cities and they involve participants from multiple sectors
who assemble for 24 to 48 hours to mine data and develop code or technology to promote pub-
lic engagement and improve city services. To conduct a hackathon, a city must provide accessi-
ble, exportable open data and many cities develop special open data sets for these events.

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The most successful city hackathons jumpstart a project, provide focused work for an ongoing
project, or “kick the tires” on an idea to see if it has traction. Typically, hackathons select win-
ners by a vote of participants or a panel of judges.
Challenges are time-limited events in which cities use their constituents’ expertise. Challenges
usually involve a competitive process with a reward for the best or most usable solution to the
challenge. Examples of challenges include digital expert panels who answer a science-based
question, the development of a logo for an event, or recruitment of local expertise to fulfill an
emerging or urgent need.
Figure 3: New York City Hackathon
Source: nycbigapps.com/
Figure 4: Boston Hackathon
Source: http://hubhacks.challengepost.com/

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Finding Four: Cities are Increasing Public Engagement
Cities are Using Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding
Crowdsourcing is the process of acquiring needed services, expertise, ideas, or funding by
soliciting contributions from an online community. Cities also use crowdsourcing to collect
information about a topic, such as solutions for information needs, ideas for addressing press-
ing community questions, or getting input on policies or procedures. Crowdsourcing methods
vary from Facebook and Twitter input to specialty software, such as IdeaScale, through which
formal discussions are held online about specific policy or management questions.
Figure 5: Philadelphia Crowdsourcing
Source: https://www.opentreemap.org/phillytreemap/map/ (previously phillytreemap.org/)
Figure 6: Boston Crowdsourcing
Source: www.cityofboston.gov/doit/apps/streetbump.asp
Crowdfunding works similarly to crowdsourcing. Cities use online tools to request community-
provided monetary support for an event or project. Crowdfunding initiatives often incorporate
challenges to create competition among community groups and public-private entities. Cities
typically decide what to crowdfund based on budgets, but also on residents’ requests.

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Crowdfunding can be a community development and participation exercise. By giving time
and/or money to an event or project, community members participate in the community
growth process. The main users of crowdfunding are larger cities, which have used it primarily
for park and garden projects.
Philadelphia was the first U.S. city to use Citizinvestor, which is geared specifically to help
municipalities acquire funding to complete their projects. The City Council of New York City
has used Kickstarter to fund projects in low-income neighborhoods. Cities use these crowd-
funding tools to post a project with a funding goal and people donate online.
Figure 7: Philadelphia Crowdfunding
Source: http://www.phila.gov/commerce/Documents/Kiva%20Zip%20Flyer.pdf
Figure 8: New York City Kickstarter
Source: https://www.kickstarter.com/pages/NYC

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Finding Five: Cities Are Making Performance Data Accessible
Many Cities Are Using Performance Tracking
To evaluate and improve efficiency and effectiveness, some cities are using data tracking and
management tools, such as CitiStat, or other approaches, to track a numerous performance
indicators. Complimenting the software is a city philosophy that management and policy making
can be data driven. Several case study cities have adopted the CitiStat model. Working with a
private sector partner, Washington, D.C. developed Grade.DC.Gov, which allows residents to
grade city services and view how others graded them. This data helps inform cities’ decision-
making processes. Data collection variables often include: response time, overtime, sick leave,
trash collection, and snow removal. Also, frequently the data addresses the prevalence of
problems such as illegal dumping, flooding, vacant buildings, and sewage overflows. The
tools compile the information in databases and analyze it with the assistance of geographic
mapping to identify areas of underperformaning areas.
Figure 9: Kansas City CitiStat
Source: https://kcstat.kcmo.org/
Figure 10: Washington, D.C. Performance
Source: grade.dc.gov/

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More Cities are Using 3-1-1
3-1-1 is a special purpose local phone number that connects individuals to nonemergency-
based municipal services. Increasingly, residents can access the phone number via the
Internet and mobile devices, gaining digital and mobile access to city services. Cities offer
numerous 3-1-1 services, ranging from noise complaints, to reporting stolen vehicles, to pot-
hole fix requests, and many more. 3-1-1 is available in more than 30 cities nationwide, and
has a growing presence. Now, cities are using various applications to enhance 3-1-1 services,
including online and mobile technologies that they purchase from vendors or develop inter-
nally. With mobile apps residents can report, photograph, map, and anonymously submit
information on graffiti, potholes, animal carcasses, flooding, and other issues. The goal of
3-1-1 is to actively engage constituents in monitoring and improving the city.
Several case study cities, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Louisville, Philadelphia, and
Washington, D.C., have a 3-1-1 mobile app that residents can use. In October 2014, New York
City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, Baltimore, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County, N.C., began
a 3-1-1 partnership, the National 311 Executive Council, which serves as a repository for 3-1-1
data, and as a means of collaborating on developing best 3-1-1 practices, standards, and policies
(http://www.govtech.com/local/6-Cities-and-County-Share-311-Data-Best-Practices.html).
Figure 11: Boston Citizens Connect
Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.cityofboston.citizensconnect
Figure 12: Louisville Metrocall 3-1-1
Source: http://louisvilleky.gov/government/metrocall-311

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Public Safety Agencies Are Making Performance Data Accessible
Numerous city departments have developed databases and mobile apps for tracking and
reporting activities. For example, many city police departments offer alerting and reporting
functions. Cities frequently combine them with reporting mechanisms for law enforcement to
record incidence reports and response times. They often also offer mapping and real-time
event tracking to keep residents apprised of emergency situations, such as progress of snow
plowing.
Figure 13: Seattle Crime Reporting
Source: http://web6.seattle.gov/mnm/policereports.aspx/policereports.aspx
Figure 14: Chicago Snow Plow Tracker
Source: http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/iframe/plow_tracker.html
Finding Six: Cities are Enhancing Services to Residents
Sustainable City Initiatives Are Increasing
Various cities now have major city environmental sustainability efforts involving projects such
as encouraging recycling, solar energy development, and walking. To promote residents’ par-
ticipation in city environmental sustainability efforts, cities have developed apps for tracking
energy, water, land, and municipal facility use, parking and transportation activity, and recy-
cling and conservation efforts. Through the apps, residents are able to track their own activity,
map activity across the city, and engage in and promote awareness and activism for sustain-
ability. They also are able to submit ideas to city management and communicate how to bet-
ter sustain the city environment.

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Figure 15: Austin Sustainability
Source: austintexas.gov/department/rethink-mobile-app
Figure 16: Salt Lake City Sustainability
Source: www.slcgov.com/slcgreen

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Transportation Information Is Now More Available
As part of promoting city sustainability and usability, cities use online and mobile applications
to improve numerous transportation services, including car parking, bike sharing, and other
transportation-related services. Apps include the ability to map routes, track times of arrival
and departure, identify costs and basic information, and locate and share transportation ser-
vices. Residents also are able to offer the city feedback about their transportation desires.
Figure 17: San Francisco Transportation
Source: sfpark.org/
Figure 18: Washington, D.C. Capital Bikeshare
Source: www.capitalbikeshare.com/

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Cities Are Making Permit Issuance Easier
Nationwide, residents often voice frustration with complicated and lengthy permitting pro-
cesses. Permits can range from home renovation to constructing new buildings. Methods for
digital and mobile access to permit approval in cities are in flux. Currently, many cities are
trying to improve service provision and efficiency and decrease the time involved in granting
permit approval. Cities are turning to digital technologies to try to increase constituent satis-
faction with the permit-issuing process. These apps include the ability to identify, apply for,
and track various types of permits. They also provide detailed information about the permits
and the timelines and fees involved in obtaining them. They frequently offer the user electronic
documentation of the permit.
Figure 19: San Francisco Permit Information
Source: http://businessportal.sfgov.org/
Figure 20: Boston Permit Information
Source: http://permits.boston.gov/details.html

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Residents Are Participating in City Land Planning and Capital
Improvements Planning
City land planning and capital improvement development are active areas for digital and
mobile development—whether a city is fast growing or undergoing major redevelopment.
Planning and capital improvements always have been core city management functions that
require significant public engagement to ascertain the community’s desires for the city’s shape
and form. Constituents can have very divergent views on such issues and achieving consensus
can be difficult. Cities spend enormous time and resources devising comprehensive develop-
ment plans and capital improvement plans and constructing capital improvement projects.
Today, cities must link capital improvement and land planning with sustained public engage-
ment to choose projects and locations and to provide desired services. Cities are starting to
use new digital and mobile technologies to spur greater public engagement in land and capital
project planning.
Figure 21: Chicago Planning
Source: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kedzie-corridor/id742920997?mt=8
Figure 22: Austin Capital Improvements
Source: austintexas.gov/civic

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Six actions emerged for implementing innovation and technology to improve service delivery
from the research conducted on the 12 case study cities. All of these cities use a combination
of some of the actions discussed below.
Action One: Look for Targets of Opportunity
The first action is to continuously look for targets of opportunity for potential innovation in
service delivery. A specific opportunity can be a spark that ignites new policies, management
practices, and technologies. A target of opportunity can be the successful implementation of a
project for proof of concept. The process then becomes iterative, with other staff, departments,
and the community experimenting with new governance, collaborations, and digital and
mobile solutions to enhance services.
A target of opportunity also can be an event or a project that ignites an innovation spark and
galvanizes the city and the community. It can be a catalyst in the course of development that
takes the project to the next level, introduces it to a new audience, or refreshes something
that already exists. This can be an opportunity to test the use of a new program, policy, or
technology application in a broad format. In some cities, strategic plans, open data plans,
directives, or legislation have served as targets of opportunity. New technology applications
have been catalysts in some cities.
Targets of opportunity can involve use or development of technology that leads to increased
public awareness of and excitement for this new advancement. Often, successful civic technol-
ogy development occurs in the community commons. Inviting constituents to participate in
events that build and explore technology can assist in technology development and can help
ensure the new technology’s usability.
Examples of Targets of Opportunity
External events and award competitions often focus on and promote development of new
technology and governance and engagement methods. Examples include applying for a grant,
receiving a formal award, and presenting at major conferences. Competing for awards prompts
cities to think creatively about how to develop technology for the community and how to
involve residents, including nontraditional participants, in that development. Awards, such as
the Intelligent Community of the Year Award sponsored by Intelligence Community Forum
(ICF), can provide expertise and knowledge sharing, and they can play a significant role in
spurring cities to partner with the community and innovate, using digital and mobile technol-
ogies. Riverside and Austin used the opportunity to apply for an Intelligent City Award to
develop their core municipal technology infrastructures. Both cities were in the top 21 cities
that competed for the award in 2012.
Actions Cities Take to Promote
Innovation in City Services

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Hackathons, challenges, large-format gaming events, and real-time public technology
launches are increasingly in use. The goal of hackathons, contests, and challenges are to
bring together city staff and the community to collaborate, using city data, to devise apps and
digital technologies that improve city services. Many case study cities sponsor hackathons to
engage the public in using technology to improve city service delivery. Hackathons are labor-
intensive, time-limited, one-to-two-day events. Participants use coding expertise, familiarity
with the city and its functions, and industry or subject-matter knowledge to create a data or
technology product, from idea to outcome: ready for testing on a pilot audience. San
Francisco, Boston, and other cities participate in numerous hackathons throughout the year.
Frequently, the hackathons occur in conjunction with Sunlight Lab’s Apps for America annual
development contest and the National Day of Civic Hacking.
Several case study cities, including Austin and Philadelphia, have participated in GIS Day, an
international day during which geographical information systems (GIS) users demonstrate real
world GIS applications. Challenges are competitions that engage the public in using technol-
ogy and innovation to solve city problems and improve service delivery. New York City held its
BIGAPPS NYC 2014 challenge from May to July 2014, during which 100 teams participated
in developing apps for the city. In September, a panel of judges selected the top four winning
teams from 20 finalist teams. The four winning teams received $20,000 per team and men-
toring by experts. Also, the BIGAPPS challenge awards $5,000 per team to five teams in
product categories, and awards BigIdea and in-kind prizes.
Open data is another opportunity for constituents to engage in development with a city.
Residents can access data about the city, promoting transparency and knowledge, and they
can use the data to improve their own business or interaction with the city. Open city data
often provides a platform for innovation. Constituents and organizations can use the data to
launch apps, connect with larger data sets, provide visualizations and maps for services, and
expand the city’s knowledge base.
Nationwide, more than 30 cities have some type of open data policy, such as a mayoral exec-
utive order, a city council resolution, or a city council ordinance. In some case study cities,
including Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston, open data poli-
cies have been the catalysts for new policies and positions, spurring digital and mobile tech-
nology development to improve services. In other cities, such as Austin, Kansas City, and
Riverside, new websites have been the catalysts for open data portals, allowing for internal
and external technology development to improve service delivery. New technology applications
also have been a catalyst in several cities. Philadelphia was the first to use Textizen, devel-
oped with Code for America and entrepreneurs, enabling residents to text feedback regarding
the city’s ongoing comprehensive plan, Philadelphia 2035. Boston developed Street Bump,
allowing residents to report potholes via an app that picks up vibrations while driving.
Action Two: Build Capacity
Cities need the technical, policy, and management skills to create and implement new poli-
cies, governance structures, and applications to provide better city services. Additionally, staff
must have the ability to work creatively and collaboratively across city departments and with
people from the community.
To build internal capacity, cities create cross-departmental and cross-functional staff teams.
A primary role for staff working on innovation is silo busting—working to gather, build, and
implement ideas across departments and functions. Often, new staff provides templates

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and best practices, and the staff frequently serves as the resource center and coordinator
for new policies, governance, and technology development. Also, new staff may provide
process and strategy advice, technical skills, and mentorship. In various cities, staff is
implementing innovative business methods, such as Design Thinking, and Agile and Lean
processes.
In addition to building capacity within the organization, another effort includes seeking external
partners to combine physical resources, funding, and services to support idea generation and
implementation. Physical resources include broadband infrastructure, incubators, testing envi-
ronments, and partner support to accompany new technology, forms of engagement, and gov-
ernance structures. Partner support often combines academic, private, nonprofit, and public
personnel expertise with monetary, equipment, and space resources. Also, partner support
entails bringing in nontraditional participants to understand their ideas, and to understand
how they may contribute to developing new processes, and technology applications.
Examples of Building Capacity
Cities that are the most adept at new programs, such as digital and mobile service develop-
ment, typically have capacity that includes external actors. Best practice cities not only col-
laborate internally across city departments, but also partner externally with constituents and
organizations. Additionally, they partner with each other and with universities, nonprofit orga-
nizations, and industry. Capacity building includes developing alliances with the following
partners: businesses, foundations, universities, nonprofits, and media. These alliances can
serve as a multidisciplinary team with city, technology, and business expertise that develops
new partnerships and digital and mobile applications to engage diverse groups in city service
delivery.
New Urban Mechanics is a unique collaboration between civic innovation teams in
Philadelphia and Boston, universities, and foundations. In both cities, the Mayors’ Offices of
New Urban Mechanics provide a space where the private and public sectors and academics
can partner to develop and incubate ideas and services that enhance cities. Hence, the initia-
tive includes staff from Boston and Philadelphia, as well as individuals from the private sector
and universities.
Various sources, such as city budgets, universities, industry, and foundations, have provided
funding to enhance capacity building. Internal city departments and external entrepreneurs
and academics pilot projects that address residents’ needs. They focus on a broad range of
areas; from increasing civic participation, to improving city streets, to boosting educational
outcomes. The projects range from better-designed garbage cans to high-tech apps for smart
phones.
Action Three: Seek Internal and External Champions
Successful cities find champions both inside city government and outside in the community.
This creates a push from two directions. Inside the city, authorized officials must promote the
implementation of new governance structures, policies, and digital and mobile applications to
improve services. Simultaneously, constituents in the community—from individual residents to
nonprofits, companies, and technology brigades—must push for the new policies, manage-
ment structures, and digital and mobile technologies to enhance service provision.

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Open Government and Open Data Ordinances,
Resolutions, and Executive Orders
• Austin, Texas: In December 2011, the Austin City Council adopted the Open Data Resolution. The
resolution calls for online, open government, and it recognizes the importance of transparency, effi-
ciency and collaboration. Austin does not have an open data implementation strategy, but an internal
governance team is developing a citywide open government directive.
• Boston, Massachusetts: In April 2014, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh issued an “Executive Order
Relative to Open Data and Protected Data Sharing.” The order encourages the city to continue to
practice open government, and it calls for transparency and government engagement with the public.
It also instructs Boston’s chief information officer to issue a city open data policy.
• Chicago, Illinois: Former mayor Richard Daly began opening up Chicago’s data in 2010, and
in 2012, Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued an “Open Data Executive Order.” The order requires the
Department of Innovation and Technology to work with other city agencies on expanding public
access to information, and it establishes an open data coordinator in each agency who must partici-
pate in the City’s Open Data Advisory Group.
• Kansas City, Missouri: In May 2014, Kansas City Mayor Sly James and the city council passed a
resolution declaring their support for open data of public information for Kansas City and directing the
city manager to create and implement an open data policy. The resolution also requires the city man-
ager to submit an annual open data report.
• Louisville, Kentucky: In October 2013, Louisville Mayor Greg Fisher issued an executive order cre-
ating an open data plan, including an open data management team, and a department open data
catalogue. The order is particularly noteworthy because it considers public information to be open
by default, and it calls for proactively publishing data. In November 2014, Louisville launched a new
website with an open data portal.
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: In September 2012, Mayor Michael Nutter issued an executive order,
“Open Data and Government Transparency.” The executive order establishes an internal open data
working group to focus on transparency, accountability, participation, and collaboration, and it
requires Philadelphia to hire a chief data officer. It also requires the formation of a data governance
advisory board, an open government plan, an open data policy, and a social media policy.
• Salt Lake City, Utah: In January 2009, Salt Lake City launched its “Greater Transparency for
Collaborative Government Initiative” (later renamed the “Open Government Initiative”). Subsequently,
the mayor and the city council adopted open government policies, and in June, 2010 the city
launched “Open City Hall,” an online forum for city engagement.
• San Francisco, California: Former mayor Gavin Newsom issued an open data executive directive in
2009. San Francisco was one of only three cities that enacted an open data policy prior to the federal
Open Government Directive. San Francisco enhanced open data policy three times in 2010, 2013,
and 2014 In 2013, the City passed the “Citywide Coordination of Open Data Policy and Procedures”
legislation, creating the chief data officer role and data coordinators in each department.
• Washington, D.C.: Washington, D.C. began releasing open data in 2006 with a memo from the city
administrator. In 2011, former mayor Vincent Gray issued a “Transparency and Open Government
Policy Memorandum” directing staff to develop recommendations on improving transparency, par-
ticipation, and collaboration. A 2014 order, the “Transparency, Open Government and Open Data
Directive,” includes an open government web portal, an open data policy, and a chief data officer.

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Examples of Internal and External Champions
The internal champion is a person who has the passion, drive, and capacity to identify or
create an innovative process or new technology. This person could be a mayor or the city
manager, a passionate employee, a dedicated volunteer, a city commission member, or a
city council member. Also, multiple people, or groups of people, can serve as champions. A
champion is particularly important to start and implement a new form of engagement. Staff
must support the champion to promote adoption and ensure sustainability of the project.
If the champion is a group, then the group must support the idea and the implementation.
Frequently, champions appear because they communicate good ideas, but they are not neces-
sarily able to implement those ideas. A successful champion, or champion group, must have
both the idea and the capacity to implement. Champions must bust silos and put their
resources and authority behind projects. They also must position the proposed projects
high on their agendas through both words and deeds.
External champions are well regarded in the community and have ideas that they are willing
to execute on behalf of the city and its residents. The external champion can be a civic-
minded individual with a passion for technology or governance and the ability to combine
community and technical knowledge for better city service provision. Frequently, the individual
has experienced or identified a difficulty in obtaining services and has a productive idea to
improve service access. When champions come from outside the organization, they must
arrive with open minds and with skills to complement their passion and energy. It also is help-
ful if they come with suggestions regarding the resources that they will require from the city
and constituents.
Working with a champion has the greatest effect when resources and passion are equally
paired. The champion relationship also works better when communication lines are clear and
open. Participants must keep a positive attitude about the project, and use the unique knowl-
edge from each project member to improve service provision.
Mayors can serve as champions. These include the efforts of mayors in strong mayor cities,
such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago. In all of these cities, mayors were
instrumental in championing innovative governance and new technologies to improve service
delivery.
Staff members can serve as champions. In several of the case study cities, staff were cham-
pions. In Kansas City, the innovation officer was one of the champions and, in Washington,
D.C., the deputy mayor for planning and economic development was one of the champions.
Civic technology groups can serve as champions. Many of the case study cities have been
Code for America Partner cities, and most of them have Code for America Brigades.9 The bri-
gades are groups of residents in cities who self-organize to collaborate with their city govern-
ments on technology issues and projects to improve their cities. The residents have a variety
of technical and nontechnical skills. They hold civic hack nights, advocate for open data, and
deploy apps in their cities. To become an official Code for American Brigade, residents must
be willing to follow specific Code for America policies and procedures. Also, many of the case
study cities have support from other civic technology and civic innovation community organi-
zations, such as Smart Chicago, sf.citi in San Francisco, Venture Café in Boston, and Open
Access PHL in Philadelphia.
9. Code for America builds open source technology and organizes people to improve the provision of government services;
http://www.codeforamerica.org.

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Action Four: Develop a Compelling Business Case
There must be a sound business case for internal use and promotion of a new technology or
process. Important questions are:
• How will the new technology or process promote city efficiency and effectiveness?
• What benefit will a new policy or digital and mobile access provide to the internal structure
of the city?
Internal technology and new process wins provide staff with access to services that support
them as individuals and as employees. These services include access to employee informa-
tion, pay and banking alternatives, mobile work apps and interfaces, and technology options
that simplify and streamline employee and employee-constituent interaction.
To build the external business case for incorporating new governance models and digital and
mobile service provision, many cities focus on business and economic development aspects
that incorporate new access methods. Also, cities’ open data has provided business entrepre-
neurs with numerous opportunities, ranging from building apps to building platforms that cit-
ies use. They consider how making the city more accessible and usable will contribute to and
support the business environment. Additionally, the external business case frequently involves
making city government more accessible to residents via digital or mobile engagement or ser-
vices such as a virtual town hall meetings or paying fines.
Examples of Developing a Compelling Business Case
The business case needs to include benefits to the city and to the constituents. Cities often
involve their Chambers of Commerce and business development organizations in governance
and technology discussions. Also, numerous cities actively pursue technology that will support
development and growth. Many of the activities associated with making the external business
case for technology development include planning and envisioning the city of the future.
Chicago’s Chief Technology Office uses open data as an economic development driver. More
and more cities are partnering with local startups; examples include online community conver-
sation and social networks such as Kansas City’s MindMixer and Nextdoor and Neighborland
in San Francisco.
Cities need to get constituent feedback and measure performance of service provision.
Several case study cities, including Kansas City and Louisville, have adopted the CitiStat
model, which focuses on collecting data about the services offered by the city and using that
data to track and improve city services. Cities can use this approach to identify, analyze and
monitor metrics and performance indicators that are set in accordance with the cities priorities.
Some cities monitor information and results of analysis are available through a performance
dashboard. In other cities, residents are able to view and comment on goals, activities, track-
ing, and analysis of performance. Cities using a CitiStat model have reported major service
provision improvements.
Action Five: Formalize New Practices with Concrete Laws and
Strategies
Cities need to institutionalize new policies, management practices, and technologies in a con-
crete manner to provide better constituent services. This can take many forms including:
• Widespread adoption across city functions
• City council ordinance or resolution

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• New staff positions
• Strategy documents and guidelines
• Adoption of digital and mobile technologies and applications
Eventually, the new management practice or technology must become part of regular city pub-
lic engagement and outreach to improve service delivery. New governance structures and digi-
tal and mobile public engagement and service must be built into ordinances, resolutions,
executive orders, strategic plans, and other efforts. The new forms of engagement must be for-
mally adopted via citywide plans and strategies with evaluation. Furthermore, cities must
identify and develop new funding streams and mechanisms to support new city technology,
infrastructure, and programs. The new process or digital and mobile experience must be incor-
porated into everyday city life.
A significant indicator of a shift in how a city thinks about and uses new technology and pro-
cesses is the extent to which they trigger an actual change in the city’s digital infrastructure.
Citizen-engaged design is emerging as the main information systems infrastructure underpin-
ning city information technology. This citizen-engaged design model includes core changes to
the city information architecture structure that allows digital and mobile engagement to
become part of the execution of city administrative and resident services. Digital and mobile
engagement methods are built into every appropriate city service. This includes the opportu-
nity to:
• Conduct service acquisition and maintenance digitally
• Offer and receive online and mobile feedback
• Engage in democratic practices
• Collect and report data automatically
• Use real-time analytics
Examples of Formalizing New Practices
Cities can use new governance structures and digital and mobile platforms to ask for direct
feedback. Some cities use technologies, such as IdeaScale and MindMixer, to gather constitu-
ent feedback. These technologies provide community discussion platforms with question-and-
answer sessions, rating capacities, and constituent connection activities. Other cities have
specific outreach efforts to engage the community and institutionalize innovative governance
practices and digital and mobile engagement to improve service delivery. This can take the
form of training, events, or specific technology applications.
To maintain and sustain information technology access and participation, cities often
develop broad policies that are not device- or system-specific. For instance, there is an
emerging expectation that constituents, employees, and partners will use multiple and varied
devices. Rather than making device- or occasion-specific policies, cities develop a series of
guiding principles for technologies. To encourage new governance structures and policies,
some cities formalize interactions with constituents and businesses. Cities are forming entre-
preneur-in-residence programs, citizen academies and other official groups to sustain concrete
input and collaborations with various parts of the community.
Many cities develop strategic plans as one way to formalize new practices. Cities have pro-
duced concrete strategic plans including, topics such as information architecture, platforms and
data, and discussions about transparency, engagement, accountability, effective governance,
and evaluation. Cities focus on various ways of achieving success. Some are developing staff

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capability; others are experimenting with innovative projects and some are formalizing policies
and strategic plans. Improving service provision tends to begin as an iterative process, with cit-
ies experimenting with new technologies, policies, and management practices that mature into
a strategic process.
To sustain service provision and technology development, cities must evaluate their progress.
From the outset, cities must have defined outcomes that are measured with metrics and systems
for tracking them. Cities use various methods to evaluate the successes and weakness of digital
and mobile service delivery. Typically, they implement anonymous back-end user tracking with
digital and mobile applications. Also, exemplary cities use various performance systems with
metrics to analyze and track service provision.
The case study cities undertook major initiatives to combine and synthesize data across sec-
tors to better understand constituents and deploy services more effectively. Some cities com-
bined government data from multiple sources with private sector data in novel ways to reveal
new relationships. For example, cities are enhancing public safety and emergency response
capabilities with real-time analysis of aerial, fixed, and mobile data from various sources in
numerous formats. They use big data and predictive analytics to improve planning and service
delivery, from fire fighting in New York City to health care in Chicago. As noted by Stephen
Goldsmith in Digital Transformation: Wiring the Responsive City, predictive analytics can
deter crime and improve disaster planning.10
Cities are using various mobile apps for crowdsourcing—obtaining expertise and ideas from
constituents—to improve city service delivery. Boston was an early developer and imple-
menter of crowdsourcing apps with Citizens Connect. Additionally, several case study cities,
including Seattle, New York City, Louisville, San Francisco, and Boston have developed entire
app portfolios containing multiple apps to improve access to city services.
Action Six: Foster a Culture of Creativity and Collaboration
Management should encourage risk taking and collaboration across the silos of city depart-
ments. Furthermore, city leadership should encourage and support partnerships with the
community and industry. To improve service provision, many cities have the following:
• Flexible organizational structures
• Strategic planning
• Funding
• Evaluation
• Public engagement
• Support for new technology and innovation
Cities should have internal cultures that stress collaboration rather than silos and promote
creativity, innovation, and transparency.
Examples of Fostering a Culture of Creativity
Implementing new governance and technology in cities requires a culture of creativity and
collaboration with external outreach, events, and champions. Culture is key to the iterative
10. Stephen Goldsmith, Digital Transformation: Wiring the Responsive City; Civic Report No. 87. (Manhattan Institute, Center for State
and Local Government: New York City, June 2014) Retrieved from www.datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/assets/content/cr_87.pdf

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development of collaborative and concrete measures to sustain new processes and technology
for city service delivery. Attitudes and environments that embrace iterative development and
promote participation and experimentation are necessary cultural components.
Cities are collaborating with foundations, universities, nonprofits, and industry. In San
Francisco, the mayor’s Civic Innovation Office has a Fellows program that seeks Fellows who
have experience working across sectors, a belief in technology, and a passion for innovation.
San Francisco also has an Entrepreneur in Residence program.
In August 2014, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter opened an Innovation Lab for city
employees. The lab is a place for city staff to collaborate with people from the technology
community and area colleges and universities. Riverside has created a city technology and
public engagement advisory board.
In Kansas City, the mayor has created the Mayor’s Challenge Cabinet. Young women and men
from across Kansas City can apply to be part of project teams and task forces organized around
initiatives to improve city policy and governance.
Several cities, including Boston, Chicago, Louisville, and San Francisco, have been quite
active in soliciting constituent development of online government applications and tools.
Additionally, some cities have been launching programs for entrepreneurs such as Digital.NYC,
a one stop-shop with everything technology related for job hunters and entrepreneurs in New
York City. Philadelphia has launched FastFWD, a civic tech accelerator program.

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Austin, Texas
Austin has a population of 885,400 and serves as the center of the Austin-Round Rock-San
Marcos metropolitan statistical area. It is the state capital and Austin’s major industries
include technology, tourism, education, and government. Austin now has Google Fiber.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Austin include:
• Center for Digital Government Best of the Web winner
• GovFresh Award winner
• Austin’s chief information officer won the Association of Information Technology’s Public
Sector Information Technology Executive of the Year award
Best Practices
• Open Austin, now an official Code for America Brigade, worked with the city on its website
development, and the city formed an advisory group of community members, AustinGo
Advisory Group, to also collaborate on the website. The city worked with local technology
companies, and at the end of 2011, it launched the website using an open source plat-
form, and an open data portal that the AustinGo Advisory Group and Open Austin advo-
cated. Open Austin worked with the city on an Austin City Council open data resolution
that the city council adopted in December 2011. Open Austin continued to work with the
city on Code for America initiatives, on the creation of an innovation office, and on creating
mobile apps.
• The Office of Sustainability worked with a start-up company to develop a mobile app in
conjunction with Earth Day 2014. The app, Rethink, encourages residents to adopt
green habits to enhance the city’s sustainability efforts with resources, games and
money-saving tips.
Selected Best Practices:
Case Study Cities

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• In August 2014, Austin released a mobile 3-1-1 app, and the city’s ATX floods app
provides real-time information on road closures during flooding events.
• Austin has two tools that improve coordination of capital improvement projects and city
activities:
—CIVIC: The tool allows residents to visualize capital improvement projects with inter-
active maps, find information about projects, and get updates on the capital improve-
ments program.
—IMMPACT: The tool coordinates permit and project information for road, water pipe-
line and other projects, using geographic interface on maps to show conflicts and col-
laboration opportunities.
• Austin’s Neighborhood Partnering Program, with the city’s Public Works Department,
awards funding to neighborhood groups that share the cost with the city to build small to
medium-sized community capital improvement projects in the city’s right-of-way or on
city-owned property.
• In October 2014, the Austin Technology Council and the city of Austin created a new
partnership, the Austin Technology Partnership. The partnership’s goal is to strengthen
tech as an economic engine for the community, and to provide data collection and analysis
to understand the talent and capital resources to support an innovation economy.
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston has a population of 645,966 and is a part of the larger metropolitan area of Greater
Boston. Its major industries include education, biotechnology, tourism, and financial services.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Boston include:
• Technology Achievement awards from the Public Technology Institute
• Digitalcommunities.com named Boston #1 Digital City in America
• Center for Digital Government Best of the Web winner
• GovFresh Award winner
Best Practices
• In 2011, the mayor of Boston created the Problem Properties Task Force for city agencies
to collaborate, predict, intervene, and prevent community disorder. The city uses data sets
from various departments, such as police, fire, inspections, and neighborhood services, to

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use tools, analytics, and reports for making decisions regarding policing, code enforcement,
foreclosures, and other city activities to address problem properties.
• Nigel Jacobs and Chris Osgood co-chair the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics.
They work closely with other Boston units such as the Department of Public Works and the
Department of Innovation and Technology. They have partnered with universities, including
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MIT, and Harvard, and the Boston Area Research Initiative
(BART), an interuniversity research initiative that connects Boston area scholars and
practitioners for cutting edge urban research.
• Boston was an early entrant in developing mobile apps to improve service delivery by
developing Citizens Connect in 2009 in partnership with a local technology company,
Connected Bits. With the Citizens Connect app, residents can report problems, request
services, and send photos directly from their Smartphones. Boston has made Citizens
Connect available to cities across Massachusetts.
• By using a new app, Street Bump, residents can report potholes via vibrations from an
app on their mobile phones in their cars.
• City employees use the mobile app, City Worker, internally. City Worker provides a plat-
form for city staff to create new cases and to manage constituent requests in real time
while employees are in the field.
• In August 2014, Boston held a hackathon, HubHacks, to challenge community IT develop-
ers to devise a new online permitting system by using the city’s information and program-
ming interface. In December 2014, Mayor Walsh unveiled Permit Finder, an online and
mobile app. Permit Finder is an online tool that contractors and the public can use to track
inspection service department and fire department permits through the approval process,
and it also displays open reviews during the review process.
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago has a population of 2.7 million and serves as the center of the Chicago’s metropolitan
area. Its major industries include financial services, engineering, publishing, and food processing.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Chicago include:
• fDi Intelligence has recognized Chicago as a U.S. City of the Future
• Recognized by InformationWeek Government as one of the Top 10 Government IT Innovators
• Center for Digital Government Best of the Web winner
• GovFresh Award winner

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Best Practices
• Chicago is a leader in open data and the development of an open data repository. In 2011,
it was the first U.S. city to appoint a Chief Data Officer position. Chicago also has pro-
duced “A Report on the Status of Open Data in Chicago and Actions for 2014.” The city’s
open data portal has more than 850 data sets.
• Bloomberg Philanthropies awarded Chicago a $1 million grant to develop an open-source,
predictive analytics platform, the SmartData Platform. The SmartData Platform’s first tool,
WindyGrid, uses spatial analytics to present a single point, real-time view of operations
across the city including 3-1-1 and 911 data, asset locations, building information and
tweets, to provide city employees with comprehensive analysis of a specific location.
WindyGrid also has predictive analytic capabilities to support service delivery decisions.
• Chicago has numerous mobile apps, including the Department of Health’s mobile app,
Heart Health Mobile, which helps people assess their risk for heart disease, such as heart
attacks and strokes.
• Chicago has developed an app with interactive maps displaying all of the city’s residential
parking zones and their restrictions.
• Chicago has an online tool and a mobile app to engage the public in the redevelopment of
the Kedzie Corridor to bring jobs, affordable housing, and economic development to the
area. Residents can go online to an interactive map where they can post ideas and photos
regarding Kedzie Corridor planning, take an online survey regarding the redevelopment
project, and link to a mobile app to share ideas and photos.
• Chicago is using predictive analytics for services as varied as controlling rat populations
and improving public health. The Chicago Departments of Health and Technology and
Innovation are piloting predictive analytic models for food protection, tobacco control
policy, and lead inspection programs.
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City has a population of 464,310 and serves as the center of the metropolitan area of
Kansas City. Its major industries include agribusiness and federal government. Kansas City
was the first city to have Google Fiber.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Kansas City include:
• PC Magazine listed Kansas City as one of the “10 High-Tech Cities You’ll Want to Call Home”
• Center for Digital Government’s Digital Cities award winner
• Public Technology Institute award winner

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Best Practices
• As part of the Mayor’s Challenge Cabinet, young women and men from across Kansas City
can apply for project teams and task forces organized around initiatives to improve the
city’s policies and governance. Mayor Sly James appointed his second Challenge Cabinet
on September 15, 2014. The mayor has organized his second Challenge Cabinet around
the following specific initiatives to improve city policy and governance:
— Innovation Policy Task Force
— Open Data Project Team
— Technology Roadmap Task Force
— Community Engagement Project Team
— Ideas Fair Project Team
— Open Project Teams
• KC Momentum is an online tool using MindMixer technology to solicit community input on
improving service delivery via online conversations.
• Kansas City is using apps to enhance services, such as the KC Streetcar app that will
highlight and promote restaurants, shops, and attractions along the streetcar route during
streetcar construction.
• Kansas City launched a website that made it one of largest city users of the open source
WordPress platform. Using WordPress reduced the new website cost by 75 percent
compared to the previous website development. The new website has an open data portal
with more than 3,500 data sets. Additionally, the website has resources for opening a
business, and residents can use the KCStat Dashboard to monitor the city’s performance
on 24 strategic priorities.
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville has a population of 609,891 and is part of the larger metropolitan area of Jefferson
County. Its major industries include health care and tourism.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Louisville include:
• Recognized as one of the “Best Entrepreneurial Cities” by Entrepreneur.com
• PolicyMic.com recognized Louisville as one of the top Creative Cities for 20-Somethings
• Center for Digital Government’s Best of the Web winner
• Digital Cities award winner

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Best Practices
• In 2011, Louisville received a $4.8 million Bloomberg Philanthropies grant to develop
innovative ideas to improve city services by supporting a full-time Innovation Delivery
Team. The team redirected 26 percent of low-severity 911 medical calls to a doctor’s
office, instead of using an ambulance to an emergency room. Also, the team reduced
zoning approval times by seven weeks, and increased animals leaving pet shelters alive for
adoption from 30 percent to 2012 to 77 percent in 2014. The city continues to use
innovative research and development to improve services.
• In 2014, Living Cities selected Louisville as one of the first cities in its City Accelerator.
Louisville will use its existing innovation toolkit and new City Accelerator processes to
enhance fire response time and better serve people with mental illness and substance
abuse issues.
• The city is partnering with the community to improve the city’s air quality and environ-
ment. Louisville’s public health agency, air pollution control district, and other entities are
collaborating on a program with the community to deploy 100 low-cost air quality moni-
tors that residents have agreed to fund at $200 each. The city also is partnering with the
Community Foundation of Louisville to find donors to raise additional money for other,
similar projects.
• To improve Louisville’s environmental practices, the city is part of the partnership for a
Green City collaboration. The partnership leverages collaborative planning, education,
collective purchasing, and professional expertise to promote sustainability with land and
water management, waste disposal, transportation, and energy use. More than 150 people
participate on partnership teams.
New York City, New York
New York City has a population of 8 million and serves as the center of the New York metro-
politan area. Its major industries include financial services, media, communications, and
technology.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by New York City include:
• InformationWeek Government IT Innovators Award
• Winner City of the Year and Best Use of Social Media in the GovFresh Awards
• Center for Digital Government Best of the Web winner

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• Digital Cities award winner
• Public Technology Institute award winner
Best Practices
• New York City has an annual BigApps Challenge, which began in 2009, in which partici-
pants create online and mobile apps with crowdsourced data. The challenge has launched
hundreds of apps, and now, participants have access to the New York City Open Data
Portal with more than 1,300 data sets, and a Resident Toolkit. New York City has a
Developer Portal with an API Showcase and an App Showcase. The New York City
Department of Transportation has a new Data Feeds website with open data to support
traffic initiatives. The Data Feeds site includes interactive Vision Zero Crash and an
Interventions Map that displays crash types, dates, locations, bike and car parking infor-
mation, traffic advisories, street construction, and real-time data.
• New York City created the first city Chief Digital Officer position in 2011, and the city has
been a leader in creating an internal organization for using technology to improve service
provision. Former mayor Michael Bloomberg made implementing digital and mobile
applications for service delivery a high priority in his administration with his goal of New
York City becoming a leading digital city. Under Bloomberg, all city agencies measured
their performance against annual goals and reported that directly to constituents.
• In October 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the launch of Digital.NYC as the official
online, one-stop shop to learn about everything related to technology in New York City with
resources for job hunters, business startups, investors, and nonprofits. Digital.NYC is a
partnership between the New York City Economic Development Corporation, IBM, Gust,
and more than 12 technology and media companies.
• New York is a leader in using data and predictive analytics to improve service delivery. In
2009, the New York City Office of Policy and Strategic Planning hired Mike Flowers as
director of analytics and head of the Policy and Strategic Planning Analytics team. In
2013, Mayor Bloomberg created the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics and selected Flowers
as the city’s first chief analytics officer to help agencies share data with each other and the
public with tools to improve service delivery.
• New York City uses data mining and predictive analytics to uncover mortgage fraud,
expired business licenses, prescription drug abuse, and fire hazards. Using big data from
myriad sources, including illegal building conversions, foreclosures, rodent complaints, and
crime rates, the city’s analytics team increased the New York City’s Department of Buildings’
findings of risky building conditions from 13 percent to 70 percent, which the fire depart-
ment correlated with fire risk.
• In May 2013, New York City announced its new Risk-Based Inspection System applica-
tion, which uses data from multiple sources to prioritize and better assess fire risk in the
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia has a population of 1.6 million and serves as the center of the metropolitan area
of Delaware Valley. Its major industries include bio-science, financial services, and tourism.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Philadelphia include:
• Public Technology Institute recognized Philadelphia with a Best of the Web award for its
business services portal and website
• Public Technology Institute recognized Philadelphia with a Technical Solutions Award for
its outstanding application of information technology with the Philly311 app
• GovFresh Award winner
• Digital Cities award winner
Best Practices
• Story Bellows and Jeff Friedman are co-directors of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of
New Urban Mechanics. Philadelphia departments, such as the Office of Innovation and
Technology, work closely with them. With the Office of New Urban Mechanics,
Philadelphia was an early adopter of mobile apps. It was the first city to use Textizen,
which it developed with Code for America and entrepreneurs, to enable residents to text
feedback regarding the city’s ongoing comprehensive plan, Philadelphia 2035.
• Through its participation in the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge, Philadelphia
is improving city procurement processes.
• In March 2014, Philadelphia launched, FastFWD, a civic tech accelerator with an initial
class of 10 and $10,000, to use city data to devise public safety solutions. FastFWD is a
$1 million partnership among the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, GoodCompany
Ventures, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Social Impact Initiative. The initial
class finished the 12-week program in 2014.
• In January 2014, Philadelphia opened its Municipal Innovation Academy in partnership
with Philadelphia University. There are 19 front-line employees from various city depart-
ments whom their supervisors and peers selected to participate in the academy and learn
innovation processes. The academy is an eight-week program with $100,000 in funding
from the Mayors Fund for Philadelphia for real problem-solving projects.
• In August 2014, Philadelphia Mayor Nutter opened an Innovation Lab for city employees.
The lab is a place for employees to collaborate with people from the technology community
and area colleges and universities. The lab provides a space for creative thinking, and it
works with the Municipal Innovation Academy. Philadelphia’s Chief Innovation Officer

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plans to rotate topics every 90 days, and the goal is to improve service delivery, civic
engagement and transparency.
Riverside, California
Riverside has a population of 303,871 and is part of the larger metropolitan area of the
Inland Empire. Its major industries include technology and education.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Riverside include:
• Intelligent Community Forum recognized Riverside as an Intelligent Community of the Year
• Center for Digital Government Best of the Web winner
• Digital Cities award winner
Best Practices
• Riverside has a new website with the Engage Riverside transparency portal that includes
city records and open data. Mobile-first is a philosophy that recognizes the prevalence of
mobile devices and makes mobile applications a priority. Riverside has been using mobile-
first practices, such as SmartRiverside, an initiative to attract technology companies. The
website was built with responsive design, and it is very friendly to mobile users. Also,
Riverside has a new project management office to implement best practices citywide for
technology projects.
• Riverside has created a technology and public engagement advisory board that includes:
the mayor, six major technology company chief information officers, the city manager, two
deans of engineering schools from local universities, two school district representatives,
and community member representatives. The advisory board plans and advises develop-
ment and it also contributes concrete resources and people for projects. Together, the
participants plan and develop technologies, and then, the institutions involved adopt these
technologies, creating a similar participatory experience across multiple sectors of the city.
• Riverside engages in a formal employee exchange with partner organizations such as
Xerox. City employees are embedded in Xerox, and Xerox employees are embedded in the
city government. Through these partnerships, companies gain insight into the challenges
faced by cities, and cities are able to better use the technologies that companies develop.

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Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City has a population of 191,180 and serves as the center of the Salt Lake metro-
politan area. Its major industries include tourism, health care, and transportation. Salt Lake
City currently is on Google’s upcoming list for potentially installing Google Fiber.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Salt Lake City include:
• Center for Digital Government Best of the Web winner
• Digital Cities award winner
Best Practices
• Salt Lake City has made significant strides in public engagement with its Open City Hall
platform, which is an online tool that residents can use to post opinions regarding city
issues. The city then provides feedback to residents and uses their input to help guide the
city’s decision making.
• The city has developed an online Sustainable City Dashboard to track its progress on its
five-year, Sustainable Salt Lake – 2015 Plan. The plan covers 12 topics: Air & Climate,
Energy, Transportation, Recycling, Open Space, Urban Forestry, Water, Arts & Culture,
Health & Safety, Housing, Food & Nutrition, and Education. The dashboard, available in
80 languages, allows residents to explore concrete actions that the city has taken in each
area with more than 100 total metrics. The dashboard also provides public engagement
opportunities for residents to share their ideas and concerns, using the Open City Hall
platform.
• Salt Lake City developed the SLC Mobile app allowing residents to report 3-1-1 issues in
real time and use GIS maps that the city updates in real time. The SLC Mobile Launcher
app provides residents a variety of services including utility bill payment, alternative fuel
locations, and bus routes.
• Salt Lake City has been innovative in allowing employees to bring and use their own
technology devices to work.

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San Francisco, California
San Francisco has a population of 837,422 and serves as the center of the San Francisco Bay
Area. Its major industries include banking and finance, technology, tourism, and education.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by San Francisco include:
• Winner of the Sunshine Review’s Sunny Award in recognition of its performance on
transparency
• A CIO 100 Award for SFGov Mobile
• Center for Digital Government award winner
• Public Technology Institute award winner
Best Practices
• The mayor’s Civic Innovation Office has a Fellows program that seeks individuals who have
experience working across sectors, a belief in technology, and a passion for innovation.
The city hires three mayor’s innovation fellows to work as entrepreneurs, innovators, and
leaders for innovation within the city and the greater community. Additionally, the Fellows
participate in an extensive professional development program, and then they share their
knowledge with other city staff.
• The city has a robust open data portal, DataSF, including a developer page, DataSF
Developer Resources, with tips on API use and submitting apps. The site has a DataSF
showcase that displays numerous apps that developers have created using the city’s data.
• San Francisco is piloting a new disaster dashboard, the Appallicious emergency dash-
board. The dashboard collects real time emergency response data from various depart-
ments and agencies and it links to local resources such as people with CPR training.
• The city created a partnership with the business community through the new city of San
Francisco Entrepreneur-In-Residence program. The purpose of the program is to combine
government and startups to explore ways technology can help make government more
responsive, participatory, accountable, and efficient. To determine partners in the effort,
the city sent out a call for participation. Twenty-five organizations worldwide submitted
applications, representing innovation potential in education, health care, transportation,
public utilities, public safety, infrastructure, and the environment. A board with internal
and private sector representatives, as well as the city’s CIO, selected six startups from 200
applications. The program will run in test mode for a pilot term and will focus on civic
engagement, location-based services, and urban planning.

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Seattle, Washington
Seattle has a population of 608,660 and serves as the center of the Seattle metropolitan
area. Its major industries include clean energy, aerospace, and defense.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Seattle include:
• Center for Digital Government Best of Web winner
• Digital Cities award winner
Best Practices
• In December 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies awarded Seattle an Innovation Team grant
of $750,000 a year for three years. Seattle’s Office of Policy and Innovation will help the
mayor and city staff use data and performance management to address various Seattle
challenges, including integrated neighborhood and transportation planning, housing
affordability, and homelessness.
• Seattle’s mayor has an IT subcommittee composed of the deputy mayor, city CTO, and
six city department heads who are centralizing the city’s IT services. Seattle has a Citizens
Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Committee that works on issues such as
online services and technology access and makes recommendations to the mayor and city
council. The city has a technology matching fund that makes grants up to $20,000 for
technology projects in the community.
• Seattle is using data and technology in crime prevention. The city provides online mapping
of crime incidents and the Seattle Police Department is taking an innovative approach with
an event that it held on December 19, 2014 with more than 80 people in attendance.
The purpose of the event was to find a better method for archiving the 1.6 million videos
consisting of 314,000 hours of footage from the dashboard cameras mounted on the city’s
police cars. The Seattle Police Department’s goal is to automatically release all police video
footage online. Various software developers presented ideas at the event and the Police
Department currently is seeking a contract with a cloud vendor to put the videos online.

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Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. has a population of 646,449. Its major industries include federal govern-
ment, education, and tourism.
Recognition
Recognition and awards received by Washington, D.C., include:
• Center for Digital Government Best of the Web winner
• Digital Cities award winner
• Winner of awards from Public Technology Institute and the National Association of State
Chief Information Officers (NASCIO)
Best Practices
• The city has an online Open Data Catalog with 500 datasets. People can go to the online
catalog and see popular downloads, live data feeds, custom downloads, and Google Maps,
and create their own visualizations. The catalog has a feature that allows users to browse
data by category or enter a keyword to search. Washington agencies have a variety of
mobile apps that residents can use to find public computer access, schools, parking,
hospitals, fire and EMS, and other services. The city also has a Connect DC-Digital
Inclusion Initiative with a variety of partners, resources, and events that people can link to
from the DC.gov website. The goal is to close the digital divide by providing computer and
internet access, creating tools for new technology users and collecting data on digital
inclusion.
• Grade.DC.Gov is a performance management and tracking tool that Washington created
with a private company. It is an online platform through which residents can submit
comments about some of the city’s agencies and they also can obtain information about
how other residents graded the agencies.
• Green Dashboard in an online tool that residents can use to get information on the city’s
environmental sustainability performance, download data and charts, and learn about
sustainability measures.
• The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority is using real-time data about water
hydrant flow capacity to inform firefighters of hydrant status when they are going to a
fire scene.

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To understand the efforts and internal and external environments of cities as they begin using
new policies, governance structures, and digital and mobile technologies for better service
delivery, researchers employed three primary methods. They are:
• A literature review of relevant materials from the field
• A review of documents produced by case study cities related to their efforts
• Interviews with various case study city officials and partners in technology development
Researchers chose relevant cities based on their appearance in the current literature and their
appearance in the range of innovative cities. Additionally, the cities represent a variety of
municipalities across the nation. The case study cities are at various progress levels, but all
have begun development and implementation of new methods to improve service delivery.
The city document review covered strategic plans, ordinances, resolutions, organizational doc-
uments, formal partnership agreements, and website content. Researchers analyzed informa-
tion such as content organizational structures, performance metrics, best practices, funding
methods, partnerships, and event notes.
The literature review involved an examination of statistics regarding innovative policies and the
use of digital and mobile methods, a survey of efforts cities are making to develop and imple-
ment new governance structures and digital and mobile technologies to improve service deliv-
ery, and a scan of cities’ operating environments. In addition to books, reports, and journals,
the literature reviewed included publications from other sources, including foundations, non-
profits, and universities.
Interview Questions
• How are you organizing internally for digital and mobile services delivery?
• Who do you partner with: public, private, nonprofits, foundations, universities?
• What new models are you using to improve service delivery?
• How are you coordinating resources?
• Who are your silo busters?
• Which office is responsible for development and engagement?
• Do you have an innovation officer?
• Do you have a data officer?
• Do you have technology and engagement champions?
Appendix I: Methodology

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• How do you determine project benefits and costs?
• Do you have an evaluation strategy?
• Do you have a specific funding strategy?
• What is your business case methodology?
• How are you using digital and mobile to support innovation in the city?
• How do you reach various demographic groups?
• How do you engage nontraditional participants?
• How do you involve constituents in development such as partnerships, hackathons,
contests, and challenges?
• Which approaches do you use most for city engagement; for instance: regulatory changes,
planning, capital improvements, and budgeting?
• Successes and failures
• Lessons learned and best practices

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
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API
API, an abbreviation of application program interface, is a set of routines, protocols, and tools
for building software applications. The API specifies how software components should interact
and are used when programming graphical user interface (GUI) components. A good API
makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks. A programmer then
puts the blocks together.11
Big Data
Big data is an evolving concept that refers to the growth of data and how it is used to opti-
mize business processes, create customer value, and mitigate risks.12
Civic Innovation
“There is no set definition for “civic innovation.” However, broadly speaking, it is about
improving our cities through the implementation of tools, ideas, and engagement methods that
strengthen the relationship between government and citizens. The civic innovation field
encompasses diverse actors from across the public, private, and nonprofit spectrums.”13
Civic Technology
“The emerging field of civic technology, or “Civic Tech,” champions new digital platforms,
open data, and collaboration tools for transforming government service delivery and engage-
ment with citizens.”14
Data Mining
“The process of discovering meaningful correlations, patterns, and trends by sifting through
large amounts of data stored in repositories. Data mining employs pattern recognition technol-
ogies, as well as statistical and mathematical techniques.”15
Digital Technology
“Digital technology is defined as of or relating to information that is stored in the form of the
numbers 0 and 1 and characterized by computer technology.”16
GIS
A Geographic Information System or GIS is a computer system that allows you to map, model,
query, and analyze large quantities of data within a single database according to their location.17
11. www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/API.html
12. http://businessofgovernment.org/sites/default/files/Realizing%20the%20Promise%20of%20Big%20Data.pdf
13. http://thegovlab.org/civic-innovation-cities-and-civic-tech/
14. http://thegovlab.org/civic-innovation-cities-and-civic-tech/
15. http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/data-mining
16. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/digital
17. www.epa.gov/reg3esd1/data/gis.htm#what
Appendix II: Glossary of Terms

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
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Innovation
The Bloomberg Foundation defines “innovation” as the creation of new solutions for city chal-
lenges or the adaptation of solutions that have been tested elsewhere.18
Internet of Things
“The ‘Internet of Things’ (IOT) is a term used to describe the ability of devices to communicate
with each other using embedded sensors that are linked through wired and wireless networks.
These connected devices use the internet to transmit, compile, and analyze data.”19
Mobile Platforms = Smartphones and Tablets
App = a shortened form of the word application, which is a software program used for a com-
puter, tablet, or Smartphone.20
Mobile Technology
“Mobile technology is exactly what the name indicates: technology that is portable; it refers to
any device that you can carry with you to perform a wide variety of “tasks.” It is technology
that allows those tasks to be performed via cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA),
vehicles, laptops, etc. A standard mobile device has gone from being no more than a simple
two-way pager to being a cellular phone, a GPS navigation system, a web browser, an instant
messenger system, a video gaming system, and much more.”21
Open Data
“Open data is data that can be freely used, shared and built on by anyone, anywhere, for any
purpose.”22
Public Engagement
“Public engagement is a new way of thinking about how governments, stakeholders, commu-
nities, and ordinary citizens can work together to achieve complex, societal goals.”23
Predictive Analytics
“Predictive analytics is the practice of extracting information from existing data sets in order to
determine patterns and predict future outcomes and trends.”24
Transparency
“True government transparency goes beyond simply providing information or data. First, the
data must be accessible and useable. Second, providing data is not enough; the data must
have context.”25
18. www.bloomberg.org/content/uploads/sites/2/2014/04/IDT-Playbook-full.pdf
19. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/big_data_privacy_report_may_1_2014.pdf (page 2)
20. www.americandialect.org/app-voted-2010-word-of-the-year-by-the-american-dialect-society-updated
21. www.strategicgrowthconcepts.com/growth/increase-productivity--profitability/mobile-technology-facts.html
22. http://blog.okfn.org/2013/10/03/defining-open-data/
23. www.ppforum.ca/engagement-community
24. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/predictive_analytics.html
25. http://blogs.utexas.edu/cpg/files/2014/05/Transparency-Issues-in-E-Governance-2012.pdf (page 48)

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I would like to thank all of the officials from various cities who participated in interviews for
their time, consideration, and valuable input. Also, I would like to thank Angela Newell for her
research contributions, and Nicholas Hadjigeorge and Christy Tran for their assistance with
interviews and data collection. I deeply appreciate the support and editorial contributions from
John Kamensky and Mark Abramson with the IBM Center for the Business of Government.
Acknowledgements

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
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About the Author
Sherri R. Greenberg, MSc is a Clinical Professor in Public Policy
Practice and Fellow of the Max Sherman Chair in State and
Local Government at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public
Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Her current teaching
and research interests include: government technology and
innovation, transparency and civic engagement, public finance,
campaigns and elections, urban and state affairs, and commu-
nity and regional planning. Her recent publications are:
Congressional Committees and Social Media, Congress +
Social Media, Transparency Issues in E-Governance & Civic
Engagement, Beyond Raw Data, Texas Financial Transparency:
Open and Online, Federal Lines of Business E-Government
Initiatives: Progress and Effects, and State E-Government
Strategies: Identifying Best Practices and Applications.
Professor Greenberg received an MSc in Public Administration
and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and a
BA in Government from The University of Texas at Austin.
Greenberg served for 10 years as a member of the Texas House
of Representatives, completing her final term in January 2001.
In 1999, the Speaker of the House appointed her to chair the
House Pensions and Investments Committee and to chair the
Select Committee on Teacher Health Insurance. She served two
terms on the House Appropriations Committee, and served on
the Appropriations Committee’s Education, and Major
Information Systems Subcommittees. Previously, Greenberg was
the City of Austin Capital Finance Manager, and she was a
Public Finance Officer at Standard & Poor’s Corporation in New
York. She is a member of the City of Austin General Obligation
Housing Bond Review Committee, and she is a member of the
State of Texas website, Texas.gov, Executive Steering
Committee. In February 2015, the Travis County Commissioners
Court appointed Greenberg to the Board of Managers of Central
Health.

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USING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CITY SERVICES
IBM Center for The Business of Government
To contact the author:
Sherri Greenberg
Clinical Professor in Public Policy Practice
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
The University of Texas at Austin
SRH 3.252
P.O. Box Y
Austin, TX 78713-8925
(512) 656-6592
e-mail: srgreenberg@austin.utexas.edu
Key Contact Information

Reports from
For a full listing of IBM Center publications, visit the Center’s website at www.businessofgovernment.org.
Recent reports available on the website include:
Acquisition
Eight Actions to Improve Defense Acquisition by Jacques S. Gansler and William Lucyshyn
A Guide for Agency Leaders on Federal Acquisition: Major Challenges Facing Government by Trevor L. Brown
Collaborating Across Boundaries
Inter-Organizational Networks: A Review of the Literature to Inform Practice by Janice K. Popp, H. Brinton Milward, Gail
MacKean, Ann Casebeer, Ronald Lindstrom
Adapting the Incident Command Model for Knowledge-Based Crises: The Case of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention by Chris Ansell and Ann Keller
Improving Performance
Four Actions to Integrate Performance Information with Budget Formulation by John Whitley
Incident Reporting Systems: Lessons from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Organization by
Russell W. Mills
Innovation
A Guide for Making Innovation Offices Work by Rachel Burstein and Alissa Black
The Persistence of Innovation in Government: A Guide for Innovative Public Servants by Sandford Borins
Leadership
Best Practices for Succession Planning in Federal Government STEMM Positions by Gina Scott Ligon, JoDee Friedly, and
Victoria Kennel
Managing Finance
Managing Budgets During Fiscal Stress: Lessons For Local Government Officials by Jeremy M. Goldberg and Max Neiman
Risk
Risk Management for Grants Administration: A Case Study of the Department of Education by Young Hoon Kwak and
Julia B. Keleher
Strengthening Cybersecurity
Defining a Framework for Decision Making in Cyberspace by Dighton Fiddner
Using Technology
Participatory Budgeting: Ten Actions to Engage Citizens via Social Media by Victoria Gordon
A Manager’s Guide to Assessing the Impact of Government Social Media Interactions by Ines Mergel

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