It’s unanimous. Every city wants to be innovative. But the word’s ambiguity leaves it open to many interpretations, incantations and applications.
That’s why Bloomberg Philanthropies is attempting to put more definition in the word by analysis. In a co-authored study with investment and research firm Nesta, Bloomberg studied the workings of 20 civic tech innovation groups and funneled their insights into a package of 10 tips for cities. The idea: institutionalize some of the ingenuity of innovation, or at the very least, assemble a kind of framework.
The study sits atop numerous interviews, site visits, surveys and a range of analysis. Strategies of the study groups, called “i-teams,” have been evaluated, cultures have been studied, staff skills categorized, impacts and approaches set to yard sticks. Staff sizes of the teams ranged from as low as three all the way up to 200, with a median staff size of roughly 42 people. In terms of public-sector investment, the report showcased levels of government funding for the groups, starting at $330,000 and rising as high as $151 million.
In addition to the observational field study, the report includes six months of office research about the groups that represent only teams set inside, funded from or established by government. U.S. examples include Boston’s Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, the Washington, D.C. based Investing in Innovation Fund, the New Orleans Innovation Delivery Team, the New York City Innovation Zone and the NYC Center for Economic Opportunity. Yet, beyond this U.S. cohort, the teams are diverse and spread across the globe. A sizable concentration sits in Europe, but a few peripheral teams are located in Asia, South and Central America.
James Anderson, Bloomberg’s government innovation program lead, and formerly communications director for Michael Bloomberg’s when he was New York mayor, led the the study’s investigation. He says apart from plotting points, the study opens the curtains on just how nascent structured innovation is.
“One clear finding is that most teams we profiled focused on the early stages of the innovation process, while many fewer have a hand in growing, scaling and spreading the approaches,” said Anderson.
Wrapping such approaches into their quick 10-lesson tutorial on civic innovation, Anderson and Nesta underscore a few rules of the road. (Download the complete study here.)
1. Eye the Goal
Aligned with the notion to “begin with the end in mind,” the first tip is to craft an innovation group based on a — For more information read the original article here.
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