John Cranley's Innovation Plan

By John Cranley

Mine is a comprehensive approach that combines support for the growing innovation ecosystem with the driving of transformative innovation at City Hall, and an invitation to the public + through a major commitment to transparency and Open Data - to join in making city government work better. Collectively, these policies will both help the City better serve its citizens and businesses, and give innovative entrepreneurs compelling reasons to build new businesses in our city.

First, I will build on the recent $4.5 Million investment the City has made in the Cintrifuse space in OTR by investing another $5 million over 4 years in a public-private partnership focused on accelerating the growth of the innovation ecosystem. These funds will be set aside for marketing and capital expenses, to be defined in partnership with The Brandery and Cintrifuse, necessary to maximize the impact of our early successes. These are the kinds of strategic public-private investments that have tipped the balance towards success elsewhere in the City and they can do the same here.

Second, I will create the first ever Chief Innovation Officer in City Hall. This is a model that has shown dramatic results in cities like Chicago and Philadelphia and it will do the same here. My CIO will be empowered to deliver on three mandates:

- Creating a "CincyData" Open Data initiative: gathering, aggregating and then publishing all of the City's data in a manner that is truly accessible is a mammoth + but critical + step towards a more efficient, effective and user-friendly City government. My CIO will be empowered to make this happen.

- Driving real innovation within city government: the trends and insights an Open Data initiative can reveal will present new ways to solve old problems. Executing on these and other innovations that will allow us to deliver city services better and more efficiently for citizens and businesses requires a commitment to seeing change all the way through. "This is the way we've always done it" won't cut it in my administration.

- Direct liaison to the entire innovation ecosystem: everyone working to build the innovation ecosystem will have a point of contact at City Hall, which will ensure the City is making informed choices every step along the way.

Third, I will leverage the information CincyData will make available to engage the growing creative class of innovators in making government work better and developing solutions that can become businesses themselves.

- My CIO will spearhead events like an annual "hackathon" that will invite anyone to use city data to develop solutions like, for example, an app that makes it easier to contact the Mayor and Members of City Council, or one that tracks the status of permit applications. I will also seek out national partnerships like the New Urban Mechanics and Code for America, which help cities deliver better government services by facilitating civic engagement in developing new solutions to old problems.

- My administration will actually deploy the best of these ideas, which not only makes the City work better for its citizens, but also creates the opportunity for that innovation to become a commercial venture by providing a "proof of concept" that can be shown to cities or other customers seeking the same service.

This platform, and my commitment to the partnerships that will bring it to life, sends a message to entrepreneurs in this region and around the country: come to Cincinnati to start your business, and stay here to build it.