Innovation is helping to:
Improve internal government operations
Save costs and improve efficiency within the public sector
Improve service delivery
Critical success factors:
Dedicated innovation team
Leadership from Mayor
Atlanta
United States
Mayor
Keisha Lance Bottoms
Population
486,290 (2004)
Innovation Website
Lead Innovation Officer
Matthew Bartleet
Spotlight on innovation in Atlanta
Note: The City Innovation Snapshot (PDF version) was produced in 2019 and some aggregate findings have been updated with the latest survey results below.
Vision and approach to innovation capacity
Along with 50% of cities surveyed, Atlanta does not have an explicit innovation strategy. Similar to 20% of cities surveyed, Atlanta approaches innovation capacity from a holistic/macro level.
Policy areas that Atlanta is focused on
Atlanta does not prioritise policy sectors for its innovation work.
Policy areas by number of cities
Atlanta utilizes 6 different innovation skills or roles
Innovation roles by number of cities
Situated in the Mayor’s office, Atlanta’s dedicated team for innovation is led by the Director of Innovation & Performance.
Terms Atlanta most associates with innovation
Atlanta's most common innovation activities
- 1
Taking risks or testing new ideas
- 2
Data-driven analytics/public data management
- 3
Engaging residents in new ways
- 4
Developing new solutions based on digital technologies
- 5
Organizational change within the municipality
- 6
Human-centered design
- 7
Rethinking your city’s approach to financing partnerships
How is innovation funded here?
Like 81% of cities surveyed, Atlanta has dedicated funding to support innovation capacity.
Top sources of funding
Activities being funded
47 cities
Launching or sustaining a project
79 cities
Idea generation & brainstorming
51 cities
Investing in digital systems
36 cities
Investing in physical infrastructure
30 cities
Paying for services
Atlanta also invests in digital systems.
How is innovation measured?
Atlanta’s innovation work is internal to the city administration.
To improve data use, the city has also developed data partnerships with academia, think tanks, and philanthropy to collect and analyze data, as well as with other cities.