United States
Wade Troxell
165,080 (2017)
Sean Carpenter
Improve internal government operations
Anticipate and manage future challenges
Improve service delivery
Focus on measurement
Leadership from Mayor
Leadership from City Manager
Culture of innovation in city
Support from outside city administration
Fort Collins is a founding member of the Colorado Smart City Alliance, a consortium of 14 Colorado Cities, partnered with Universities and Arrow Electronics, among others. Fort Collins has an open data initiative that the cities are building out as well as a “City as a Platform” task force, designed to promote co-creation and innovation.
Note: The City Innovation Snapshot (PDF version) was produced in 2019 and some aggregate findings have been updated with the latest survey results below.
Along with 50% of cities surveyed, Fort Collins does not have an explicit innovation strategy. Similar to more than half of cities surveyed, Fort Collins approaches innovation capacity both from a holistic/macro level, as well as in specific policy areas.
Fort Collins does not have a dedicated team for innovation. However, the city has a process improvement team housed in the finance department, as well as two staff in the City Manager’s Office dedicated to efficiency and operational excellence. In addition, there are staff in the Economic Health Office that are researching and advocating for dedicated innovation teams and processes.
Taking risks or testing new ideas
Data-driven analytics/public data management
Engaging residents in new ways
Developing new solutions based on digital technologies
Organizational change within the municipality
Human-centered design
Rethinking your city’s approach to financing partnerships
Its innovation activities also include taking risks and testing new ideas; and promoting data-driven analytics.
Like 81% of cities surveyed, Fort Collins has dedicated funding to support innovation capacity.
Fort Collins also invests in digital systems and physical infrastructure.
Fort Collins has developed partnerships to promote its innovation capacity with other public agencies, private firms, and not-for-profit organizations.
To improve data use, the city has also developed data partnerships with academia, think tanks, and private philanthropy to collect and analyze data, as well as with other cities.