United States
Steven Fulop
265,549 (2018)
Melissa Kozakiewicz
Improve resident outcomes
Improve internal government operations
Improve built environments
Dedicated funding
Focus on measurement
Dedicated innovation team
Support from outside city administration
Leadership from Mayor
Jersey City has partnered with the World Economic Forum and AeroFarms to launch an urban vertical farming program with the aim of improving residents’ access to healthy food post-Covid-19. Because those with pre-existing health conditions are most susceptible, the city sees better food access as part of a broader effort to mitigate residents’ exposure to infection. The project is also designed to help Jersey City reach its health-related goals despite potential budget spending shifts in response to Covid-19. Residents will receive access to sustainably grown food free of charge, in exchange for participating in healthy eating workshops and quarterly health evaluations.
Along with 50% of cities surveyed, Jersey City does not have an explicit innovation strategy. Similar to more than half of cities surveyed, Jersey City approaches innovation capacity both from a holistic/macro level, as well as in specific policy areas.
Environment: Jersey City creates an office of Sustainability, implements plastic bag ban, completes greenhouse gas inventory, begins the process of electrifying the City's fleet, and creates a citywide composting program.
Economic Development: The city creates an office of Small Business Services, streamlines permitting process, and creates opportunities for small business incubation (i.e. Pop Up Container Village)
As an independent department, Jersey City’s dedicated innovation team consists of 10 staff.
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
Like 81% of cities surveyed, Jersey City has dedicated funding to support innovation capacity.
Jersey City’s funding for innovation capacity is generally directed towards investing in built environment projects. Similar to 61% of participating cities in the 2020 survey, Jersey City's funding for innovation capacity is also directed towards training staff and building capacity*.
*"Training staff and building capacity" is not an option in the 2018 survey, while "Launching or sustaining a project" is not an option in the 2020 survey.
Jersey City has developed partnerships to promote innovation capacity with other public agencies, private industry, not-for-profit organizations, and city residents/resident associations.
To improve data use, the city has also developed data partnerships with the private sector, academia and think tanks to collect and analyze data.