Innovation is helping to:
Improve service delivery
Generate new sources of revenue
Improve resident outcomes
Critical success factors:
Dedicated funding
Dedicated innovation team
Culture of innovation in city
Support from outside city administration
Long Beach
United States
Mayor
Robert Garcia
Population
480,000 (2018)
Lead Innovation Officers
Tracy Colunga, Lauren Vargas
Spotlight on innovation in Long Beach
Long Beach launched a first-of-its kind Justice Lab to provide new tools to first responders to divert residents in need out of the criminal justice system and toward much-needed resources like treatment and care. The Justice Lab was developed through a partnership between the City’s Innovation Team, and the Long Beach Public Safety Continuum. The Continuum consists of Police, Fire, Health, and Development Services Departments; the City Prosecutor’s Office; neighborhood associations; non-profits; and residents who work collaboratively to make Long Beach a better and safer place. The Lab has several initiatives designed to help break the cycle of incarceration.
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, Long Beach has an explicit innovation strategy. Similar to more than half of cities surveyed, Long Beach approaches innovation capacity both from a holistic/macro level, as well as in specific policy areas.
Policy areas that Long Beach is focused on
Policy areas by number of cities
Long Beach utilizes 7 different innovation skills or roles
Innovation roles by number of cities
Situated in the City Manager’s office, along with designated staff in the Mayor’s office, Long Beach’s dedicated team for innovation consists of 10 staff.
Terms Long Beach most associates with innovation
Long Beach'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, Long Beach 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
Long Beach also invests in digital systems and physical infrastructure as well as paying for services to a third party.
How is innovation measured?
Long Beach has developed partnerships to promote its innovation capacity with other public agencies, 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, think tanks, and private philanthropy to collect and analyze data, as well as with other cities.