Riverside

United States

Mayor

Rusty Bailey

Population

327,728 (2017)

Lead Innovation Officer

Prasad Mahale

Innovation is helping to:
  • Save costs and improve efficiency within the public sector

  • Simplify administrative procedures for firms and residents

  • Improve service delivery

  • Improve internal government operations

Critical success factors:
  • Dedicated funding

  • Leadership from Mayor

  • Culture of innovation in city

Spotlight on innovation in Riverside

The City of Riverside’s Innovation and Technology Department created a new Innovation division and city’s first Innovation Lab, in collaboration with the Office of Organizational Performance and Audit, to build internal and external capacity to drive innovation and change. The city plans to expand outreach to the local entrepreneurs, start-ups, academia, etc.

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, Riverside does not have an explicit innovation strategy. Similar to 20% of cities surveyed, Riverside approaches innovation capacity from a holistic/macro level.

Policy areas that Riverside is focused on

Economic Development
Policy areas by number of cities

Riverside utilizes 6 different innovation skills or roles

Project manager
Data scientist
Designer
Engineer
Communication officer
Community engagement staff
Innovation roles by number of cities

Riverside has an innovation-related task group with delegates from different departments.

Terms Riverside most associates with innovation

Experimentation
Human-centered design

Riverside's most common innovation activities

Promoting data-driven analytics / public data management
e.g. data storage/analytics; open data; big data
Facilitating organizational change within the municipality
e.g. silo-busting; new internal performance management; staff training and capacity building on innovation tools or techniques; reforms to contracting or procurement
  1. 1

    Taking risks or testing new ideas

  2. 2

    Data-driven analytics/public data management

  3. 3

    Engaging residents in new ways

  4. 4

    Developing new solutions based on digital technologies

  5. 5

    Organizational change within the municipality

  6. 6

    Human-centered design

  7. 7

    Rethinking your city’s approach to financing partnerships

How is innovation funded here?

Like 19% of cities surveyed, Riverside does not have dedicated funding to support innovation capacity.

Top sources of funding

Riverside has no reported sources of funding.

Activities being funded

Riverside does not fund any specific activities.

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

How is innovation measured?

Riverside has developed partnerships to promote its innovation capacity with other public agencies 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.

Data availability by policy area

9
5
1

Sufficient data

Transport/Mobility

Economic Development

Housing and built environment

Policing and law enforcement

Water

Waste and sewage

Labour market and skills

Education

Digital governance

Insufficient data

Health

Environment and climate change

Culture

Social inclusion and equity

Tourism

No Response

Public works