Brazil
Bruno Covas
12,110,000 (2018)
Daniel Annenberg
Improve internal government operations
Simplify administrative procedures for firms and residents
Engage residents and other stakeholders
Focus on measurement
Dedicated innovation team
Human resource support
Leadership from Mayor
São Paulo Municipality created three public innovation labs. The MobiLab promotes the creation of innovative solutions to urban mobility issues by the city’s start-up ecosystem. The Pátio Digital is an open government initiative focused on increasing transparency and citizen engagement, and improving educational services. The (011).lab promotes new ways of designing policies with collaborative and citizen-centric approaches. Acting as platforms to increase citizen engagement and encourage collaboration between the government, the private sector and civil society, they strive to tackle the city’s recurrent complex issues through co-creation approaches and innovative problem-solving methodologies. By promoting the innovation culture within the municipality, they contribute to improve urban governance and services’ quality.
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, São Paulo does not have an explicit innovation strategy. Similar to more than half of cities surveyed, São Paulo approaches innovation capacity both from a holistic/macro level, as well as in specific policy areas.
Situated in the Department of Innovation and Technology, São Paulo has two teams for innovation – Innovation Platform with 5 staff and Innovation Projects with 3 staff. In addition, there are other innovation initiatives in other departments of the municipality.
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, São Paulo has dedicated funding to support innovation capacity.
São Paulo has developed partnerships to promote its innovation capacity with other public agencies, private firms, not-for-profit organizations, and city residents/resident associations. The city engages with different partners depending on the focus of work.
To improve data use, the city has also developed data partnerships with academia and think tanks to collect and analyze data, as well as with other cities. For instance, the city has established partnership with IDB and 4 other cities to develop Big Data capability.