Innovation is helping to:
Improve internal government operations
Improve service delivery
Simplify administrative procedures for firms and residents
Critical success factors:
Dedicated funding
Focus on measurement
Dedicated innovation team
Syracuse
United States
Mayor
Ben Walsh
Population
143,378 (2016)
Lead Innovation Officer
Adria Finch
Spotlight on innovation in Syracuse
Syracuse has various innovation practices including:
- Defined priority area – Identifying one priority area and follow a four-step innovation delivery approach to develop a portfolio of initiatives that address the identified challenge.
- Performance Office – Leading city departments to innovate around four of the Mayor’s main objectives in order to produce measurable results that will be reviewed each month.
- Special projects – Tackling a priority innovation projects as they arise.
- Leveraging employees – Teaching and guiding staff to innovate on their own through trainings, competitions, and fun activities
- Leveraging external resources – Making external partnerships (e.g. cooperation with the University of Chicago to operate the Data Science for Social Good program)
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, Syracuse has an explicit innovation strategy. Similar to more than half of cities surveyed, Syracuse approaches innovation capacity both from a holistic/macro level, as well as in specific policy areas.
Policy areas that Syracuse is focused on
Policy areas by number of cities
Syracuse utilizes 6 different innovation skills or roles
Innovation roles by number of cities
Situated as an independent department, Syracuse’s dedicated team for innovation consists of 8 staff.
Terms Syracuse most associates with innovation
Syracuse'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, Syracuse 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
The city also support other activities including investment in digital systems and physical infrastructure.
How is innovation measured?
Syracuse has developed partnerships to promote its innovation capacity with other public agencies, private firms, NGOs, philanthropy, think tanks, and city residents/resident associations.
To improve data use, the city has also developed data partnerships with the private sector, academia, think tanks, and philanthropy to collect and analyze data, as well as with other cities.