United States
Robert M. "Bobby" Dyer
450,435 (2017)
Neva White
Improve internal government operations
Anticipate and manage future challenges
Improve service delivery
Focus on measurement
Dedicated innovation team
Culture of innovation in city
Support from outside city administration
Virginia Beach’s Innovation Office is in a stage of redesigning their Innovation Efforts focusing on two approaches – Human-centered design and Process improvement. The Innovation Academy aims to provide participants with a chance to experience the two ways of approaching ideas, problems, and solutions. The first Innovation Academy took place in partnership with the Alliance for Innovation and developed a pilot project for bringing ideas for innovation from throughout the municipality.
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, Virginia Beach does not have an explicit innovation strategy. Similar to 20% of cities surveyed, Virginia Beach approaches innovation capacity from a holistic/macro level.
Virginia Beach does not prioritise policy sectors for its innovation work.
As an independent team within the Strategy, Innovation, Transparency, and Resiliency Department, Virginia Beach’s innovation work is led by the Chief Strategy Officer and 5 staff members.
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
Its innovation activities also include taking risks and testing new ideas; facilitating human-centered design; and rethinking the city’s approach to financing and partnerships.
Like 81% of cities surveyed, Virginia Beach has dedicated funding to support innovation capacity.
Virginia Beach also provides formal innovation training for staff.
Virginia 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 philanthropy to collect and analyze data.