Data incubator invites cities to think like start-ups

A new programme at New York University’s GovLab will apply the start-up incubator model for helping entrepreneurs to grow companies to ‘intrapreneurs’ working on data projects in cities.

From September 2021 to March 2022, the City Incubator within the Open Data Policy Lab will guide ten selected individuals working in city governments around the world through a six-month programme to launch new data innovations.

The start-up framework will include agile methodologies traditionally used in the private sector, such as failing fast, piloting and using human-centred design practices.

Adrienne Schmoeker, Senior Fellow at The GovLab and former Deputy Chief Analytics Officer for the City of New York, told Cities Today: “COVID-19 was a catalyst for the adoption of many innovations, especially in the data space. A lot of projects that city governments had been wanting to get off the ground, they were suddenly able to.” The Incubator aims to help maintain this momentum.

The team is looking for a diverse range of data ideas, from cross-sector partnerships to public engagement and data literacy. Cities can use the Data Innovation Canvas to express their ideas for projects. Participants could be from a city’s central data or innovation team, but they could also be from departments looking to use data more effectively, such as mobility, housing or public works.

Partners supporting the programme, which is free for cities, include Microsoft, Mastercard City Possible, Luminate and Public Sector Network. Participants will have access to mentors such as Joy Bonaguro, Chief Data Officer for the State of California and Chris Whong, Outreach Engineer at Qri and former Director of NYC Planning Labs.

Data for recovery

During the pandemic, The GovLab and partners created the Data4Covid19 repository to track innovative use cases, from monitoring infection rates to the broader response effort.

Stefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer, The GovLab, said: “From my point of view, a lot more work needs to be done on the recovery stage – really trying to think about how we can use data to ‘build back better’ and what that really means.”

This includes priorities that have come to the fore over the last 18 months, such as equity and the impact of the pandemic on education, jobs and skills requirements.

There’s also a lot of scope for innovation in the re-use of data, data collection, and citizen engagement, as well as for data to be used as a tool to tackle misinformation, Verhulst said.

An important aspect of the programme will be peer-to-peer learning and highlighting the work that happens behind the scenes.

Schmoeker commented: “So much work goes on unsung, especially with data. You don’t often get a lot of celebration for the governance system or the legal agreement that took months to develop. Just bringing more attention to the entire data ecosystem that it takes is incredibly important for the progress of data innovation in the public sector at large.”

Applications for the City Incubator initiative can be submitted until August 31.

Photo by Nuttapong Punna | Dreamstime.com