In Philadelphia, City Hall Wants to ‘Innovate With Intent’

Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Rich Negin speaks at the Philly Innovates summit in February 2015. Philadelphia MDO / YouTube

By Michael Grass,
Executive Editor

Connecting state and local government leaders

| June 15, 2015

Watch the city’s deputy mayor discuss efforts to create a “culture of continuous improvement inside of government” and foster effective public engagement with partners outside government.

When Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter took office in 2007, there was no chief innovation officer at City Hall. Nor was there a chief customer service officer. There was no chief data officer. The city lacked a centralized 311 call center. It also didn’t have an innovation lab.

Flash forward to 2015, and all that has changed.

With the Nutter administration making its exit early next year, it’s been taking stock of its efforts to create the “first administration of the digital age” at City Hall, as described by Deputy Mayor Rich Negrin, who serves as the city’s managing director.

Back in February, the city hosted a Philly Innovates Summit to help celebrate the completion of the integration of the new Philly311 customer relations management system. In his remarks, which were recently uploaded to YouTube , Negrin told the gathering about the history of innovation in the City of Brotherly Love and the current state of the city’s innovation ecosystem:

“. . . [W]e also know that innovation doesn’t always need to be so revolutionary. It can also be about using practical solutions to solve everyday problems. Nor does innovation always have to be science and technology. It can also be nuts and bolts, simple solutions . . .

Today, we have new positions leading new efforts to improve city government and to attempt to provide first-class service to our citizens.

We do not innovation for innovation’s sake. . . . We innovate with intent. Our intent is to create a culture of continuous improvement inside of government and to empower and engage our citizens outside of government. And we know we can’t do it alone.

Watch Negrin’s full remarks:

Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive's Route Fifty.

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