Earlier this summer, I joined The NewDEAL (Developing Exceptional American Leaders) for a two-day Ideas Summit at Thumbtack’s office in San Francisco. It was an exciting gathering with 100+ civic and industry leaders from across sectors to brainstorm on government and civic innovation.
The summit focused on exchanging ideas around The Future of Work, Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and What’s Working at the State and Local Levels. I was lucky to host a session on Smart Communities alongside Charles Belle of Startup Policy Lab. Together, Charles and I worked less as moderators, focusing instead to analyze and discuss how technology can help improve our communities with our group.
In our Smart Communities session, we focused on how governments are using civic tech and data to empower citizens through digital services. I was honored that our session included the insight of such civic leaders including Mayor Lempert of Princeton, New Jersey; City Council President Gaylor Baird, Lincoln Nebraska; Councilwoman McClellan, Norfolk, Virginia; and others.
Throughout the summit, we focused on the municipal angle of how technology and automation are increasingly affecting our cities and our workers. As developing leaders, technology and its intersect with government is a thrilling (albeit difficult) path to explore. Together, we can lever civic innovation to make government work for everybody.
