By David W. Burns
April 16, 2012

San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee convened and Chaired the Conference of Mayors Technology and Innovation Task Force in an all-digital format, over a live video meeting for the first time, March 30.

“It’s appropriate we’re attempting to make use of technology and take advantage of it for this task force since it’s a good example of a technology our cities can make use of,” remarked Lee.

The task force, created at the 80th Winter Meeting in January by Conference of Mayors President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, focuses on three main issues:

• creating a vision for the future of cities as engines of innovation and technology;

• serving as a convener bringing necessary public and private sector participants together such as technology drivers, business leaders, and mayors, together to discuss the application of technology to improve cities; and

• the designing, launching, and participating in endeavors that demonstrate how technology and innovation can create economic and social value for cities.

“As you know, we have been dealing with e-governance for over 15 years, but it’s come to the point where we need to mainline this issue just as we have done with transportation and others,” said Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran, stressing the importance of the role technology and innovation play in cities.

Also joining the call was Chris Vein from the White House who serves as Deputy United States Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation. Vein previously served as the Chief Information Officer for the city and county of San Francisco, and took the opportunity on the call to share his thoughts on how cities can plan a strong role in being leaders in this area and work with the federal government in this process.

One such area for the White House is in regards to open data. Vein mentioned, “One example that I’d like to highlight is looking at data as an asset and how we can release that data and really entice not only entrepreneurs within government but outside government to take that data and create new products, services and economic value.”

This open data project, dubbed “cities.data.gov” is the foundation for which citizens and government can build apps for phones, tablets, and web sites that can solve challenges or enhance quality of life.

The task force hopes that technology and innovation in the sciences can help benefit cities in multiple sectors, including health care, agriculture, and energy. One example came from task force member Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe who said, “Here in Gainesville, we’ve increased photovoltaic [solar cell] energy 30 times. There are lots of opportunities here and with support, we can be a rising tide that lifts all boats.”

The task force’s goals, no matter where the innovation happens, come back to how cities can save money, time, and enhance quality of life.

“It’s about all of us being asked to make more with less,” said Lee. “Technology and innovation can be used to make our cities that much more vibrant and sustainable.”

The next meeting of the task force will take place in Orlando at the 80th Annual Meeting June 13-16.