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Seattle comforts the homeless at life's end; Syracuse firefighters use predictive analytics to save lives; and semifinalists announced for Innovations in American Government Awards
Government Innovators Network 

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January 26, 2017
In This Issue

Feature: Innovations in American Government Awards

What's New

In the News

Data-Smart City Solutions

Better, Faster, Cheaper

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Bright Ideas and Semifinalists Announced for Innovations in American Government Awards

The Ash Center recently recognized more than 60 innovative government programs for this year's Bright Ideas initiative and named 100 programs as Semifinalists in the 2017 Innovations in American Government Awards competition.

Learn more about these programs>>

WHAT'S NEW


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Alternative Financing for US Water Infrastructure Projects

New report from Stephen Goldsmith

A new report from the Ash Center explores important strategies and potential policy solutions to enable private financing and delivery that transfers risk away from taxpayers, accelerates project schedules, and enables life-cycle efficiency in critical US water resource projects. Read the report>>

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Improving Social Outcomes Through Data-Driven Government

New report from Ash Fellow Jane Wiseman

This new report examines lessons learned from chief data officers in America’s biggest cities alongside observations the author made during numerous field visits across the country while researching how best to foster a data culture in government. Read the report>>

IN THE NEWS


Amsterdam Has Created a Free Airbnb for City-owned Buildings

In Amsterdam, city officials are working on an upcoming project that has been described as an Airbnb for municipal buildings. The pilot would allow residents to sign up and use city-owned, underused meeting rooms for various functions. To ensure that there would be no competition with companies that provide office space, usage would be limited to groups working for a social purpose. Depending upon the success of the project, the city may also offer idle cars and tools for citizens to borrow.

One Solution to Failing K-12 Schools? Let Universities Help

Increasingly, universities are partnering with struggling schools, leading to benefits for both. For some schools, these partnerships can give them more freedom in determining how their schools are run, including teacher hiring and choice of curriculum. Universities can use the schools as proving grounds for student teachers, as well as areas where academics can conduct research. Despite these benefits, challenges still abound as these new types of collaborations with school districts and the communities they serve are worked out.

Coming Soon to NYC: Street Furniture that Helps Fight Pollution and Save Lives

New York City’s Fire Department has found a way to cut down on pollution without curtailing its ability to act in the event of an emergency. The department is installing compact pedestals on city sidewalks that will keep ambulances connected to power (for on-board communications and refrigeration systems) without the need to keep engines running, decreasing air and noise pollution. The pedestals also include mechanisms to help ambulance drivers locate working kiosks, self-diagnose problems, and track pollution mitigation.

Bringing Behavioral Insights to Municipal Operations

Policymakers continue to refine behavioral science approaches to help solve municipal problems through testing to tweak and improve government programs. San José, California, recently used behavioral science to combat illegal dumping. With the help of the Behavioural Insights Team (originally a UK government organization) through Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative and community partners, the city assessed the problem, identified solutions, and maximized outreach to collect over 320 tons of dumped materials. Other cities have also taken a similar approach. For example, officials in Denver used three trials to improve its online tax portal and saw an increase in online business filings of 67 percent.

Syracuse Firefighters to Get Smoke Detectors into High-risk Homes

The Fire Department of Syracuse, New York, with assistance from a predictive computer algorithm, will determine which houses in the city are most likely to be without working smoke detectors and work to get them installed. Working smoke detectors are often the difference between life and death, and officials want to make sure they can use statistical data about the homes and its occupants to pinpoint those homes that are more likely to catch fire and less likely to have a smoke detector. The city is still determining the best way to notify homes in at-risk areas.

Mobile Team Offers Comfort Care to Homeless at Life’s End

For the past several years, the Seattle/King County Health Care for Homeless Network and the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center has been running what is considered the first national program that sends mobile teams to provide palliative care to homeless people facing terminal illness. Funded by a federal grant through 2017, the program aims to reduce unnecessary or unwanted end-of-life care and to give homeless people a say in the process. Since its inception in 2014, it has sought out over 100 seriously ill men and women in the Seattle area, tracking them down at shelters, drop-in clinics, tents under bridges, and parked cars. The team travels by bus and looks to connect them with medical care, help them evaluate complicated treatment options, and accompany them as they pass away. Patients enrolled in the program have also reduced hospital stays and emergency room visits.

DATA-SMART CITY SOLUTIONS


Artificial Intelligence Will Help Create a More Responsive Government

Stephen Goldsmith discusses the use of chatbots to ensure that 311 call centers more efficiently sort and respond to calls. He proposes modeling 311 centers after the North Carolina Innovation Center, which uses chatbots for its internal help desk hotline to respond to simple requests and free up operators for more challenging concerns.

BETTER, FASTER, CHEAPER


The Nexus Between Data and Public Health

Stephen Goldsmith profiles a new class of data tools that use advanced statistical analyses and new data sources to improve public health. Projects include Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Health Index — which allows counties to compare themselves to similar counterparts and pinpoint public health threats — and the Center for Disease Control’s 500 Cities project, which uses city- and census-tract-level data to generate granular population health data.

ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER


Innovators Insights is the news digest from the Government Innovators Network on the latest in government innovations. This digest is sent out every two weeks and is compiled and written by the editorial staff of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School. In each issue, the editorial team identifies top policy and programmatic news that is related to government innovations so that you can stay informed about creative government at its best.

Editor: Jessica Engelman
Researcher & Writer: Brendan St. Amant
Note: The stories in this newsletter link to source articles on other websites and may not be available after a certain length of time.



ABOUT THE ASH CENTER


The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and government innovations awards, the Center fosters creative and effective problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world's citizens. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Center. Additional information about the Ash Center is available at http://ash.harvard.edu.

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