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Innovators Insights



  • Education and Technology
  • Technology
  • Highways
  • Renewable Energy
  • Cultural Preservation
  • Service Delivery
  • Public Safety

  • Measures Drive Performance in St. Petersburg
  • Better Disaster Preparedness and Recovery
 
June 10, 2011
What's New
Management Insights for Public Managers
A Governing.com Series

Babak Armajani explores the idea of "skunk works," in which teams of creative thinkers can bring about rapid innovation.

New on our site
Better, Faster, Cheaper
Smart Ideas for Government

The best way for government managers to engage the public via technology is to use the tools themselves. Officials must be seen as both engaged and engaging. That’s a wiki good idea.

Education and Technology

Far from being a distraction, an increasing number of educators are finding that Twitter and other micro-blogging platforms limited to the classroom setting are enhancing student participation. These social media technologies are helping inhibited students express their thoughts through other means, and are providing all students with a “back channel” to comment and pose questions. Critics observe that the introduction of this technology can lead to greater classroom distractions, and perhaps lead to inappropriate remarks or bullying behavior.

Technology

The State Library of Louisiana, in partnership with the state’s public libraries, has created a laptop check-out program to provide more residents with access to technology. The State Library will provide 640 laptops to the public libraries for users to borrow. The Internet-ready laptops will also have GPS software that will allow the state to locate them if they are lost or stolen. The program follows a successful pilot in selected Louisiana parishes.

Highways

Instead of rebuilding, many cities are dismantling aging freeways in urban areas. Long associated with the concept of progress, freeways are also expensive to repair and maintain, and cities as different as Seattle, Akron, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and New Haven are either tearing them down or debating their future. While some urban planners find much to applaud, noting that the removal of a highway can free land for new business or parks, others note that commute times will rise, and that results thus far have been mixed.

Renewable Energy
To encourage drivers to adopt gas-free transportation alternatives, the city of Boston has unveiled electric vehicle parking spots that are equipped with free charging stations to regenerate them—the driver only pays the normal $1.25 an hour to park. The city of Boston expects to expand the number of these special parking spots throughout the year.
Cultural Preservation

The Library of Congress and Sony have launched the National Jukebox, a new website which allows users to listen to stream over 10,000 recordings of music, speeches, poetry, and comedy from before 1925. Estimated to be the largest collection of historical recordings ever made available online, the Jukebox also allows users to create playlists and share music on social media sites. The Library plans to add tens of thousands of additional recordings in the future. With the introduction of the National Jukebox, the Library of Congress continues to find ways to make its collections more accessible to the public.

Service Delivery
Arkansas is touting its newly redesigned state website, which allows its citizens to access and share information on government services more efficiently.  The site's Text4help feature lets users text a question to the mobile version of the state website, and receive a text back with the answer. Also, the state has created an e-government services geolocation widget, enabling community websites to embed code regarding government online services within their own website.
Public Safety

New York City’s Transportation Department has added a visual cue for speeders on its radar-equipped digital billboards—an LED skeleton walks across the screen as speeders pass by.  The skeleton is a less “substantial” version of the traditional stick figure that signals to pedestrians that they may cross the street, and is helping the city ensure that its citizens are instantly reminded of the perils of driving too fast.

Measures Drive Performance in St. Petersburg

Rick Baker, former mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, discusses transparent performance measurement and key strategies to form the foundation of the seamless city. Baker argues that incremental improvements can naturally stitch together and uplift an entire city.

Better Disaster Preparedness and Recovery

It's never a good time to plan for a disaster. But without question the worst time to prepare is after disaster strikes.


Newsletter produced by: Jessica Engelman, editor; Brendan St. Amant, researcher and writer.

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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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