Last week the city of Pittsburgh launched the “Pittsburgh Roadmap for Inclusive Innovation,” a strategic plan designed to support equitable access to technology, city resources, and information. Aimed to improve the quality of life for all residents, the Roadmap is described to encompass more than 100 projects and initiatives the City of Pittsburgh will undertake in the coming months and years.
“To be truly successful, Pittsburgh’s technology boom has to be accessible for all. This plan will enable us to be a model for cities around the country in providing equitable services and opportunities for residents and businesses in every neighborhood citywide,” said Mayor William Peduto during the launch.
In the planning stages since the Mayor took office in 2014 and created the Department of Innovation and Performance under the leadership of Debra Lam, work has been underway to develop the inclusive plan through community engagement, extensive research and analysis of the City as well as best practices from around the world.
Now that the project has been launched and underway, Lam says continuous community engagement and partnership building will take place to assure inclusiveness. She suggests that businesses of all sizes register and utilize the new Beacon website; www.buildpgh.com/beacon. The site is described as a new free service built in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh and Code for America that notifies businesses about City contract opportunities and provides information about how to apply for them.
“The innovative city we are building together will never reach its full potential unless it strengthens and supports innovation in all communities, and we will get there through efforts such as promoting digital literacy, opening up contract bidding to small businesses, and ensuring a healthy and sustainable environment for everyone. This Roadmap will intelligently move Pittsburgh into the future by recognizing and adapting to meet the immense opportunities for growth in the digital age,” Mayor Peduto said.
Delighted about the project and pleased that Urban Innovation 21 is able to be a part of the Roadmap for Inclusive Innovation, its executive director, William Generett, Jr. pointed out that this is away for businesses of all types and sizes to be included and to have access to what is needed to make them profitable and successful. “It is good to have the City adopt an inclusive innovation strategic plan aimed at supporting access to technology, city resources and information. It is significant that minority, women, veteran and disadvantaged businesses utilize all aspects of it. Entrepreneurs have to realize that they have to take advantage of and be involved with technology to be effective. They have to use all tools available to be a part of the new economy.”
Earlier in the summer Innovation21 along with the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Chatham University and Google were a part of the Connecting Urban Entrepreneurs. The initiative was a collective effort among several organizations in Pittsburgh to assist entrepreneurs take their online presence to the next level.
Other partners involved in the Roadmap with other cohorts expected to join forces are the Carnegie Library, LaunchPGH.com, 100 Resilient Cities, Code of America, Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College, Port Authority, Pittsburgh 2030 Districts, Metro21, OpenPGH, the University of Pittsburgh’s UCSR, Uptown Partners of Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center, StartUptown, Create Lab, Richard King Mellon Foundation, Oakland Planning and Development Corporation, Google, TechShop, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Steel City Codefest, CUE Pittsburgh and the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Chatham University.
With the theory that inclusive innovation provides equal access to products and services with new technologies, ideas, personnel and inventions to meet complex challenges and higher standards, participants in the launch event introduced three goals and six focus areas of the Roadmap.
The primary goals according to Robert Rubinstein, Acting Executive Director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh are; to bridge the digital divide and facilitate residents’ participation in the new economy; to improve the city’s capacity to serve the public in the digital age; and to increase Pittsburgh’s resilience in the digital age by strengthening the clean tech and local business sectors.
Sighting small businesses as the cornerstone and strength of neighborhoods, Rubinstein said the URA is uniquely qualified to implement and deliver key elements of the Roadmap through its support of job creation, business development and technology. He committed the URAs’ efforts to the Roadmap as providing entrepreneur’s access to capital, serving as a resource and the support of infrastructure.
The six focus areas of the Roadmap, each listing different initiatives to meet objectives, progress reports on their implementation, and best practices followed by other cities are; to address the digital divide; empowering city-to-citizen engagement; providing open data to Pittsburgh; Improving internal operations and capacity of the City; advancing the clean technology sector; and promote the local business environment.
“Today is an exciting day for the department of Innovation and Performance and the residents of Pittsburgh,” said Lam, Chief Innovation and Performance Officer. “I am very proud of this team and the work we’ve accomplished over the past year. This is a living document that will continue to evolve over time. Our goal is to continue to incorporate new programs and projects using the Roadmap as a foundation.”
Broken down in numerous components, the way to gain information on the Roadmap for Inclusive Innovation is through the city of Pittsburgh website; www.pittsburghpa.gov.