Economy
Giving Cities Room to Experiment and Innovate
The latest round of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Innovation Teams program encourages cities to find solutions based on data analysis and a human-centered approach.
When cities are faced with a slew of problems, it’s tempting to skip the research process and jump right to the solutions. And you can’t always blame them. Faced with a lack of funding and human capital—not to mention groups of increasingly frustrated residents—there isn’t necessarily room for trial and error.
Bloomberg Philanthropies is giving seven local governments a bit of breathing room through its Innovation Teams program (i-teams for short). The initiative, which already includes 13 other municipalities across the globe, provides grants to help cities form a team of problem solvers to tackle issues through data analysis and collaborations with residents.