Empowering the Innovators

This post is part of our Age of Urban Tech discussion series, following the fifth edition of the New Cities Summit in Montréal in June 2016.

Will Urban Tech democratize the tools citizens can use to develop cutting-edge ideas and technologies? Empowering the Innovators provided a forum to discuss how technology can be used to encourage and promote innovation among urban populations.

The Mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall, insisted that local authorities partner with those who are innovating in both the developed and developing worlds. Ultimately, he said, people everywhere want many of the same things: clean air, good health, and education. Mayor Sall added, “access to technology is the best way to be equitable and fair,” as access to information, knowledge and education could significantly level the economic playing field.

Creating and sustaining “entrepreneurial ecosystems” stood out for Vincent Ponzo. Beyond inviting big tech firms to the table, Ponzo stressed the importance of building from the bottom up, embracing local context and using institutional knowledge. Cities that try to directly copy other ecosystems, such as those in Silicon Valley or New York, risk failure if they do not consider the local context, he warned. For Ponzo, another key to empowering innovators was to reform educational curricula to allow them to respond rapidly to ever-changing technologies. “Things change so quickly now, that it is now a model of lifelong learning,” he said. Using New York as an example, Ponzo lamented that approving changes to curriculum across modern societies is a painfully slow process.

The Mayor of Ithaca, Svante Myrick, also criticized institutional barriers preventing innovation-friendly reforms. Many mayors and public officers pursue short-term projects that promise a return within an electoral cycle, rather than focusing on long-term innovation-friendly investments. Conversely, Mayor Myrick explained that Ithaca does nurture entrepreneurial ecosystems, providing generous tax incentives for those from local educational institutions (such as Cornell University) who bring their innovations to the community.

Stephanie Huf shared examples of cities that are getting innovation empowerment right, such as Stockholm. The Swedish capital topped 41 other cities in the Ericsson city index, largely due to its ICT advancement and proximity to great educational institutions. Huf also pointed to Gothenburg, Sweden as an excellent example as the city has created initiatives for self-driving cars and electric buses. The collaborative discussion highlighted that while cities may face much inequality and a lack of innovation, cities also hold the solution to both problems.

Speakers

Stephanie Huf, Head of Marketing and Communications – Industry and Society, Ericsson
Svante Myrick, Mayor of Ithaca, New York
Vincent Ponzo, Director, Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center, Columbia Business School
Khalifa Sall, Mayor of Dakar

Moderator: Jonathan Kay, Editor-in-Chief, The Walrus