1. N U M
New
Urban
Mechanics
An Experiment in Government

2. What is New Urban Mechanics?
1 A Philosophy: Transformative services for the public
2 A Model: An R&D Incubator for Urban Innovation
3 A Partnership: Mayor’s Office and DOIT

3. Our Approach
N Networks not silos
U Users not consumers
M Models not services

4. N Networks not silos
• Cultivate and leverage partnerships
• Be Brave! Other cities aren’t our enemies
• Find your network of innovators!

5. U Users not consumers
• Peer-production
• Be Human-Centered
• User feedback is our most important
metric

6. M Models not services
• Design for sustainability
• Government services need overhauling!
• Disrupt your own models!

7. But what do we actually do?
1 Act as Marriage Brokers
2 Run a municipal R&D Incubator
3 Build Social Network of Innovators

8. Municipal Innovation Incubator

9. Key Pattern of Innovation
• When we look at what works for us as an
organization, we see the Social Network
Incubator pattern to be very successful
• In this model, ideas, both internal and
external are developed and incubated by a
social network of 20 or so innovators in City
government

10. Incubator Network
• By building on this model we can reduce the
usual risk with innovation that are
associated with trying unknown techniques
• So, we start by creating a real Incubator
Network composed of:
– Incubators
– Board Members

11. Incubator and Board
• The Incubators are responsible for both
idea generation, development and
solicitation as well as being an open door
into the City for the Public
• The Board is responsible for giving a go/
no-go signal for the various projects that
come in, and, where appropriate,
channeling resources to accepted projects
• Note: Resources here does not mean only
dollars, in-kind resources, access to data
and people are all significant resources the
City has access to

12. Staffing
• The initial network of Incubators will be a
cross-departmental group of 15 – 20 City
employees with a proven track record for
developing projects from inception to finish
• The initial Board will consist of:
– The Chief of Staff
– The Chief Information Officer
• These specific boars member positions have
been selected for their ability to both
support innovative projects and to route the
necessary resources to them

13. Supporting Platform
• In order to facilitate these processes, a
platform is needed that can act both as a
place to deliberate on ideas as well as a
clearinghouse of ideas/projects,etc
• The VenCorps platform from SpencerTrask
was developed as an enhancement to the
basic process used by Venture Capitalists to
select projects in which to invest and as
such fits the Incubator Network model very

14. Funding
• The City has been in communication with
the VenCorps team and as a result it will be
free for the City to use
• With a organization and supporting platform
in place, the missing element is funding
• By providing a capital pool of $XXX,XXX the
City will provide grants to local innovators