Philadelphia Sets Goals, Looks Ahead with Smart City Plan
Posted: Oct. 21 2019 By: Patrick Groves
Last week, the city released a strategic plan detailing accomplishments, future goals and the advancement of smart city approaches for residents and vendors to understand the priorities of the Office of Innovation and Technology
Philadelphia leadership unveiled a report last week highlighting IT accomplishments and plotting the city’s course for future innovation.
The 42-page strategic plan lays out six broad themes, which are broken out into goals that the city has either already accomplished or will soon undertake. The themes include the support and development of the local technology ecosystem; striving for digital access and equity; the improvement of government efficiency and effectiveness; the enhancement of online public service delivery; the promotion of community-driven technology; and the strengthening and advancement of internal operations and infrastructure.
Philadelphia CIO Mark Wheeler said the report was developed with the help of six focus groups, from academia, technology companies, nonprofits, civic tech leaders and two city government contingents.
“It has both an internal facing focus, that’s the final theme of the strategy, and much of it is about work that is going to be done across city government, not just what the Office of Innovation and Technology [OIT] would be doing,” Wheeler said during a press conference announcing the report. “It covers a whole spectrum of technology, the evolution of technology in government and how we’re trying to support both our infrastructure and meaningful interactions around technology.”