City of Syracuse to get $1.35M in funding for innovation team

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Bloomberg Philanthropies will award the City of Syracuse a grant of $1.35 million to create an innovation team, or “i-team,” which the city will house in the Mayor’s Office of Innovation.

The office of Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner describes the innovation office as a “first ever” venture for the city in a news release it distributed on Monday.

Bloomberg Philanthropies will provide Syracuse three annual payments of $450,000 each.

Syracuse is among 12 U.S. cities that Bloomberg Philanthropies selected to participate in the $45 million expansion of the Innovation Teams program, according to the release.

The program seeks to improve the capacity of local governments to design and implement new approaches that improve the lives of residents, “relying on data, open innovation, and strong project and performance management to help cities address pressing urban challenges,” the release stated.

The Mayor’s Office of Innovation will function as in-house management consultants addressing challenges that face the city and Miner’s top priorities.

The Office of Innovation staff will work with the mayor’s office staff and department heads using Bloomberg Philanthropies’ “tested” innovation-delivery approach, which uses data-driven processes to identify problems, generate solutions, and measure results, Miner’s office said.

Developing the Mayor’s Office of Innovation has been “a goal” since her election to office and Bloomberg Philanthropies is providing the resources to make it possible, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner noted.

“I am excited to explore the possibilities this will open for us. This is an historic opportunity to take that creativity and channel it into developing solutions that further improve our city,” said Miner.

Besides Syracuse, Bloomberg Philanthropies also awarded innovation-team grants to U.S. cities that include Rochester; Albuquerque, N.M.; Boston, Mass.; Centennial, Colo.; Jersey City, N.J.; Long Beach, Calif.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Mobile, Ala.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Peoria, Ill.; New York, and Seattle, Wash., according to Miner’s office.

Two non-U.S. cities will also receive innovation-team funding, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.

In 2013, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $452 million, according to the news release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com