How Cities Scale Data Innovation Through Cultural Change

Data innovation isn't about buying better tools. As Dallas and Cleveland show, it's about how leaders listen, support risk-taking, and work alongside agencies. The result? A culture where innovation thrives, and scales.

Host Stephen Goldsmith speaks with Brita Andercheck, Chief Data Officer in Dallas, and Liz Crowe, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer in Cleveland, about how they drive transformative change across city governments. From reporting structures to how you listen to agencies to going out into the field yourself, they share the unglamorous work that actually drives transformation.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to strike the balance between centralization and decentralization
• Why a problem-first approach beats technology-first
• Why data teams should measure their ROI
• The importance of collaboration and relationships
• How to create psychological safety so teams "fail smart"

Guest:

• Dr. Brita Andercheck – Chief Data Officer and Director of the Office of Data Analytics and Business Intelligence, city of Dallas
• Dr. Liz Crowe – Chief Innovation and Technology Officer, city of Cleveland

Listener Survey: bit.ly/datasmartpod

Music credit: Summer-Man by Ketsa

About Data-Smart City Solutions

Data-Smart City Solutions, housed at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, is working to catalyze the adoption of data projects on the local government level by serving as a central resource for cities interested in this emerging field. We highlight best practices, top innovators, and promising case studies while also connecting leading industry, academic, and government officials. Our research focus is the intersection of government and data, ranging from open data and predictive analytics to civic engagement technology. We seek to promote the combination of integrated, cross-agency data with community data to better discover and preemptively address civic problems. To learn more visit us online and follow us on LinkedIn.