The City of Long Beach was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Knight Foundation and the Long Beach Community Foundation to support a partnership with New York-based firm Citymart, according to officials.
Citymart connects cities with new ideas through “open challenges” that help the cities focus on the problems that need to be solved instead of the products it needs to buy, and by issuing challenges in lieu of requests for proposals and specifications, cities receive potential solutions.
Mayor Robert Garcia learned about Citymart during a Citylab conference in New York that was sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies, and seeing its potential impact, he worked with the City Manager’s Office to bring Citymart to Long Beach.
“I’m proud that Long Beach is one of the first cities to implement this new approach to procurement,” Garcia said. “This not only has the potential to save the city money, it’s a great way to support innovation in both the private and public sectors.”
Over the next 18 months, the City of Long Beach will launch five challenges, and Citymart staff will play a consulting role, helping City staff and community stakeholders define the challenges and envision outcomes, according to officials.
Citymart will conduct research and identify market leaders, among other responsibilities, to evaluate necessary responsibilities and to meet certain criteria.
“Many smaller companies and entrepreneurs find it difficult to participate in opportunities with cities using the traditional process” said Sascha Haselmayer, founder and CEO of Citymart.
“They rarely think of cities as potential customers. Through the challenges and our extensive networks, we are able to engage them, producing a broader and deeper pool of respondents.”
Citymart has helped provide solutions to more than 50 world-class cities, including London, San Francisco and Barcelona, according to the City of Long Beach.
The City has identified the first challenge— being the most business-friendly city, and in the coming weeks, the project team will reach out to local stakeholders to gain insight.
“This type of civic innovation offers vendors the chance to solve problems and inspire entrepreneurs to create and compete,” said Marcelle Epley, president and CEO of the Long Beach Community Foundation (LBCF). “This grant was made possible through the Knight Foundation’s charitable giving fund held at LBCF and is a testament to their vision of how cities can work better.”
The project also received support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, whose $3-million grant provides funding for the City’s Innovation Team, whose staff is facilitating project management.
Community outreach will begin soon, and businesses interested in participating will anticipate official publication of challenges in the next eight weeks, according to officials.
