What is it?
Breaking the Silos on Local Innovation is a course provided by the City x City Academy (CxC) and it is instructed by the Connected Places Catapult (CPC). The course examines public procurement from the point of view of innovation: how do we commission it and how do we host it? It is divided into two self-served 1h30min long modules that focus on innovation procurement and innovation districts, parks and quarters. Each module offers extremely practical training to international city practitioners, commissioners and decision makers that can be applied independently within the local context with new concepts and ideas urban innovation experts.
The Two Modules:
- Innovation Procurement: Why introducing innovation in the public sector isn’t as hard as you probably think!
- Innovation Districts, Parks and Quarters: What it takes to establish a local hub of innovation!
Who’s behind it?
The course is provided by the City x City Academy and the Connected Places Catapult. The City x City Academy is a platform by Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC) that delivers theoretical and practical knowledge concerning the digital transformation of cities and communities. The courses provided by CxC are entirely accessible online and they provide a plenty of knowledge and tools for local administrations to experiment with and implement innovative digital solutions in the city. The courses focus on for example: open data & data governance, foundations for the digital transformation of cities and communities, citizen co-creation and experimentation, and much more.
The Connected Places Catapult is the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport and places. The accelerator focuses on connectivity in three dimensions: physical, social and digital. They provide impartial innovation as a service for public bodies, enterprises and infrastructure providers to achieve step-change improvements in many aspects of people’s life, such as work and travel. The accelerator brings together businesses and public sectors, so that together they can do cutting-edge research to spark innovation and grow new markets. New solutions are scaled by technology demonstrators and SME accelerators to drive generate growth, spread prosperity and eliminate carbon emissions.