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  • January 2015 (Revised March 2017)
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New Urban Mechanics

By: Mitchell Weiss
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:23
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Abstract

Funding to scale Citizens Connect, Boston's 311 app, is both a blessing and a burden and tests two public entrepreneurs. In 2012, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provides Boston's Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics with a grant to scale Citizens Connect across the state. The money gives two co-creators of Citizens Connect, Chris Osgood and Nigel Jacob, a chance to grow their vision for citizen-engaged governance and civic innovation, but it also requires that the two City of Boston leaders sit on a formal selection committee that pits their original partner, Connected Bits, against another player that might meet the specific requirements for delivering a statewide version. The selection and scaling process raises questions beyond just which partner to choose. What would happen to the Citizens Connect brand as Osgood and Jacob's product spreads across the state? Who could help scale their work best then nationally? Which business models were best positioned to drive that growth? What intellectual property arrangements would best enable it? And what role should the two city employees have, anyway, in scaling Citizens Connect outside of Boston in the first place? These questions hung in the air as they pondered the big one about passing over Connected Bits for another partner: Should they?

Keywords

Public Entrepreneurship; Civic Technology; Government Innovation; Civic Innovation; Cities; New Urban Mechanics; Thomas. M. Menino; Chris Osgood; Nigel Jacob; Connected Bits; SeeClickFix; Ben Berkowitz; Eric Carlson; Dave Mitchell; Government Technology; Open Innovation; Open Source Software; Citizens Connect; Commonwealth Connect; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Innovation and Management; Open Source Distribution; Public Administration Industry; Information Technology Industry; Boston

Citation

Weiss, Mitchell. "New Urban Mechanics." Harvard Business School Case 315-075, January 2015. (Revised March 2017.)
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About The Author

Mitchell B. Weiss

Entrepreneurial Management
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Related Work

    • January 2015 (Revised March 2017)
    • Faculty Research

    New Urban Mechanics

    By: Mitchell Weiss
    • October 2019
    • Faculty Research

    New Urban Mechanics

    By: Mitchell Weiss and Matthew Piltch
Related Work
  • New Urban Mechanics By: Mitchell Weiss
  • New Urban Mechanics By: Mitchell Weiss and Matthew Piltch
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