Innovation in Public Services
On Thursday, January 7, the Levin Institute, in partnership with the New York Academy of Sciences, hosted another Innovate New York session, this time discussing innovation in public services. The speakers were Dr. Amanda Parsons of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Anne Altman of the IBM Corporation; and Joseph Morrisroe, head of 311 for the NYC Department of Technology and Telecommunications. The session was moderated by Garrick Utley, President of the Levin Institute.
The Innovate New York Series is meant to explore New York's potential to become a global leader in innovation in many fields and disciplines. It looks to the global challenges that may come from "out there" and tries to solve them with solutions and opportunities from within, "in here".
The session on Innovation in Public Services explored new approaches to meeting challenges that ranged from locating potholes to cataloging medical data in an electronic format. Participants discussed their diverse approaches to the challenge of providing public services to a city as deeply developed and populated as New York. A question and answer session towards the end allowed the audience to challenge the participants and opened the discussion even further.
Garrick Utley began the discussion with a few words on the stresses and needs of cities, the special projects that need to be undertaken to meet those needs, and the relationship between the government and its citizens.
Dr. Amanda Parsons of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene discussed the Primary Care Information Project, a unique New York approach that catalyzes the move to Electronic Medical Records (EMR) for New York City's health care providers, as well as the opportunities this offers to assess medical facilities and treatments in New York City. When asked about the potential invasion of privacy involved when the government takes an interest in medical records, Dr. Parsons clarified that the program is dedicated to offering incentives to providers to digitize, not in collecting information.
Joseph Morrisroe of the NYC Department of Technology and Telecommunications spoke about the changing face of public information, embodied in 311 and its new Internet equivalent. He mentioned a recent city-wide contest to design applications based on data provided through the 311 website. Mr. Morrisroe also raised the point that new technology has brought the citizen and the government closer together, enabling the citizen to express needs more efficiently and the government to find solutions to those needs with greater ease.
Both Dr. Parsons and Mr. Morrisroe commented on the importance of the mayor's role in public services as both a government official and a businessman, rating the needs of both civilians and customers.
Anne Altman of IBM's Global Public Sector spoke about New York's innovative approaches to public service in relation to other cities worldwide. She showed areas where New York could learn from others and noted that it is a city that can adapt based on the models produced by other cities. She cited new technology as the basis for new innovations, because it is at a relatively low price point and offers remarkable opportunities.
A closing question and answer session raised several points. One key element that emerged was the importance of the new workforce: skilled from day one and able to learn new skills with ease thanks to the Internet and other modern technology.