Another California City Hires a Chief Innovation Officer

The city of Carlsbad announced Monday that it has hired its first chief innovation officer.

David Graham has joined the ranks of similar executives in cities including Sacramento, Riverside, Davis, Long Beach and Rancho Cucamonga.

Carlsbad is home to more than 115,000 people and has an operating budget of more than $275 million. The city hopes to focus on Smart City projects to improve "government efficiency and customer service," according to the city's press release.

"The City of Carlsbad has always been known as one of the best run local governments around, with resident satisfaction in the high 90s and a highly engaged workforce that provides exceptional service. But let's face it – the world is changing, and now it's time to redefine what excellence looks like for municipal government in the digital age," the city's job posting read.  
 
The job description states the CIO will: 

• Oversee Carlsbad's emergence as a leader in smart city initiatives.
• Help spur innovation in all corners of the city organization.
• Coach managers as they reinvent processes and define new performance metrics.
• Harness the power of big data and open data (yep, we know these are two different things).
• Help direct the investment of a $10 million "innovation fund" to achieve these objectives.

Graham spent over seven years with the city of San Diego, where he supervised Smart City initiatives and Neighborhood Services as the deputy chief operating officer. He has served more than 20 years in the public sector. He has also been co-chair of the Edison Electric Institute’s Electric Utilities Advancing Cities, secretary of World Trade Center San Diego, a Cleantech San Diego board member, a founding member of the MetroLab Network and an adviser to Smart Cities Connect.

Graham will start his new job Nov. 26.