California’s approach to innovation hasn’t been as centralized — at least not yet. There is no one person or position, or office or entity, that seems to be leading above all others in the state. Perhaps a single figure couldn’t do everything, given its hundreds of agencies, departments, boards and commissions. But the fact remains that California has neither an undisputed chief innovator, nor a singular innovation office.
What California does have, though, is a groundswell of people, places and projects focused on innovation work at a variety of levels in state government. The cast of players is growing from a “bottom-up” approach that isn’t coming exclusively from the governor’s office. The movement seems to be built upon three main areas:
Offices and Labs
As Techwire details in this issue, the state of California and its Department of Technology are building an innovation lab that officials say will be a “sandbox” for building, testing and deploying open source code within the state’s data center. The lab will be managed by California’s new Office of Digital Innovation and Technology Engagement.But the innovation lab isn’t alone. The California Health and Human Services Agency is piloting its own innovation office based on the well regarded 18F unit transforming IT delivery for customer agencies in the federal government. California has hired a senior innovation adviser to lead the office, and the health agency is planning proof-of-concept projects at the departments of Public Health, Social Services and Health Care Services.
In addition, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) also is leading on the issue through an iHubs program designed to foster entrepreneurship and collaboration among regional tech incubators and startups scattered across California. Sixteen iHubs have formed so far to leverage public and private universities, federal research laboratories and other resources.
The Open Data Movement
Enthusiasm for open data is coming from all directions, inside and outside government. The Government Operations Agency is spearheading plans to link together open data websites that currently operate in silos, while encouraging state agencies and departments to contribute new data sets that haven’t surfaced before. And there are rumblings, as of May, that the Brown administration might hire a chief data officer to oversee the state’s renewed efforts at transparency.Open data projects also are taking shape at the department and agency level, in surprising places. For example, earlier this year the State Water Resources Control Board and the California Environmental Protection Agency invited the public to create data visualizations from a dozen water-related data sets now available on the state’s GreenGov open data portal. The State Water Board’s open data initiative is multi-phased, with plans to eventually integrate dozens of enterprise data systems into one machine-readable “open data corral.”
GovOps also has embraced the idea of civic hackathons, after hosting a “green government” event last fall. Apps developed during the contest are now being built out by the Department of Technology’s innovation lab. A similar conference, California Health and Human Services’ Open DataFest, is in its third year and continues to grow by convening hundreds of experts in Sacramento to discuss advances in data-driven decision-making within state and local health programs.
People
California doesn’t have a statewide chief innovation officer, but there are a number of officials whose job centers on innovation. Louis Stewart, deputy director of innovation and entrepreneur for GO-Biz, travels the state to evangelize the iHubs program in California’s tech economy as a whole. Stuart Drown, deputy secretary for innovation and accountability at GovOps, has been deeply involved in the state’s push for open data the past year. The state geographic information officer, Scott Gregory, is transitioning into a new role managing the Department of Technology’s innovation lab.Meanwhile, leaders are springing up elsewhere. Niles Friedman is leading the innovation office at the Health and Human Services Agency, and Steve Croft is driving new tech as innovation officer for the Department of Water Resources and the California Natural Resources Agency. The state’s new chief data officer likely would have a big role in innovative projects.
Perhaps someone from this group will someday emerge to lead innovation in California.
This story is published in the Summer 2016 issue of Techwire magazine.
