Calgary, the largest city in Alberta and the third-largest municipality in Canada, is home to a diverse and youthful population of over 1.2 million residents. As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance city services and foster innovation, the City of Calgary launched myCityInnovation, an internal program within the broader Civic Innovation YYC initiative. This program aimed to engage the City’s 12,000 “wired” employees in sharing, collaborating, and testing new ideas for improving municipal services.
Challenges
The City of Calgary faced several challenges in its quest to improve city services through innovation. Encouraging openness and transparency among employees was a primary goal. Achieving broad engagement, with at least 10% of the wired workforce participating, was crucial. Additionally, they aimed to gather a substantial number of new ideas, with a target of at least 120 submissions, and establish a clear process for tracking ideas from submission to action. Maintaining high levels of employee involvement, with goals of at least 360 comments and 2,400 votes, overcoming communication and operational silos within the organization, and creating a repository for institutional learning were also significant challenges.
Solution
The MyCityInnovation program was developed using best practices from the City’s Cut Red Tape program and incorporated design thinking and innovative civic processes. The internal launch in May 2016 was supported by a comprehensive multi-channel campaign that included events, meetings, blogs, newsletters, social media, print materials, videos, a dedicated website, and emails from leadership. Employees were encouraged to visit the myCityInnovation platform to share their ideas. Submitted ideas were evaluated for feasibility and cost, and those with the most potential were selected for testing and prototyping in the Civic Innovation Lab.
Results
The MyCityInnovation program surpassed expectations, fostering an unprecedented level of employee engagement:
- Doubled User Participation: The program achieved a 21% adoption rate, exceeding the pilot program’s target by a significant margin.
- Idea Boom: It generated nearly triple the anticipated number of ideas, demonstrating a surge in employee creativity.
- Active Participation: Employees actively engaged in the platform, commenting, voting, and participating in discussions far exceeding targeted levels.
- City-Wide Reach: Staff participation spanned across all city facilities, showcasing a strong sense of ownership and engagement.
- Optimistic Outlook: Sentiment analysis of the idea data revealed a high level of optimism and belief in the program’s potential, fostering a positive and collaborative environment.
Conclusion
The MyCityInnovation program successfully engaged City of Calgary employees in the innovation process, resulting in a significant number of new ideas and high levels of participation. This initiative demonstrated the power of involving employees in ideation and collaboration, ultimately driving improvements in city services and fostering a culture of innovation within the organization. The program’s success underscores the importance of transparency, engagement, and a structured approach to innovation in achieving meaningful and lasting improvements in municipal operations.
