Key ideas
- So far at Unit, we have worked with close to 170 city halls from 15 countries throughout Latin America.
- Innovating in cities helps to improve and optimise institutions’ internal processes, in order to provide better services for people.
- After the Covid-19 pandemic, cities have had to learn to respond to the demand for new digital services, despite the challenges that have emerged in other areas such as unemployment, poverty, and migration.
By Katalina Papic, partner and Executive Director at Unit.
One of the things we do at Unit is to imagine better futures for cities. So far as a team, we have worked with close to 170 city halls from 15 countries throughout Latin America. Based on our experience, we are convinced that, through the logistics of innovation, it is possible to generate relevant changes for citizens. Transformations that impact their everyday lives, and which improve the quality of their lives. Rethinking services and platforms, our focus lies on the creation of public value, causing interaction amongst all of the actors involved in the creation of localities.
When we refer to transformation in cities, one must keep in mind that this not only implies generating a change at the City Hall’s level. Although these changes are fundamental for carrying out these processes, the path to generating transformations lies in people and in all of the actors who participate within the territory: businesses, public institutions, non-governmental organisations, civil society, and academia. To drive the force of change, it is necessary for all parts to work together and interact amongst themselves. Only in this way can innovation be carried out.
The issues being addressed in cities are growing increasingly complex. Economic crisis, mobility problems, environmental issues. To be able to respond to this, we must have the skills and capabilities to quickly adapt to change and have services that are more connected to citizens.
Because people’s motivations, needs, and behaviours change over time and, as organisations, they must know how to respond with services that serve these requirements. We need more efficient and productive institutions. Hence the key is to innovate in territories, since this helps to improve and optimise the institutions’ internal processes so as to provide better services for citizens.
Without a doubt, after the Covid-19 pandemic, cities have had to learn how to respond to the demand for new digital services. Because confinement forced us to modify services into being “just one click away”, as well as more easily accessible to all citizens. This is a transformation that we have seen being driven forth by many city halls, centred around people. However, other common issues have also emerged for these territories to deal with: unemployment and poverty, migration, circular and creative economy, urban issues (housing, infrastructure, transportation), access to information, and digital divides, among others.
Understanding that the driving force behind change can be a city hall, there are several lessons that we have learned and that I consider worth mentioning in order to implement transformations in cities:
- It required the commitment of local authorities: The role of the authorities is key in order to generate opportunities for change. Not only is their commitment required, but also a direct instalment of the idea so that they may take responsibilities and allocate resources that allow for these new strategies to be implemented.
- Innovation must go hand in hand with the citizens’ needs: It must be understood that this is done based on what issues are relevant to the particular cities and territories. If not, the driving force will be diluted. Innovation processes must be aligned with the institutional goals and main challenges that localities require. In addition, this must be regarded in a systemic way for all of the actors to become involved and feel like they’re part of this transformation.
- Incentivize a culture of innovation: It’s not enough for people to be motivated to carry out transformations; they must also have the opportunities and capabilities to execute them. They need to have the tools and skills to generate this change. This will allow them to install recurring innovation practices as institutions that, through these rationales, will allow for the creation of new and better services.
At Unit, through our programmes, we have supported diverse city halls throughout Latin America in their transformations. With this, we seek to improve city life, designing and developing new services, and boosting the capabilities of those who are responsible for providing them. Our objective is to advance towards a culture that is innovative and, above all else, prepared to face the challenges we are experiencing today.
