Government innovators are well aware of the challenges that municipalities face today to meet the increasing expectations of citizen engagement, public health and safety, and quality of life. These challenges often demand innovative solutions that are discovered outside of the traditional procurement processes.

Historically the common mechanisms employed to source innovative technology is unstructured market research or a formal Request for Information (RFI). There are several challenges with both of these methods.

For example, unstructured market research can come in the form of collecting anecdotal recommendations from peers in the industry. While it can be incredibly beneficial to hear first hand the experience a colleague had in their problem solving quest, it is uniquely their experience, and does not necessarily translate to your local issues, priorities, budget, etc. It is a point-in-time example that is not comprehensive or repeatable per se. Collecting a larger number of references can be time consuming and difficult to organize the dataset to compare and contract all of the insights.

For traditional RFI processes, it imposes a burden of work on multiple departments to gather formal requirements, assemble the RFI document, release the solicitation and review responses, all without the commitment of a purchase or transaction. You can very quickly experience fatigue on both the buyer and the seller side of the RFI and have a difficult time gathering the internal commitment to effectively compile and review responses. Additionally the burden of response is often high for vendors and it is unlikely to garner a robust response from a large set of prospective partners.

The Call for Innovation is a concept championed by Marketplace.city as a feature within our Clearbox Source subscription for Government users. Source already contains vendor profiles with contact information, customer references, contracts, pricing, and much more and leveraging this data is a great way to start the outreach process to solicit responses from a vendor landscape.

What is a call for innovation?

1. Evaluate emerging technology markets
2. Survey prospective partners
3. Source solutions from a vast network of vendors
4. Accelerate pathways to pilot or procurement

Do you have a need for a call for innovation in your area to combat a certain issue or topic? If your answer is yes, Clearbox Source can help!

How have we helped in the past?

Dallas County, TX

Conducting market research in the drone and robotics industry was a challenge for Dallas County. Teaming up with Marketplace.city, they efficiently reached out to a vast vendor pool of potential collaborators to move forward with multiple deployments, surpassing even the most optimistic stakeholder projections.

By utilizing Clearbox Source, the county efficiently engaged with a substantial vendor pool of 370, ensuring that their forthcoming event attracted the most promising and innovative participants. This meticulous vendor outreach culminated in 33 enthusiastic responses. After careful evaluation, Dallas County handpicked 10 standout vendors for exclusive invitations. This select group has now become pivotal partners in the county's ambitious plans, with multiple deployments on the horizon.

Los Angeles, CA

As the issue of copper wire theft from public infrastructure continues to escalate nationwide, innovative solutions have become imperative. Marketplace.city partnered with the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting (LABSL) on a Call for Innovation aimed at addressing the theft of copper wiring from the city's street lighting system.

In response to the CFI, vendors delivered an array of solutions, with over 20 respondents submitting entries. Responses ranged from software products, theft detection devices, and monitoring systems, and arrived from a host of organizations from large companies, startups, and even labs and universities.

Innovative solutions have become imperative, and LABSL continues to be on the lookout for creative and effective solutions with tangible outcomes. Key areas of interest for solutions include surveillance and alarm systems, IoT sensors, GPS tracking devices, copper wire markings, locking mechanisms and alternative theft prevention technology.

How to Launch a CFI for your organization

If you need a partner in releasing your own CFI, we're here to help you by tailoring to your specific needs. The typical process has three primary steps:

Scoping: Review overview of different technology areas and help define potential areas of interest. Draft Scope Document that focuses on government priority areas as outcome driven Call for Innovation. This will encourage creative solution proposals across multiple technology areas; casting a wide net will help to ensure the government can evaluate a wide set of solution types. Finalize priority areas through discussions with government stakeholders

Sourcing: Finalize and publish Call for Innovation and promote it to the market. Proposals will need to include specifications for Scalability, Implementation Experience, Performance Characteristics, Startup/Ongoing Costs, and Maintenance. Conduct Q&A meetings for vendors to learn more about the challenges and outcomes. Marketplace.city will analyze and aggregate responses in comparative format

Evaluation: Proposal review, followed by vendor meetings and questions (if applicable). Determine preferred proposals based on government priorities and the above specifications. Assign teams of primary stakeholders for each selected use case. Establish KPIs and assessment criteria for each pilot proposal through discussions with key stakeholders with provisions for phased rollout as needed

Whether it's tackling issues related to public safety, infrastructure, sustainability, or any other area of concern, Clearbox Source assists you by evaluating the market, surveying prospective partners, and sourcing solutions through our vast network of vendors.

We invite you to take the next step in advancing your government initiatives by allowing us to guide you through the process of launching your own Call for Innovation. If you're interested in exploring this opportunity further or have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@marketplace.city.