How to create innovative tech ecosystems for urban challenges?

I'm going to start off with a quick intro to better frame my question. In 2016, I graduated from Stanford, a big driver of startup culture in the USA. In Silicon Valley, when you think of startups, you think of "disruption". By that definition, startups are meant to overtake incumbents in any way possible, even if that means constantly fighting with the law \(Uber, Airbnb\).

I am not certain that this concept of "disruption" is the right way to go about creating optimal city solutions, even if it has been a successful model for a few big companies. Not only do cities have the resources/data to foster innovation, but they also have the ability & responsibility to create policy that ensures these solutions are funded and incorporated into our infrastructure. Most importantly, cities can ensure that the benefits of tech innovation are equitable and fair to all citizens.

I had the privilege of attending the Smart City NY Expo a few weeks ago, with keynote speakers such as De Blasio & Rahm, and I thought a lot about the future role of private\-public partnerships.

So, a few open\-ended questions that I had...

How do you to teach politicians and city planners to create policies that invest in digital infrastructure and foster innovation? What are their concerns with this space and how do we alleviate those concerns?

What role does citizen involvement play with deciding on potential city\-wide solutions that become incorporated into the cityscape \(i.e. LinkNY\)?

How do you create a playpen for startups to test their urban tech solutions? What does a startup need to be successful in this space?

The culmination of these questions is this: Do you think that there could be a benefit for a sort of "design thinking" workshop/program/membership group, in which innovators, city planners, community leaders, politicians, engineers all come together to: 1\) connect with each other 2\) learn how to think holistically & systemically?

As you might tell, I'm very new to all of this and I'm definitely no expert. However, it's painfully obvious that there's a need for new ways to approach urban tech solutions, as well as ways to foster communication between all of the different agents in this ecosystem. Hope to have a good chat about this and feel free to respond to me directly.

Thanks.