Seattle City Wire

Having spent a year focusing on the COVID-19 crisis, Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan’s Innovation Advisory Council has set its agenda for 2021 and announced its first round of projects for 2021.

Durkan’s office named four areas of focus for the upcoming first quarter, a press release from her office reported. One area of focus is supporting the community’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan. The council hopes to shape the operational outreach to ensure an equitable distribution that is transparent. There will also be data-driven investment recommendations to support Black and Indigenous communities.

Working with partner Microsoft, advanced data analytics will be applied to areas where there is a great potential impact for investment in areas where Black, Indigenous and other communities of color are most in need. The council plans on making recommendations to the mayor in April.

There will be real-time capabilities for a newly established homelessness outreach team through a partnership of Seattle IT, City of Seattle HOPE team and Tableau. The first quarter will be geared toward designing a thoughtful approach while tackling possible privacy issues and using the existing data.

The council will also streamline the application experience for residents seeking to take advantage of city and state services. Resources include child care, food assistance and more. One goal is to make it easier for people to apply for services without having to re-qualify for each. The city is also welcoming a new partner, Google which will provide development assistance.

The press release also reported Google will join the council, the first new member since 2018. The a Google.org Fellowship the city will welcome 13 new fellows working pro bono for nine months.

“This partnership is more important than ever as we work to recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19 on our communities.” Mayor Durkan said, the press release reported. “Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, IAC partners were a critical part of the City’s response as we stood up testing and encouraged workers to shift to teleworking. As we move into the next phase of this pandemic, I am grateful to the Innovation Advisory Council members for their continued partnership and commitment to supporting underrepresented communities and helping our City as we begin focusing on vaccinating our communities in 2021.”