City of Bloomington hosts second annual innovation celebration

BLOOMINGTON – The public is invited to join Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton for the Second Annual Innovation Celebration on Friday, at 11:30 a.m. 

The virtual awards celebration will recognize City employees for their innovative solutions, creativity, and forward-thinking ideas. 

Awards will be presented in the following categories: Most Ingenious, Best Community Connection, Best Use of Data, Best Example of Innovation Culture, and Best Preparation for the Future.

Bloomington Mayor John Williams

Mayor Hamilton and the City’s Innovation Director Devta Kidd will offer introductory remarks for the celebration, with additional presentations by staff members from across City departments who will speak to the way they forged low-cost, innovative solutions – sometimes in response to the limitations of the pandemic – that in some cases have turned out to be a better way to do things.  

Innovation Director Devta Kidd

The celebration is open to the public and will be held over Zoom video conferencing at this link.

Meeting ID: 941 3325 7135

Passcode: 548616 

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Housed within the Office of the Mayor, the Office of Innovation is charged with spurring innovation across City Hall by providing support, guidance, and resources to staff about how to make government work better.

Innovation Cohort #1 member Beth Rosenbarger at a resident household demonstrating the efficacy of mow mulching.

A primary responsibility of the office is also to anticipate how technological advances might intersect with City services and functions to support the City in being nimble and adaptive to future needs. Innovations being celebrated in Friday’s event are among many being undertaken by the City of Bloomington.

To see write-ups from the day’s  presentations and more, go to https://bloomington.in.gov/success/