INDIANA — The Indiana Bond Bank will be hosting its fourth annual Flipping Finance Challenge event, kicking off on Friday Saturday, April 9th at the Indianapolis Arts Center in Indianapolis. Flipping Finance Challenge: Civic Super Heroes brings together coders, designers, marketers, entrepreneurs, students, and civically engaged individuals to participate in developing solutions to select local challenges.
The Indiana Bond Bank selected the Town of Winfield, the City of Jasper, and Jay County as the fourth cohort of participating units of government for the Flipping Finance Challenge. Additionally, the Indiana Executive Council on Cybersecurity (IECC) and Maverick Energy Consulting have been selected as owners of challenges relating to cybersecurity and energy budgeting for local government. Challenges span a wide range of topics and subject matter including marketing, communications, finance, urban development, non-profit management, process improvement, transportation, youth leadership, economic development, cyber security and more. Problem solvers will select which challenge(s) they want to work on and design a unique and custom solution.
Examples of challenges include:
- Jay County: How might we reverse our residents’ declining health trends (obesity, smoking, etc.) which generally are worse than the national average?
- City of Jasper: How might we repurpose a former 9-hole golf course – located in a flood plain – into a community asset?
- Town of Winfield: How might the Town market itself as one of the fastest growing communities in Indiana?
- IECC: How might we create solutions to engage local government employees in following cybersecurity best practices around key areas like multi-factor authentication, VPN, “don’t click the link” campaigns and others?
Click here for more information on all 14 challenges at Flipping Finance Challenge 2022.
At the kickoff event, attendees will have the opportunity to interact with our featured communities and challenge owners to conduct further fact finding. Following the kickoff, problem solvers will have a full week to craft and design solutions with a virtual submission due on Friday, April 15th at 11:59 p.m. Submissions will include both a 10-minute video presentation and 1–2-page written abstract, along with any supplemental information relevant to their solution. On Saturday, April 23rd, Flipping Finance Challenge 2022 will conclude with a virtual awards ceremony in which $5,000 and the first-ever ‘Indiana Treasurer of State’s Award for Innovation in Public Finance’ will be presented to top teams and individuals.
The Bond Bank encourages anyone who is interested in helping units of government create innovative solutions to their most pressing challenges to complete the free registration here and join us on April 9th.
Featured communities and challenge owners will leave the Flipping Finance Challenge with solutions that they did not have prior to the event. That collaborative problem-solving approach aligns with Indiana Bond Bank’s philosophy, according to Executive Director Mark Wuellner. “If our standard answer to every challenge is to issue a bond, then we will have failed,” said Wuellner. “It’s our responsibility to partner with Hoosier communities as they face complex, ever-evolving issues. Creating the Flipping Finance Challenge embodies that vision. We’re so excited to see Hoosier innovation deliver new solutions for our featured communities.”
For more information, visit www.in.gov/tos
