Supporting cities to conduct experiments
Experimentation re-frames the work that cities are doing so that it is focused on learning and adapting (based on what is learnt). This might be new to participating cities. Supporting cities to experiment will help them gain skills and confidence that they can then take forward.
Around the world, public services are becoming more user-centred, apps-based, and citizen-led. If local authorities are to occupy an important role in meeting citizens’ needs in the future, taking an experimental approach is fundamentally important because of the nature of the digital solutions they now are looked upon to build, and the complexity of the challenges citizens face. Through experimentation at pace, cities are able to test their ideas so that they can incrementally build the right “thing”, pivot, or stop a project when it simply is not feasible.
However, there’s an in-built tension between the iterative way of working of experimentation and the requirements for long-term planning, cash flow and certainty of cities, which is why it’s important to support cities as they plan and implement experiments.
This is a challenging shift in ways of working, so support to cities should move beyond sharing methods and tools to help teams, including time and resources to work through difficult moments, celebrate what might be considered as “wins”, hold them to account and keep pace/momentum.
Our approch and methods
- Coaching: Partner each city who receives grant fund¬ing with a dedicated experimentation coach.
- Grant planning – fund design and disbursement; coaching:
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Prep time: In project planning, bake in enough time for cities to familiarise themselves with the method, plan and complete necessary permissions and procurement. It is often surprising how long this can take in total.
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Size of grant for experiments: Not massive but sizeable, give teams enough to build something small if needs be.
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Length and amount: Leverage the relationship you have with cities to design the length and amount of funding based on what is realistic for the city authorities you are working with (i.e. recognising the timings to procure, or how ready they are to bring in citizens).
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Tools: Provide teams with tools and resources to frame their planning.
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Reporting: Design the artefacts for accessing and reporting on funding so that they are anchored on the specific aims of the grant, whether this is a spe- cific impact or specific learnings. Provide support to ensure the budget is spent effectively.
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Integrating the grants well :
- During the programme: Make this “phase” feel like a natural progression for the work that doesn’t overextend the team.
- After programme: Encourage changes to teams approach that can continue beyond the grant funding.
- Building in incentives
- Instil friendly competition
- Investment committee: As a gateway to make sure cities are ready, have them build up to an investment committee – albeit with friendly faces. This encourages the city to advocate for why they want to conduct certain activities and gives space for constructive feedback. Have the experimentation coach decide when to do this as they work most closely with the city and it acts as an informal gateway.
Lessons learnt from ASToN (2019-2022):
- Have a separate pot of money for experimentation, to give clarity and permission for cities to plan work specifically in service of learning. As much as possible, try to also treat the grant funding differently, to balance the usual level of oversight with the level of freedom needed in cities to allow them to get to work quickly.
- Give cities more than just financial support to experiment, since experimentation can often be new and in tension with existing ways of working. By offering methods, tools, and tailored coaching, cities will be able to successfully plan and test their ideas. This support will help cities to overcome administrative, budgetary or other challenges in order to enable cities to plan, test and learn about their ideas at pace.
- Help teams understand the processes and requirements for their local authorities to access and spend money. The starting point for experimentation is a lack of certainty about the idea, whether it will work and how it will scale. This can be in contrast with the processes for cities to spend funds (i.e. through procurement), which often require very detailed, concrete and unchanging plans. Many cities also experience cash flow problems that can hinder their ability to purchase assets or contract partners quickly. It’s important to use this understanding to design the grants and support cities in the most relevant way for them
