Dallas Innovates: The NTXIA and Marketplace.city Announce Call for New Models to Accelerate Innovation
The NTXIA and Marketplace.city Announce Call for New Models to Accelerate Innovation
June 2, 2021
By helping the public sector unlock revenue sources, the NTXIA hopes to realize its mission: to create the most connected, smart, and resilient region in the U.S.
When innovation speeds up, things get better fast. So how do we streamline our road to economic recovery? The North Texas Innovation Alliance (NTXIA) has the answer: by paving it with new ideas, new solutions, and all-new models.
Today the NTXIA announced a call for revenue-generating solutions for government on Marketplace.city, a digital marketplace and service that helps state and local governments source, validate, and procure technology. Any company with a tech-enabled solution that can help the public sector enable or capture revenue is invited to submit its idea through a vendor response form.
“A top priority for our membership is to focus on revenue generating solutions and financial models that aid in economic recovery and propel transformative projects forward,” said Jennifer Sanders, NTXIA executive director, in a statement. “NTXIA members have committed to a regional approach because they know that residents’ lives don’t stop at municipal borders… Solutions for mobility, digital connectivity, infrastructure resiliency, and others need to be regionally addressed to be effective and sustainable.”
The NTXIA is a regional consortium of nearly 30 municipalities, agencies, companies and academic institutions across North Texas collaborating to solve pressing challenges. The NTXIA and its members have partnered with Marketplace.city, with some members already using its services for technology sourcing and procurement.
Local governments nationwide face many challenges: budget shortfalls, aging infrastructure, evolving resident expectations, and a critical need for emerging technology to improve service delivery. The leaders behind this call for ideas believe North Texas is emerging as a trend-setting leader committed to adopting innovative, research-based solutions.
“This is a topic that has been bubbling at the surface for a while now as states and municipalities deal with changing budget sources,” said Andrew Watkins, Marketplace.city president and COO, in the statement. “It’s really exciting to see North Texas take a leadership role. I know many other regions and cities are looking forward to reviewing and pursuing these solutions as well.”
Some key needed solutions
Needed solutions include asset and data monetization, equitable fee structures, service efficiencies, and solutions that can touch many functions and departments internally and externally.
New solutions and business models can give governments new avenues to partner with the private sector, delivering new or improved services or revenue streams.
The first step: sourcing a complete market landscape to evaluate available options.
All submissions will be analyzed and shared in a comparative format through Marketplace.city’s Clearbox process, allowing government stakeholders to view and share options internally.
“Adequately funding smart city solutions while also ensuring enough of our limited resources are allocated towards meeting traditional service delivery obligations can be a challenge for local governments,” said Irving’s Assistant City Manager James Childers. “We look forward to engaging with innovators to explore creative ways to generate additional revenue that will help move our organization forward into the future through the use of data and technology.”
Informational webinar and submission info
To provide more context, the NTXIA and Marketplace.city will hold an informational webinar on Tuesday, June 15th at 1:00 pm CT. Submissions will be accepted through July 16th. More information and the steps to submit can be found here.