San Leandro – A Story of Transformation: Building a Tech and Innovation Ecosystem

Truth Is Beauty is Lit for the First Time! Gaye Quinn (Westlake Urban), Deborah Acosta (CIO), Mayor Pauline Cutter, Greg Delaune (UIXGlobal) – October 16, 2016

On Monday, March 5, San Leandro Chief Innovation Officer Deborah Acosta presented to the City Council and the viewing Community an overview of San Leandro’s fast-growing Tech and Innovation ecosystem. The goal was to present a glimpse into the work of Innovation over the past five years, revealing that the early promise of building a Tech and Innovation ecosystem in San Leandro is becoming a reality!

To view the video-taped presentation to the City Council, please click here: The San Leandro Innovation Ecosystem.

For access to the slide presentation, please click here: City of San Leandro: A Story of Transformation – Building a Tech and Innovation Ecosystem

Biological ecosystems are defined by Webster as “community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.” Similarly, San Leandro’s developing innovation ecosystem could be defined as a “complex network or interconnected system” that supports the City Council goals of:

• Placing the City on a firm foundation for long-term fiscal sustainabilty
• Undertake programs and advance projects promoting sustainable economic development, including transforming San Leandro into a center for innovation
• Maintain and support a strong positive relationship between the City and Schools.

Make San Leandro – Cherry Festival 2014 (courtesy of Tim Holmes)

The City’s fiber optic infrastructure has enabled San Leandro to not only develop a Tech and Innovation ecosystem; this City now is able to advance these connections through “Smart City” technologies. IoT (Internet of Things) is not merely a concept in San Leandro – it is becoming a practice, as exemplified through the Climatec Smart Lights/Paradox Engineering IoT Platform project. The intersection of hardware (i.e. sensors) and software will allow this City to serve its community more effectively and more efficiently. The engagement of our residents, businesses and other organizations will encourage this City’s leaders and staff to ensure that serving people is always at the center of our ecosystem development!

Smart Lights and IoT Platform

As the presentation demonstrates, San Leandro has received much recognition and press regarding its ecosystem development milestones. From the City’s recent Smart 50 Award (to be awarded at an international Smart Cities Connect Conference in Kansas City in late March); to City participation as Supercluster leaders in the Global Cities Team Challenge; and Mayor Cutter’s invitation to share the San Leandro story at “Smart City” conferences in Italy (Ecomondo 2017) and China (Smart City: InFocus 2017); San Leandro is taking center stage globally! This recognition is important as it attracts new investment, cutting-edge businesses, funding resources and partnerships to the City, creating an ecosystem that supports entrepreneurial development – especially important for keeping our San Leandro youth invested in this City.

San Leandro’s Tech and Innovation Ecosystem is built primarily on Five Pillars: Energy, Education, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, and Entrepreneurship / Civic Engagement. “Future-proofing” our City – today!