With San Francisco as the backdrop for 83rd annual U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) last week, it’s no surprise that technology was top of mind for the 300 mayors in attendance. While there were numerous sessions on everything from transportation to workforce development, USCM President and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s “Cities 3.0” agenda clearly had tech at its core.

Of course, the reason has as much to do with the recent tech boom as with how disruptive consumer technologies are impacting government services in cities nationwide. In an era when Uber Pool fares are as competitive as city bus rides, and AirBnB is providing a compelling alternative to tourist hotels, it’s no longer optional for mayors to sit on the sidelines when it comes to tech. This theme was echoed in Salesforce Executive Vice President Vivek Kundra’s speech at USCM, and it’s one of many key learnings that came out of the event, including:

1. Mayors are engaged

At USCM, nothing was more apparent than how technology is breaking down the “black box” of governmental decision-making and giving citizens new insights into how policies are made. Many cities today are already providing public-facing dashboards and progress reports to show how city policies are affecting businesses and people. Others are holding digital town halls and seeking feedback through Twitter and other social channels.

Regardless of the tactic, mayors are now engaged, realizing that technology can ultimately enable a new era of transparency. And that helps citizens feel more connected and involved in their cities.

2. It’s not just about public data

While nearly every city is taking advantage of data to make smarter decisions, what became clear from hallway conversations and demos from Salesforce and other tech sponsors is that there is an opportunity for data partnerships. Mayors who want to thrive in today’s data-driven world need to find ways of mashing up the “holy trinity” of information — from public, private and nonprofit organizations.

Consider a mayor who analyzes ride sharing pickup and drop-off data with his or her own public transportation rider info. What kind of new bus routes can be created? Or the correlation between public health data from city hospitals with Internet of Things data coming from sensors on asthma inhalers. What kinds of clean-air protections can be put in place?

3. “There’s an app for that.”

Citizens overwhelmingly live their lives on their mobile phones, so how are cities responding? Instead of local governments saying “there’s a form for that,” they need to begin saying, “there’s an app for that.” Every government service — from filing property taxes to tracking parking tickets — should be available via mobile apps. In fact, at the USCM for the first time in the conference history, mayors had a mobile application created Salesforce that presented conference details, a customizable agenda and details of the standing committees. If it’s good enough for mayors, it should be good enough for their citizens.

4. Self-organizing citizens

John F. Kennedy famously asked Americans to ask “what they can do for their country.” Similarly, today’s citizens — empowered by technology — are taking issues previously managed by their governments into their own hands, forming communities, often on popular local neighbourhood sites such as NextDoor.

The City of Philadelphia realized, though, that they can’t sit on the sidelines of community activism, and used cloud technology to deliver communities for people to meet via a mobile app and self-organize around everything from trash clean-up in local parks to neighborhood-watch groups. Citizens are increasingly leveraging technology to tackle issues on their own, and cities realize they need to play a role in providing them the technology tools to be successful.

5. Non-profits can be economic engines too

Non-profits are an oft-forgotten, but critical part of the three-legged stool that enables cities to run effectively. Whether augmenting public services or tackling very real, long-term challenges within cities, non-profits play a valuable role in the economies of local communities. One of the panels at the USCM focused on “Technology and Innovation as a Civic and Philanthropic Engine,” and showed how nonprofits can provide innovative thinking, creativity and a support structure that leads to economic growth and stability for some of the  most-underserved city residents.

At the end of the day, mayors are engaged and care about providing great service to their citizens. If there was one final lesson from USCM, it’s that everyone wants to make their cities better places to live and work — whether Republican or Democrat, business owner or non-profit leader, government official or concerned citizen. At Salesforce, we look forward to continuing the dialogue with mayors across the United States and showing how technology can truly make a difference.

Tim McCormick, Salesforce AVP, State and Local Government.

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