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One of Mayor Marty Walsh’s overriding goals is to transform Boston, and not just downtown, into an example-setting center of technology and innovation. He doesn’t want to just create a nurturing landscape for startups and other prospective business ventures, but rather seeks to afford all corners of the city the basic digital tools many of us already enjoy, such as wireless internet. In helping him facilitate this sweeping objective, he’s tapped Lauren Lockwood, a program manager at HourlyNerd and graduate of Harvard Business School, as the City of Boston’s inaugural chief digital officer.
Lockwood’s fulfillment of the position was announced just last week and she’s eager to set up shop in City Hall. Armed with a wealth of knowledge on how to analyze data – “I’m a data fanatic; I’m fascinated by that,” she told me during a recent interview. – a gravitational pull to all things digital and a growing affection for the city, she seems like a strong, personable choice to implement a slew of new initiatives as well as perpetuate the one’s already on the mayor’s agenda.
There’s such a tailwind right now with this administration in relation to digital innovation.
Just 28-years old with a small dog she loves at home and a big new title to live up to, we thought it pertinent for you to get to know the woman who will quickly become Boston’s digital eyes and ears.
So we went to City Hall and met her.
Nick DeLuca: iOS or Android?
Lauren Lockwood: iOS.
ND: Coffee, tea or other. How do you take it?
LL: Coffee, black. Sometimes a little cream. Need to take the edge off.
ND: Favorite Boston landmark?
LL: Faneuil Hall
ND: When you’re not chief digital officering, you can most likely be found doing what?
LL: Runs with my little dog. I have a little rescue dog.
ND: That answers our next question: dog person or cat person?
LL: Dog, dog, dog. I don’t know what kind it is since it’s a rescue, but it’s little 10-pound poodle type.
ND: Favorite movie?
LL: The Usual Suspects.
ND: Song you have on repeat right now?
LL: Sia’s “Elastic Heart.” Might sound a little cheesy, I think it’s a Hunger Games song.
ND: Next time City Hall plays BostInno in softball, what position will we see you at?
LL: I was a softball pitcher. But I think I’d rather play infield.
ND: Describe City Hall’s architecture in one word.
LL: [Laughs] I’m trying to find the right euphemism [pause…..] Ripe for potential? Potential.
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![Rawls](http://americaninno.com/wp-content/uploads/wpallimport/files/1//2014/11/image21-300x300.jpg)
The chief digital officer position first came to Lockwood’s attention in April, just a month before she graduated from HBS, and immediately piqued her interest. By nature she’s a puzzle solver, a self-professed data fanatic, whose penchant for tackling multidimensional projects has her poised to take on the broad spectrum of digital assets at work in City Hall and beyond.
Not surprisingly, the Walsh administration’s lofty though achievable digital goals fall right in line with the type of work she thrives in and was a major attraction for someone who admittedly didn’t view herself having a role in municipal government.
Since day one, Mayor Walsh has made clear a handful of tech-driven initiatives, including: leveraging technology to make government more inclusive to everyone; creating iterations of the Seaport’s Innovation District in other neighborhoods; and fueling economic growth and collaborative partnerships between small businesses and the government.
Devising solutions to these types of issues is Lockwood’s bread and butter.
“There are, I think, positions that afford you the opportunity to affect peoples’ lives in such a fundamental way, so that’s what really drew me,” said Lockwood. “I also feel there’s such a tailwind right now with this administration in relation to digital innovation.”
It’s still early days, of course, but Lockwood has identified multiple areas and pain-points in need of innovation. The City of Boston website, for one, is the digital face of The Hub and a rather homely one at that. “The front page of the City,” as she put it. Making a good impression here sets the tone for much of the rest of Boston’s digital channels.
Lockwood also aims to build upon the open source data push that’s helped inject more transparency into governmental operations, and tie that together with the website and the city’s social media presences in order to develop a more cohesive strategy across the board.
First, however, she wants to acquaint herself with her constituents, her staff and the state of all things digital in Boston.
“One of the first things I’ll be doing is just meeting everybody on the team and figuring out what the current status is of our digital assets for the city,” she said. “It ranges from everything from the website to social media to the news channel … It’s pretty varied.”
By creating this consistency across Boston’s digital facets, she hopes to bolster the two-way communication that remains a focus of Mayor Walsh’s administration. Not only does the mayor engage with citizens in person through several continuous neighborhood working groups, as well as social media chats on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, but Lockwood envisions him as something of a television personality as well.
The people calling for more innovation in parking and collaboration with rideshares (she doesn’t own a car) may take to one platform, while those further from the city centers, in Roxbury or Mattapan, say, might require something more rudimentary, like a consistent and reliable internet connection.
I’m a data fanatic. I’m fascinated by that.
The same principle applies for those hoping for digital art, which Lockwood feels there’s “absolutely an opportunity” for. While she may leave the form of that to Julie Burros, Boston’s new Chief of Arts & Culture, she’s excited to crowdsource ideas and harness the diversity within the communities to help determine the best talent and best practices to spearhead digital art projects.
“There are also a lot of assets that don’t get used very much like the cable news channel,” she suggested. “It’s a huge opportunity. There are a lot of people who watch that.”
Lockwood’s first day on the job is fast-approaching and already she’s talked to the likes of Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Chief Information Officer, and expects to team up with the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics.
The ideas stemming from such resources, and other, have been abundant. Once they meet head on with Lockwood’s enthusiasm, beautiful things could manifest, such as the idea of a lighting project to make City Hall’s exterior architecture a little easier on the eyes.
But, of course, she’s open to any and all ideas.
“Tweet at us,” Lockwood said on Herald Radio when her appointment was announced. “We’ll listen.”
Oh we will, Lauren. See you online.