Mayor Nutter on government transparency, city CTO and business retention

Copyright City of Philadelphia. Photograph by Mitchell Leff.

Since we launched a year-and-a-half ago, we’ve not only watched, but followed as closely as we could City of Philadelphia technology policy.

Even in our short tenure covering all that is involved — like municipal information technology, government transparency, citywide broadband network infrastructure, economic policy and much, much more — we’ve been witness to a city intent on finding new ways of utilizing technology and finding better ways of connecting with citizens.

Throughout, we’ve heard repeatedly from leaders that Mayor Michael Nutter understands the value of technology in city government and he is intent on involving Philadelphia’s technology community.

Though we write about these initiatives weekly, nothing was more of a reminder of the Mayor’s commitment to technology than when Nutter announced a $120 million capital investment in the Division of Technology during the pageantry of his budget address to City Council in March.

And with his support, DOT has been steered in a new direction, a Chief Technology Officer appointed to the mayoral cabinet, pilot programs created to attract technology businesses and broadband stimulus dollars and gigabit broadband chased.

So, we had to get the man on the phone to talk tech. Yesterday, we spoke with Mayor Nutter about government transparency, Philadelphia’s tax structure, and about his call to action to Philadelphia’s technology community. Our Q&A with Philadelphia’s Mayor after the jump.

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Nutter looks to make the city, students, smarter with tech

Technically Phily is often unable to make it to local events, so we’re asking readers interested in writing guest posts to contribute content, to ensure that, despite our schedules, more events can receive the coverage they deserve. If you’d like to write about an event you are attending, drop us a line.

This guest post, about last week’s IBM Smarter Cities event—keynoted by Mayor Michael Nutter—at the National Constitution Center, was written by Michael Rowinski of IBM External Relations.

This week Mayor Michael Nutter joined nearly 150 local academic, business and government leaders at the National Constitution Center to share ideas on how to revitalize the local economy, retain the viability of Philadelphia and the role technology will play in the city’s future.

Mayor Nutter noted for the first time in 60 years Philadelphia is showing signs of population growth. With this growth, civic leaders will face an unprecedented series of challenges, including news stresses on old infrastructures and a shift in the skills private industry is looking for. For example, IBM’s Eastern Region, General Manager, Phil Guido noted that the average Philadelphian commutes 32 minutes to work. With a growing population and stressed infrastructure he expects this commute to only grow longer.

How can Philadelphia turn this and other challenges into an opportunity? As the city undertakes projects to make aging buildings and transportation systems more efficient, and to transform public services such as education and social services, using new technologies to make them “smarter” also requires people with these new skill sets. The participants agreed that educating young people to be tech-savvy, creative thinkers with leadership skills to meet these challenge will be critical.

More important though will be creating an environment that will encourage these young people to stay local and apply these skills to the Philadelphia’s future. This will involve making the city a destination for skilled workers looking for a lifestyle in tune with their priorities. The Mayor’s GreenWorks Philadelphia plan to turn the city into the greenest city in America by 2015 is the type of initiative some participants pointed to as being a draw and a retainer of talent.

IBM encouraged the participants to join the global conversation taking place around the future of cities taking place as part of the Smarter Cities Scan.

Are the Mayor’s technology firm tax incentives not enough?

It’s been a few weeks now since Mayor Michael Nutter announced a tax incentive pilot for technology firms aimed at decreasing sales tax for service-based tech companies and, ultimately, attracting more businesses to Philadelphia.

For as much as we’ve heard support for the decision to eliminate taxes on sales outside of Philadelphia, there’s been criticism from local entrepreneurs that maybe the tax pilot isn’t much of an incentive at all, but it will help retain companies that are already here, some say.

Damon Alberts, whom with the Videogame Growth Initiative has helped lobby city and state government officials for the last year to create more opportunities for small video game studios in the city, praised the decision but said more work needed to be done. It’s by no means an end result, but a “step in the right direction,” he says.

“I wouldn’t call it an incentive, because really they’re removing a barrier. Now I don’t have to pay a tax that I shouldn’t have to pay anyway,” he told Technically Philly in a telephone interview in early March. Alberts was gearing up for a trip to Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, a popular annual gathering for the industry.

“It’s a step in the right direction because video game firms are on the Mayor’s radar,” he says.

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Nutter proposes “unprecedented” $120 million IT budget, moves toward paperless

Mayor Nutter has announced plans to significantly invest in city information technology and pursue paperless government efficiencies in an attempt to improve tech infrastructure, cut costs and streamline city services.

“We may not be completely paperless, but we will use less paper,” Nutter said in his budget address to City Council this morning before a packed crowed that filled the historic Council chamber’s floor and balcony seating.

If City Council approves the budget, Nutter says that an “unprecedented” investment in city technology will provide $120 million to improve IT over the next five years, including $25 million in FY11.

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City of Philadelphia to offer tax breaks to tech companies

Tech companies in Philadelphia might finally see some long-awaited light at the end of the tax tunnel.

Mayor Michael Nutter has announced tax breaks for technology, design and video game firms that would hopefully encourage more companies to set up shop in the city.

As the Metro reported this morning, under the new tax policy, tech sector businesses would not be taxed for services sold outside of Philadelphia, which could pave the way for tax overhauls for all city businesses. The news follows Nutter’s address to the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce last week outlining the need to experiment with the city’s tax structure.

Videogame Growth Initiative organizer Mike Worth, who’s helped lead a grass roots effort to lobby City Hall on tech tax issues, as we’ve reported, tells Metro that the incentives might help convince his game development studio Space Whale Studios to move downtown.

Nutter to Chamber: experiment with city biz taxes, retain tech firms

Comcast Exec. VP David Cohen, after introducing Mayor Michael Nutter. Photo by Rikard Larma for Metro

Life sciences, engineering, computer system design firms and the video game industry were among the members of the region’s creative economies whose fates were addressed during Mayor Michael Nutter’s address to the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce this week.

Those mentions, in addition to the rest of his speech, focused on the economy, noting that job creation is a top priority of the coming year and outlining an experimentation with the city’s tax structure. He also warned of another tight budget and tough economic year.

“When I took office one of my top priorities was to transform the way that city government interacts with business, to encourage investment and development, rather than chase it away,” Nutter said. “Now, with many Philadelphians out of work and small businesses struggling to survive, creating jobs and encouraging investment is no longer one of my top priorities, it is my top priority.”

Below, listen to Nutter’s speech.

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Friday Q&A: Councilman Bill Green talks technology and Philly Charter

Early this week, Councilman Bill Green and five members of City Council introduced legislation that would change Philadelphia’s Charter to include a permanent Chief Information Officer.

As we reported, the bill would continue consolidation of the city’s Information Technology resources and it would require that the CIO develop annually a 5-year technology strategy, among other changes.

We spoke with Green on Monday to put into perspective the reason for the legislation and whether or not the bill represents concern for current Chief Technology Officer Allan Frank’s leadership. Green’s answers, after the jump.

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City Council bill would make IT permanent part of city government

Councilman Bill Green and five members of City Council have co-sponsored legisilation that would create a permanent Charter position for a Chief Information Officer and would consolidate all of the city’s Information Technology resources under the Division of Technology.

The legislation would require the CIO to report directly to the Mayor and to create an annual IT strategic plan that includes productivity enhancements to help the city utilize paperless services. It also gives the CIO more oversight over city department technology appropriations.

“When they wrote the Charter in 1952, no one imagined there could be a paperless system,” Green told Technically Philly during a telephone interview this morning. “[The legislation would] make investment in and continual upgrade of our technology a permanent part of city government.”

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Nutter gives Allan Frank greater control of city’s IT

Philly Rocket Man Allan Frank has gone from Philadelphia’s chief information officer to chief technology officer and the staff he oversees has more than tripled to 520.

The reorganization of the city’s Division of Technology comes with Mayor Michael Nutter’s ninth executive order of the year, as reported by Marcia Gelbert on the Inquirer’s Heard in the Hall city government blog.

Sure doesn’t seem like the city wanted anyone to know about it though.

No press release or media advisory was dispatched or placed on the mayor office’s sleek Web site for which your tax dollars paid. Frank wasn’t immediately available for comment.

The details are below.

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Friday Tech Links: Glowing report on Ben Franklin Tech Partners called out plus more

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here.

The state budget deadline came and, like every other year of Gov. Ed Rendell’s tenure, it went by without a completed plan.

This year, though, the fight has something to do with the state collecting $3.5 billion less in taxes than it anticipated. So everyone’s feeling the pinch. Even, it seemed, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the state-funded, startup investment company that we reported could see a $10 million, 60 percent budget cut or more — and then others did too.

But the Inquirer’s Joe DiStefano thoughroghly researched the report, suggesting that the report BFTP pointed to in its defense was less than square — a report from the Pennsylvania Economy League that showed BFTP bringing in $3.50 for every $1 invested in it.

“That’s not real,” DiStefano wrote. “The authors [of the report] estimated, and extrapolated, and multipliered, using what the Economy League’s Rich Stein told me were “quasi-experimental” techniques.

According to his article, the state put $50.7 million into BFTP this year, a total Rendell wants to cut to $35 million the coming fiscal year. The original Senate Republican budget put it nearer to $20 million.

Little question remains whether BFTP has done good, but much debate, DiStefano clearly shows, can be had on if it’s done enough to avoid one of the largest state budget tightenings in recent memory.

After the jump, Michael Nutter is not on Twitter, a biomedical firm brings jobs to Philly and six other tech and innovation links you need in your life right now, including our most read story of the week.

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