When Simone Babb was in the interview process for Orange County’s chief innovation officer position, she watched a county meeting that triggered an epiphany.
The first county commissioner meeting Babb watched online included a resident who used the public comment segment to ask what the county could do to solve the high number of pedestrian fatalities that plague metro Orlando. When Babb heard that, a “light bulb went on,” she told Orlando Business Journal.
Why this story matters: Orange County is a major customer and funder for tech firms, projects and initiatives in the region, and Babb will play a major role in those decisions in her position. Specifically, her background in transportation tech and planning can be valuable as the county mulls big investments in transit tech projects.
“I was like, ‘I'm not saying I'm going to solve world problems. I'm just saying I want an opportunity to maybe identify where those high-crash incidents locations are, to at least let the community know… we are using and exploring opportunities to help solve some of this.' ”
Babb took over as the county’s chief innovation and emerging technologies officer on Sept. 6, bringing two decades of technical, transportation planning and geographic information systems experience. Specifically, Babb led several Florida Department of Transportation Districts’ projects in connected vehicles and emerging technology as a consultant.
Here’s more from Babb on why she took on Orange County’s top innovation position and what she brings to the role:
How did you find this opportunity, and what interested you in the job? I went on Orange County's website because I was looking for a while for the right opportunity. This one presented itself favorably to me because it gave me so much more of a broader perspective than my current transportation background. What I liked about what I saw in the advertisement was everything was more oriented toward emerging and existing technologies beyond technology for transportation. Here, I have an opportunity where I can network with resources throughout the counties, a lot of additional opportunities essentially to be innovative across multiple disciplines.
What has it been like the first couple of months on the job? Any surprises? I'm getting exposed to many different meetings, outside of the realm of what I'm used to. I have been to, for example, the Orange Technical College meeting last week, where I actually got to see the approach the county and the public schools and all those agencies and private industry are working together on, collaboratively, to care about students and connecting and linking students to career opportunities. I went to the Dr. Phillips Center [for the Performing Arts], and I got to see how art is being used for mental benefits, for mental healing.
Are there specific areas of technology where you want to focus or you feel you bring the most value? It is actually on [the county’s] existing transportation plan or agenda to use some of those technologies I have the experience in, especially when you looking at electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, connected vehicles and the technology infrastructure that's needed to support that. I can offer the advantage of bringing some of those collaborative relationships and networking to the county and bringing some of those lessons learned.
Will you play a role in the Cenfluence tech cluster strategy with the Florida High Tech Corridor? I’ve probably been to about two or three meetings relevant to that. I plan to continue being part of the inner workings of those meetings. That initiative will help me become more familiar with what companies and agencies are out there trying to join or be part of those clusters… At the same time, if they can understand the needs of the county, it can go both ways, the reverse way where they can identify it as a resource for them to bring those tech agencies here and help stimulate that economic growth within Orange County.
Where was the last place you traveled? I went to Japan and Thailand a year before Covid. That was about a three-week trip. My favorite of all time is Greece.
Simone Babb
chief innovation and emerging technologies officer, Orange County
- Hometown: Originally from Trinidad and Tobago
- Age: 45
- Education: Valencia College (associate degree), University of Central Florida (bachelor’s degree)
- Hobbies: Cycling, home renovation, traveling
Sign up here for The Beat, Orlando Inno’s free newsletter. And be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
