In just nine months since taking office in January, Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has made it a priority to include the city's burgeoning tech industry in her still-developing plans for an improved District.
This focus has already cemented itself in a variety of ways, including the launch of several civic programs during InnoMAYtion, which was a month long initiative that saw the D.C. city government work with the tech sector to foster training courses, speaking events and educational tech programs for local residents, among other things.
Though her predecessors—specifically former D.C. mayors Fenty and Grey—were involved and interested in furthering the local tech scene as a way to create attractive high income jobs, Bowser's continued and public relationship with tech incubator 1776 appears to epitomize a hope that local innovation could become a catalyst towards improving both governance and city life.
Last month, Bowser offered $60 million in tax breaks to keep D.C.-based healthcare tech research and consulting giant, the Advisory Board Company, headquartered in the city. And in the past, she has worked to keep large tech employers like Blackboard and ABC in the District, even while neighboring Governor Terry McAuliffe is actively attracting regional businesses to northern Virginia with incentive packages.
Bowser is undoubtedly what many would consider a more "tech-friendly" representative than her contemporaries, but legit questions still exist about what the mayor will do to improve the city's tech economy. This arguably begins with a greater focus and connection to individual startups and programs that benefit early stage tech cos.
To get a better idea at what can be done to improve D.C.'s growing tech ecosystem, DC Inno spoke to a group of local executives from a range of different tech companies. These executives lead businesses at different growth stages, within different industry sectors, but are equally invested in the advancement of D.C. as a tech hub for various reasons.
We posed a simple, two-part question: What projects would you like to see the local government take on or invest more in? And how would it help your business and/or the general D.C. tech scene?
Here’s what they had to say:
Gautam Thakar — LivingSocial CEO/President
"We would love to see D.C. invest in advanced engineering and technology education, graduate centers of excellence, public-private partnerships to incentivize entrepreneurs, and to continue to foster a business-friendly environment. It goes without saying that a robust technology hub in D.C. will benefit not only our business but the entire city in countless ways."
Anna Buglaeva — Aquicore Business Development Manager
"The DC City Gov should definitely have more projects like the Digital DC Tech Grant. This is an amazing initiative for startup companies. The grant itself certainly helps, but it does so much more than just that. It brings attention to the company and the city, so talent that already wants to work in the tech industry knows more about the scene. It would also be fantastic to have even more tech events, hosted by the city, so that we can come together. With the growing number of tech companies in the District, we need to attract talent from other regions as well. Especially recent grads that are looking for their next big adventure. D.C. is a fantastic city, but many in the country might not realize what it has to offer in this arena. Generally, we need to attract more national attention."
Emmanuel Azih — SmarterSocket Founder
"I would like to see the government invest in indoor localization infrastructure. I think it's crazy that in 2015, mobile devices lack granular location context when inside buildings because GPS doesn't work indoors [like in the metro]. For example, if I dialed 911 using my cell from my 8th floor apartment, first responders wouldn't know my actual location. This is a huge problem. Government incentives to integrate in-building localization technology would improve public safety and makes economic sense. I'd love to see the D.C. city government pioneer this change, as it would also foster new business growth and bring IoT developer talent to the District."
Amber Wason — Riide CMO/Co-founder
"I think the general D.C. tech scene would benefit most by having increased access to capital, especially in early stage investment. We would like to see the Mayor implement policies that incentivize more investment in D.C.-based companies. Additionally, catalyst funds such as The Digital DC Tech Fund [Riide was a recipient of the inaugural fund] encourages companies to maintain a District presence. In addition, publicizes and legitimizes the innovation that is already happening in the district, providing access to capital for people who might not have the personal network to pull together that first friends and family raise."
Dr. Ximena Hartsock — Phone2Action President/Co-founder
"The next step is for the city to help companies grow and stay here in order to create jobs and further expand business opportunity to others. To do that the government has to invest in programs that effectively attract and produce talent. Education and innovation go hand in hand. To address the current tech talent gap that exists we need a clear vision on how to develop a talent pipeline. Right now, too many engineering jobs are going to people outside the District—many just a few miles way into northern Virginia. In addition, the city should invest in attracting and opening conversation with more local venture capital firm—many of whom are investing in other regions, currently. The Mayor can help local companies by celebrating their successes and bringing up-and-coming startups to the attention of investors, as they have already begun to do."
Edward Switzer, Create.io Founder/COO
"One thing that I would really like to see D.C. change are the barriers to entry to become a Certified Business Entity (CBE). In order to contract with the DC government you must be registered as a CBE under their requirements, however, many of them are very difficult for technology companies (especially new ones) to meet. For Create, becoming a CBE would allow us to work more closely with the District on their property data aggregation and visualization efforts. In general, there are a lot of tech companies in this area [especially over at 1776] that are focused on smart cities and innovation in the public sector, it would make a lot of sense for the District to embrace this and work with us."
Juan Pablo — Babyscripts (EQ1) President/Co-Founder
"I would encourage the D.C. government to really focus on attracting startups to the city. Often times the government does a great job of creating an initiative and then some PR around an event but then things just wither away. Maybe it can put the proverbial money where their mouths are and use the windfall to fund innovation grants. These innovation grants can attract more entrepreneurs or even be used to differentiate the city as a leader in stimulating innovation."
