Portland is known for buying local. Almost ridiculously so. Isn’t that right, Colin? So it only stands to reason that our technology purchases should follow similar suit. Which is exactly what the Portland Development Commission is proposing to the City of Portland.
Mayor Charlie Hales’ new Innovation Fund, a $1 million experiment aimed at fostering better, money-saving approaches for the city… gets its first test run this month, when a task force evaluates 24 proposals to spend some of the $1 million cash set aside by the mayor in his inaugural city budget.
One of those proposals is a matching-funds effort from the PDC, encouraging the City of Portland to spend its IT budget on solutions grown right here in Portland. They’re proposing to “Create an Early Adopter program, so city bureaus can be a ‘living laboratory’ and early adopter of locally created tech products and services.” They would like $80,000 from the City which will be matched by the PDC.
For more information on the program and the proposals, see the Portland Tribune writeup.
