Council wants GeniUS! business ideas

York's first community open innovation forum - GeniUS! - is getting down to 'business' this week - as it poses the latest challenge:

How can City of York Council work with small businesses more effectively and with fewer barriers? How could smaller businesses, entrepreneurs or individuals approach the council with their ideas, products and services more easily?

GeniUS!, launched by City of York Council and Science City York in January, is a web forum where ideas and people come together to help solve some of the city's big challenges. Residents, community groups, businesses, entrepreneurs and innovators everywhere are being encouraged to share their fresh thinking and innovative approaches to four key challenges at www.geniusyork.com.
The scheme is being supported by NESTA - the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts - which promotes innovation in the UK. If GeniUS! really takes off, NESTA could award the city £250,000 to take forward the ideas and lead the way nationally. Promising ideas will be investigated by experts, working with the originator and affected groups and, if plans are agreed, the Council has committed to make them reality.

This week's challenge recognises that it's not always easy doing business with a large, complex and sometimes bureaucratic organisation. A fact which may put off smaller businesses and individuals. The Council, as a major user of goods and services in the city, wants to open up more opportunities for smaller, independent enterprises and traders to work with it, which can both help boost the local economy and enable the Council to procure the best deals.

Entrepreneurs, independents, innovators, individuals and small to medium-sized businesses everywhere are being encouraged to give their ideas about how the Council can make it easier to do business with it or how can individuals and businesses can approach it with beneficial products and services on the GeniUS! forum now.
A panel of experts will select the most promising ideas and will work with the originator and partners to take them forward. Once a plan to develop the idea has been agreed, the council has committed to making it happen.

Initially, the GeniUS! project wants to get everyone - including residents, community groups, businesses, sole traders and students - to respond with suggestions and fresh thinking around four key challenges:

How can underused council assets like equipment, property, vehicles, buildings and land, be exploited to benefit businesses, the community and the council?
How can footfall and transport be used to generate income and improve environmental sustainability in the city? For example, could we install special paving on York's busiest streets to generate electricity through converting energy from footfall?
How can we help older and vulnerable people stay in their homes? How could assisted living, buddy systems, safety improvements and tools help to reduce isolation? Could it mean using innovations such as timers on TVs to help prompt people with memory loss to take their medication?
How can City of York Council work with small businesses more effectively and with fewer barriers?
All the relevant details and background information on the challenges are online and participants just need click reply to submit their ideas. Or, they can be emailed to genius@york.gov.uk

Since its launch on 26 January, 111 people have joined the GeniUS! forum, 147 are following its progress on twitter - @GeniUSYork - and, most importantly, over 30 great ideas have already been put forward.

Cllr James Alexander, Labour leader of City of York Council said: "We understand how vital the success of the small and independent business sector is to the general health of York's economy - that's why we're launching the new Economic Infrastructure Fund - and, as a major buyer of goods and services, we have a duty to ensure that we make it easy for smaller enterprises and traders to work with us. We're open to any new ideas on how we can support them to do that so we're encouraging everyone to find out more and post their suggestions at www.geniusyork.com ."

Kersten England, chief executive of City of York Council said: "We're already putting in place a number of improvements to help open up the processes and channels for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to bid for contracts and work at the council but we'd like to do more. The GeniUS! platform is a great way for people to share their ideas around the issue and the council is committed to taking the best forward."

www.geniusyork.com

http://www.york.gov.uk/news/

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