SCORING CRITERIA
Please review the following Criteria before completing your application. Part I of the application includes open-ended questions about your project. Framing your Part I responses around these Criteria will help ensure your application thorough and focused. Part II of the application includes more focused questions about each Criteria.
These Criteria will be used by the Scoring Committee to review applications and when conducting interviews with applicants:
1. Alignment with City Values
- Description: Considers how the innovation reflects the core values of the City, including Innovation. An outline of our core values, and indicators for each are provided below:
- Indicators:
- Purpose-Driven - Our purpose is to be America’s most desirable mid-sized city. So for whom does your innovation make Greensboro more desirable? Residents, or wildlife, or businesses, or visitors, or some other stakeholder group?
- People-Centered - Nearly all public service innovations are focused on people in some way. But did your innovation leverage the community engagement process into the initial design and planning of the innovation?
- Data-Informed - Data doesn't just mean having numbers. It means answering the question, “how can we be of maximum service?” Does the innovation use data like personal stories and statistics to guide the innovation's design or to make mid-course adjustments when needed? Showing the link between data and decisions builds public trust.
- Equity - Not to be confused with sameness, equity means seeing that sometimes there is a relationship between advantage and disadvantage that comes from system design. This means the innovation was inspired by reimagining a system in a way that reduces barriers. It means the innovation addresses root unfairness in some way to help people access opportunities and maintain dignity.
- Resiliency & Sustainability - Means consistent, enduring services are available for future generations that reduces waste and renews resources. So did the innovation consider environmental, social and economic impacts? Does it involve a long-term approach that is adaptable and tolerant to risks?
- Prosperity - Means increasing access to resources for a higher life quality. While the meaning of prosperity can vary, did the innovation impact how residents experience individual growth and wholeness?
- Innovation - Means boldly improving technology, industries, programs and services. All award submissions align with this core value in some way, hence the need for the remaining criteria outlined below.
2. Service Delivery and Fiscal Impact
- Description: Evaluates how the innovation has enhanced service delivery within the city, and how the innovation supports being good stewards of public resources.
- Indicators: Determines the ways in which the innovation has generally enhanced public services through things like technology, community engagement, employee development, data analysis, increased accountability, and beyond. It also assess if the innovation provided a fiscal impact by reducing costs, increasing revenues, expanded economic investment, or increased the tax & user fee base.
3. Originality and Creativity
- Description: Assesses the novelty and creativity of the innovation.
- Indicators: Considers whether the idea is unique within the city or local government context in general, whether it represents a new approach or adaptation of existing practices, and how innovative thinking was applied.
4. Scalability and Transferability
- Description: Determines the potential for the innovation to be scaled or replicated in other departments or jurisdictions.
- Indicators: Looks at whether the innovation can be easily adapted or expanded to benefit other areas of local government, whether it has potential for broader application, and any plans the applicant has for sharing or scaling the innovation.
5. Collaboration and Partnership
- Description: Evaluates the degree to which the innovation involved collaboration across departments, with community stakeholders, or with external partners.
- Indicators: Considers how teamwork and partnerships contributed to the development and implementation of the innovation, and the impact of these collaborations on its success.
6. Sustainability and Long-Term Benefits
- Description: Determines the potential for the innovation to have lasting benefits and sustainability.
- Indicators: Looks at whether the innovation promotes environmental sustainability, fiscal responsibility, or social equity, and its potential to generate long-term savings or efficiencies.
7. Adaptability to Challenges
- Description: Evaluates how the innovation addressed specific challenges or opportunities faced by the city.
- Indicators: Considers the responsiveness of the innovation to emerging needs or unexpected challenges, and the flexibility demonstrated in its implementation or adaptation over time.
8. Measurable Outcomes
- Description: Evaluates the effectiveness of the innovation based on measurable outcomes and impact.
- Indicators: Considers quantifiable results such as cost savings, efficiency improvements, increased revenue, enhanced service quality, or positive community feedback.
9. Improvements in Management/Organizational Culture
- Description: Determines if the innovation has an impact on broader management practices and processes across the city as a whole, or on overall organizational culture.
- Indicators: Considers innovations that improve leadership, governance, decision-making, performance management, or employee development within the local government context.
10. Ethical Considerations and Compliance
- Description: Evaluates whether the innovation adheres to ethical standards, legal requirements, and regulatory compliance.
- Indicators: Considers any ethical dilemmas addressed, the impact on transparency and accountability, and the demonstration of integrity in the innovation's development and implementation.