The goal of our FutureStructure initiative is to help public sector leaders think more like system engineers and thereby get past the constraints inherent in the haphazard and siloed approaches that governments often encounter when conceiving of and building their future.
To that end, a core tenet of FutureStructure is to view cities and regions as systems or even “systems of systems.” This is critical to overcoming the problems we face in building livable communities, and central to the notion of FutureStructure. You can get a sense of a city as a system in the cornerstone article, “Vibrancy, Engineered."
Our aim is to serve as a catalyst to help foster new leadership communities and to encourage state and local leaders to apply system engineering concepts as they work to develop economically robust, vibrant communities. To achieve this, everyone must be at the table — policy leaders, fi nance executives, technology experts, environmental analysts and the private sector players who design and build infrastructure, not to mention the people government serves.
As part of FutureStructure, a joint initiative between e.Republic’s GOVERNING Institute and Center for Digital Government, we will be conducting year-round research, writing about best practices and innovation, as well as hosting two leadership events — one in Chicago in August and the other in San Francisco in November— to engage public and private sector leaders across the country and encourage them to share the challenges they face and the solutions they hope to achieve.
Among the many things we expect governments to do is ensure the future. Whether constructing transportation, water or energy systems; building and maintaining the quality of our children’s schools or ensuring public safety; the things that governments do — or don’t do — determine the quality of the future for all of us. We look forward to hearing from you.
