[Technology and Innovation Committee on August 20, 2026.]
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THE TIME IS 2:01 PM I WILL CALL TO ORDER THE AUGUST MEETING OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION COMMITTEE.
I REPRESENT DISTRICT H AND SERVE AS THE CHAIR OF THIS COMMITTEE.
AND TODAY I'M JOINED BY COLLEAGUES, COUNCIL MEMBER SALLY ALCORN, VICE MAYOR PRO TEM AMY PECK, ALONG WITH STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER PANZELLA'S OFFICE, AND COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S OFFICE, AND ALSO VICE CHAIR COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ.
WE HAVE, UM, THREE ITEMS ON THE AGENDA TODAY, SO WE'LL, UH, MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT.
I DO JUST WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR BEING PRESIDENT.
THIS IS OUR THIRD MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE.
UH, WE HAVE LOOKED INWARD AT THE CITI.
WE HAVE LOOKED OUTWARD AT OUR, UH, INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM AND LANDSCAPE.
AND TODAY WE'LL BE DOING A, A MIX OF BOTH.
UM, BUT WE'RE GONNA START WITH IMPACT HUB HOUSTON AND CATALYZING IMPACT INNOVATION.
I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME GRACE RODRIGUEZ, THE CO-FOUNDER AND CEO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF IMPACT HUB HOUSTON FOR OUR FIRST PRESENTATION.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON COUNSELING COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
UM, AS A, YOU HEARD, I'M GRACE RODRIGUEZ, CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF IMPACT HUB HOUSTON, AND I WANNA SHARE A FEW THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING TO TURN HOUSTON CIVIC INNOVATION AND BUSINESS COMMUNITIES INTO ONE COORDINATED ENGINE FOR GROWTH IN OUR REGION.
UM, I SHARED A LOT OF SLIDES WITH A LOT OF CONTENT FOR YOU TO REFER BACK TO LATER.
UH, BUT FOR NOW I'LL MOVE QUICKLY THROUGH THE SLIDES, SO WE'LL HAVE SOME TIME FOR QUESTIONS AT THE END.
AND SO, UM, I SAW THAT YOU HAD, YOU KNOW, SOME FRIENDS AND FREQUENT COLLABORATORS PRESENT LAST TIME, UM, LAWSON JR.
AND TAYLOR, AND I SAW TAYLOR PROVIDED SOME BACKGROUND FOR HIM, SO I FIGURED I'LL PROVIDE YOU.
CAN YOU GO TO NEXT EMMANUEL? UM, WITH MY LOGO SOUP? UM, LET'S SEE.
SO THESE ARE SOME OF THE ORGANIZATIONS I'VE EITHER SERVED ON THE BOARD FOR, UH, BEING A PART OF CO-LED OR CO-FOUNDED OVER THE YEARS.
AND MY APPROACH AND PERSPECTIVE TO THIS WORK COMES FROM DEEP PRACTICAL WORK IN AND WITH THE DIVERSE COMMUNITIES THAT THESE LOGOS REPRESENT.
NEXT, UM, SINCE FOUNDING, UH, TO IMPACT ABUSE IN 2018, WE'VE BEEN INSPIRING, CONNECTING AND ENABLING PEOPLE TO BUILD SOLUTIONS WITH REAL WORLD IMPACT.
WE CULTIVATE COMMUNITY, FACILITATE ECOSYSTEMS, EMPOWER ENTREPRENEURS, AND DEVELOP INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUSTAIN AND SCALE ALL OF THAT WORK EFFECTIVELY.
AND OUR RES RESULTS ARE PRETTY GOOD.
WE'VE CONNECTED OVER 32,000 EVENT ATTENDEES, COLLABORATED WITH OVER 128 COMMUNITY PARTNERS, SUPPORTED OVER 2000 ENTREPRENEURS, AND CONNECTED OVER 74 BUSINESSES WITH 56 MILLION PLUS IN CAPITAL AND CONTRACTS IN THE LAST TWO YEARS ALONE.
NEXT, AND WE ARE ALSO PART OF A GLOBAL NETWORK OF OVER 135 IMPACT HUBS ACROSS 70 PLUS COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD.
UM, WE ARE RECOGNIZED BY THE UNITED NATIONS AS THE WORLD'S LARGEST COMMUNITY ACCELERATING SOLUTIONS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS.
AND YOU CAN REFER BACK TO THIS AGAIN, I, THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
AND SO NEXT, THE FIRST THING I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU TODAY IS THE UPCOMING HOUSTON HACKATHON NEXT FOUNDED IN 2013.
THE HOUSTON HACKATHON BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER TO TACKLE LOCAL CHALLENGES AND COLLABORATE ON SOLUTIONS WITH POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE LIFE IN OUR REGION.
WE HOST IT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY'S OFFICE OF INNOVATION.
SO JESSE BOUNDS HAS BEEN A, UM, AN ALLY, UM, AND SUPPORTER FOR SINCE THE BEGINNING.
UM, ANYONE CAN BRING AN IDEA OR TACKLE A CHALLENGE POSTED BY THE CITY COMMUNITY GROUPS OR NEIGHBORS.
SO WE INVITE YOU TO SUBMIT CHALLENGES TOO.
THIS YEAR'S HACKATHON KICKS OFF ON SEPTEMBER 25TH AT THE ION, AND WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU SUBMIT A CHALLENGE.
MAYBE HAVE YOU OR YOUR STAFF VOLUNTEER, UM, DONATE TO THE CAUSE.
OF COURSE, WE WANNA FEED EVERYBODY, MAKE SURE EVERYBODY'S RESOURCES AND THEN, OR IF AT LEAST SHOW UP AS AN OBSERVER.
SO SINCE 2013, OVER 140 SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN BUILT.
LAST YEAR, FOUR WINNERS DIRECTLY TACKLED CITY PRIORITIES, INCLUDING THE HOUSTON READY HUB, A FOCUS ON DISASTER PREP, THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS WIZARD ADDRESSED STORM READINESS, A DIGITAL BULLETIN BOARD ADDRESSED CIVIC TRANSPARENCY, AND THAT WAS A CHALLENGE THAT JESSE HIMSELF PRESENTED.
AND THEN HELPING HIVE MATCHES VOLUNTEERS TO NEIGHBORS IN NEED.
AND WE HAVE TWO SUCCESS STORIES AS PROOF OF THE HACKATHON WORKING IN JUST ONE YEAR OR TWO SOLUTIONS WERE PILOTED AND ARE BEING LAUNCHED.
UH, STEP UP BECAME COMMUNITY EXCHANGE, A PROJECT OF THE CHANGE LAB, WHICH IS NOW FISCALLY SPONSORED BY IMPACT HUB HOUSTON.
IT CENTRALIZES INFO FROM OVER 7 7500 ORGANIZATIONS
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AND 5,500 VERIFIED RESOURCES ACROSS 89 NEIGHBORHOODS.IT'S TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND VIETNAMESE.
AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND GOING AND CHECKING IT OUT.
COMMUNITY EXCHANGE.US BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY HELPS PEOPLE FIND WHO REPRESENTS THEM, WHAT THEY, UM, THE POLICIES, THE POSITIONS THAT THEY HAVE, AND HOW THEY CAN ENG GET ENGAGED WITH THEIR ELECTED OFFICIALS.
AND THEN THE SECOND SUCCESS STORY IS FRIENDER LAST YEAR'S PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER.
IT IS NOW LIVE AS FRIENDER FOR LIFE.
IT WAS BUILT BY VOLUNTEER DEVELOPERS AND THE FRIENDS FOR LIFE ANIMAL SHELTERS ON STAFF.
SO IT MATCHES PEOPLE WITH POTENTIAL PETS.
AND SO HOW THIS HELPS HOUSTON, UH, IT GIVES THIS IDEA OF LOW COST RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION PIPELINE.
IT DEEPENS CITY RELATIONSHIPS WITH PARTNERS AND RESIDENTS, HELPS BUILD CIVIL CIVIC TRUST AND PARTICIPATION AND FEEDS INNOVATIVE IDEAS AND TALENT INTO OUR ACCELERATOR PATHWAYS SO PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY GO ON TO BUILD STARTUPS AROUND THESE SOLUTIONS AND THEN CREATE JOBS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.
AND SO NEXT IS OUR TALENT PIPELINE INITIATIVE.
UM, FORWARD OUR FUTURE READY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
AND NEXT, IN DECEMBER OF 2022, JP MORGAN CHASE ANCHORED A 17 MEMBER RESILIENCY WORKFORCE COLLABORATIVE LED BY THE HOUSTON CITY COLLEGE WITH A CITY HARRIS COUNTY AND THE A GREATER WORK, UH, GULF COAST WORKFORCE BOARD, WHICH I'M ON THE BOARD OF, UM, AND IMPACT OF HOUSTON AMONG THE FOUNDING MEMBERS.
THE GOAL IS ONE, COORDINATED TALENT DEVELOP ECOSYSTEM FOR CLEAN ENERGY, DISASTER RESPONSE, RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE, AND SKILLED TRADES NEXT.
AND SO, WHILE OUR IMPACT HUB HOUSTON'S ROLE STARTED AS THE ECOSYSTEM PLAYBOOK AND PLATFORM DEVELOPER FOR THE COLLABORATIVE, WE'RE NOW TAPPING OUR TECH AND STARTUP COMMUNITY TO HELP PROVIDE, UH, FUTURE READY WORKFORCE TRAINING AND COACHING, INCREASING EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT AND HELPING TALENT GET CERTIFIED IN AI DATA ANALYTICS, CYBERSECURITY, AND MORE IMPACT HUB'S.
KEY DIFFERENTIATOR IS OUR DUAL PATHWAY.
SO PEOPLE ARE PREPARED NOT ONLY TO GET A JOB, BUT ALSO TO START AND GROW BUSINESSES TO CREATE JOBS NEXT.
AND SO HOW THIS HELPS HOUSTON, IT HELPS TO STRENGTHEN HOUSTON'S TECH TALENT PIPELINE.
THESE CAREERS BUILD THE WORKFORCE HOUSTON'S FUTURE NEEDS WHILE OFFERING MEDIAN SALARIES OVER $96,000 FOR THESE, A LOT OF THESE, UM, CAREERS, UM, TURNING THEIR CREDENTIALS INTO REAL UPWARD MOBILITY AND HOUSEHOLD WEALTH BUILDING NEXT.
AND SO NOW THIS PIECE THAT TIES EVERYTHING TOGETHER IS OUR ECOSYSTEM PLATFORM SYNC.
NEXT, I WANTED TO PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT FOR THIS.
SO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM, HERE'S SOME QUICK BACKGROUND.
HOUSTON'S GRASSROOTS INNOVATION SCENE GOES BACK TO THE EIGHTIES, UH, THROUGH THE LATE 1819 HUNDREDS, UH, THROUGH THE EMERGENCE OF ENTREPRENEUR SUPPORT INITIATIVES AND THE RISE OF STARTUP INCUBATORS AND COWORKING SPACES.
SO THIS COMMUNITY HAS BEEN ORGANIZING ITSELF FOR OVER 40 YEARS.
NEXT, UM, FAST FORWARD, UH, BETWEEN 2015 AND 2020, WE SAW RAPID GROWTH SPURRED BY HOUSTON'S LOW RANKING ON VENTURE ACTIVITY AND THE RACE FOR AMAZON'S HQ TWO.
SO J AND I AND BLAIR GURU AND EMILY KEATON, UH, STARTED STATION HOUSTON TO PROVIDE A CENTRAL POINT FOR EVERYONE TO CONNECT AND COLLABORATE AND TO GIVE AND GET SUPPORT FASTER AND BETTER ACROSS THE ECOSYSTEM.
AND FAST FORWARD A FEW YEARS, WE'VE LEARNED THAT RACING AHEAD WITHOUT A COORDINATED STRATEGY AMONG ALL OF THE ECOSYSTEM STAKEHOLDERS AND WITHOUT ALL OF THEIR BUY-IN, LED TO CONFUSION AMONG LEADERSHIP, UH, PERCEIVED COMPETITION FOR RESOURCES AND, AND FUNDING AND FRAGMENTED INEFFICIENT ENTREPRENEUR SUPPORT.
SO TO DEVELOP A SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY, WE REALLY MUST INCLUDE ALL, UH, STOS OR STARTUP DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS AND TRANSFORM THEM INTO ALLIES AND PARTNERS IN MAPPING ROLES, IDENTIFYING GAPS AND FILLING THEM AND THEN RESOURCING THEM AND FUNDING THEM IN A WAY THAT INCENTIVIZES ONGOING COLLABORATION AND MUTUAL SUPPORT VERSUS COMPETITION.
AND THEN AS THESE EFFORTS CAME TOGETHER AND MATURED, OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE BECAME EVIDENT.
UM, HOUSTON IS MUCH BIGGER THAN THE INNOVATION CORRIDOR AND THE ENERGY CORRIDOR.
AND YOU KNOW, LITERALLY AND METAPHORICALLY WE ARE BIGGER THAN THIS.
AND THE NEED AND THE OPPORTUNITY THAT FACES US IS ALSO MUCH BIGGER THAN THIS.
NEXT, THE GEOGRAPHICAL CHALLENGE REPRESENTS THE MANY PRACTICAL CHALLENGES.
SO LOCALLY, UM, THE MAYOR'S WOMEN AND MINORITY BUSINESS TASK FORCE THAT WAS STARTED BY COUNCIL MEMBER AMANDA EDWARDS IDENTIFIED 24 DISTINCT GAPS AMONG THAT WERE LIMITING HOUSTON AREA BUSINESSES, CAPACITY, CAPITAL, AND NAVIGATION.
HOUSTON HAS OVER 80 SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS LARGELY WORKING IN SILOS WITH FEW WAYS, IF ANY, TO REGULARLY WORK TOGETHER TO SHARE RESOURCES AND DATA OR TO TRACK IMPACT ACROSS THE BROADER ECOSYSTEM OVER TIME.
UM, GLOBALLY IMPACT HUBS OWN 135 PLUS NETWORK FACES THE SAME PROBLEM AT SCALE.
SO THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT SILOED WORK MEANS DUPLICATED EFFORT, INEFFICIENT RESOURCE ALLOCATION, INVISIBLE EXPERTISE, AND ENTREPRENEURS MISSING RESOURCES.
SO THAT'S, THOSE CHALLENGES ARE WHY WE'RE BUILDING SYNC.
SYNC STANDS FOR SYSTEM FOR NETWORK COLLABORATION AND IT WORKS AT TWO LEVELS LOCALLY.
IT PROVIDES A SINGLE PLACE OF TRUTH CONNECTING HOUSTON'S CHAMBERS, ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS, CAPITAL PROVIDERS AND SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS, STREAMLINING
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INTAKE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP OR ALREADY ENTREPRENEURS MATCHING THEM TO THE RIGHT RESOURCE AT THE RIGHT TIME, DEPENDING ON THEIR STAGE.ENABLING COLLABORATION AMONG THE SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS AND AUTOMATING FOLLOW-UP SUPPORT AND SHARED PERFORMANCE DASHBOARDS.
SO WE CAN ALL KIND OF SEE WHERE WE ARE AND HOW WE'RE DOING AS AN ECOSYSTEM.
IT'S BUILT AS THIS SUPERSET OF THE EXISTING SUPPORT STACK PLATFORM THAT WE WERE DOING THAT WAS FUNDED BY JPMC AND WHICH WAS STARTED TO COORDINATE 60 PLUS REGIONAL PARTNERS GLOBALLY.
SYNC IS AN AI POWERED PLATFORM THAT WE'RE LEADING ALONGSIDE THE IMPACT HUBS IN STOCKHOLM, ARUBA, AND HEDERA BOD WITH 25 HUBS ACROSS FIVE CONTINENTS ALREADY COMMITTED TO PILING IT OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
SO WE'LL HAVE SOME ROBUST DATA AFTER THAT TOO.
AND TOGETHER SYNC LOCAL AND GLOBAL WILL CONNECT HOUSTON DIRECTLY TO 135 PLUS IMPACT HUB COMMUNITIES AND MARKETS WORLDWIDE AND TO THEIR MENTORS AND RESOURCES AS WELL.
SO, UM, THIS NEXT SLIDE IS A, A SCREENSHOT OF THE SYNC GLOBAL PLATFORM AND, UH, IT'S KIND OF FUZZY, BUT I'M HAPPY TO TO MEET WITH YOU ALL IN THE FUTURE OR PROVIDE A DEMO OF BOTH OF THE PLATFORMS IF YOU WANNA DIG A LITTLE DEEPER INTO IT.
UM, SO HOW THIS HELPS, HOUSTON IS A STRONGER SUPPORT PIPELINE FOR THE PEOPLE FUELING THE TALENT AND INNOVATION PIPELINES SYNC ENABLES GREATER TRANSPARENCY, TRUST, COORDINATION, AND COLLABORATION AMONG STAKEHOLDERS.
BETTER, ROI THROUGH SHARED INFRASTRUCTURE, LOCAL GLOBAL CONNECTION, AND IT POSITIONS HOUSTON AS A KEYNOTE IN A WORLDWIDE IMPACT ECONOMY.
AND SO HOW YOU CAN HELP IS CHAMPION IMPACT INNOVATION.
SO WE INVITE YOU TO CHAMPION THE HOUSTON HACKATHON BY JOINING US ON SEPTEMBER 25TH AND BRINGING YOUR CHALLENGES CHAMPION FORWARD AS A CORE, YOU KNOW, FUTURE READINESS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AS A CORE TALENT DEVELOPMENT AND WORKFORCE RESILIENCE STRATEGY.
HELP US, UH, CHAMPION PUBLIC PRIVATE IN, UH, INVESTMENT MATCHING FUNDS IN KIND SPACE PROCUREMENT PATHWAYS AND PILOT OPPORTUNITIES FOR ECOSYSTEM STAKEHOLDERS TO LEVERAGE, TO SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURS AND THEN CHAMPIONS TO SYNC AS AN ECOSYSTEM COORDINATION RESOURCE BY CONNECTING US TO PARTNERS AND FUNDERS.
AND NEXT, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND FOR EVERYTHING YOU WERE DOING TO SUPPORT HOUSTON'S TECH AND INNOVATION COMMUNITIES.
AND SO I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
ALRIGHT, UH, GRACE, FANTASTIC PRESENTATION AND YOU REALLY PACKED A LOT INTO 15 MINUTES THERE,
I TRIED TO, UM, THERE'S, THERE'S A, A FEW THINGS THAT I THINK ARE REALLY WORTH HIGHLIGHTING AND, AND DIGGING INTO A LITTLE DEEPER.
UM, I KNOW YOU HIGHLIGHTED TWO SUCCESSES FROM THAT, AND ONE OF THE WAYS WE CAN HELP IS PROVIDING QUESTIONS AND, AND PROBLEMS TO SOLVE.
HOW SPECIFIC DO THOSE NEED TO BE OR BROAD FOR THERE TO BE, YOU KNOW, A SOLUTION THAT COMES OUT OF THE HACKATHON? UM, THE MORE SPECIFIC AND DATA THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE, THE MORE SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION AND DATA THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE, THE MORE CONCRETE THE SOLUTION WILL BE.
UM, IF IT IS BROADER CONNECTING, UM, OR LIKE SAYING, HERE ARE SOME ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE WORKING ON THIS OR HERE ARE SEARCH TERMS TO USE WILL HELP THE HACKERS ALSO FIND OTHER RESOURCES THAT YOU MIGHT NOT ALREADY HAVE ACCESS TO.
BUT YOU KNOW, TO BE HONEST, THE THE CHALLENGE CAN BE ANYTHING, RIGHT? AND YOU CAN MAKE IT AS AS BROAD AND AS EXPANSIVE OR AS VERY SPECIFIC TO A SPECIFIC ZIP CODE OR NEIGHBORHOOD AS YOU WANT IT TO BE.
WE HAVE, UH, VICE CHAIR MARTINEZ FOR A QUESTION.
UH, GRACE, GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
UH, I THINK WE MET SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR AND SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS, YOU'RE YOU'RE SPEAKING TO IT NOW.
UM, I, I, FOR ME, WHAT I'D LIKE TO, UM, KIND OF JUST DRILL DOWN TO SAME CONVERSATION I HAD LAST, UH, COMMITTEE MEETING.
WHAT ROLE HAS THE CITY OF HOUSTON PLAYED WITH IMPACT CG, UH, HUB FINANCIALLY, STAFFING WISE HERE AT THE CITY? UM, AND WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW? HAS BEEN, AND NOW, UM, WITH THE ORGANIZATION DIRECTLY, THERE HASN'T BEEN, UM, DIRECT SUPPORT OR ENGAGEMENT, UM, FROM IMPACT OF HOUSTON SIDE.
UM, I'VE BEEN ON THE BOARD OF OBO AND, AND PARTICIPATE IN A LOT OF THINGS WITH OTHER PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, THAT HAVE SERVED ON CITY COUNCIL OR ARE PART OF STAFF.
UM, BUT I THINK THE HOUSTON HACKATHON AND OTHER INITIATIVES, LIKE IT COULD BE WAYS THAT WE COULD PARTNER MORE DIRECTLY, RIGHT? BECAUSE I THINK NOW THAT WE, WE'VE FOCUSED THE FIRST, I WOULD SAY FIVE TO SIX YEARS MORE ON DIRECT ENTREPRENEUR SUPPORT.
IT'S, IT'S JUST RECENTLY THAT WE'RE NOW TRANSITIONING INTO MORE ECOSYSTEM FACILITATION SUPPORT BECAUSE NOBODY ELSE IS REALLY DOING IT WELL.
SO THAT, I THINK THAT'S AN AREA WHERE WORKING WITH THE COMMITTEE HERE WHERE WE CAN ACTUALLY SCALE UP THIS IMPACT ACROSS THE GREATER HOUSTON AREA TO THAT, UH, POINT AS FAR AS SCALING UP WHEN WE LOOK AT, UM, THE SILOS THAT YOU'RE SPEAKING TO, RIGHT? UM, IN ORDER TO START CONNECTING THE DOTS, CREATING THE, THESE, YOU HAVE SEVERAL, SEVERAL INNOVATION HUBS, BUT CREATING KIND OF A HOUSTON HUB.
WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? YEAH.
UM, HOW COULD WE, WE HAVE A COMMITTEE NOW.
I KNOW WE WERE LOOKING AT A, A COUNCIL OF FOLKS, UH, TO PARTICIPATE IN, BUT NOT WITH THIS COMMITTEE.
HOW CAN THIS COMMITTEE SUPPORT CREATING, UM, A ECOSYSTEM OF THE SILOS COMING TOGETHER? AND SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS WE HAD
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WERE, WERE, UH, WE NEED THE UNIVERSITIES TO BE IN ALIGNMENT AND THEN FROM THERE START WORKING THROUGHOUT ALL THE DIFFERENT OTHER SYSTEMS, WHETHER IT'S WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, WHETHER IT'S, UM, YOU'RE SAYING ONE OF THE CHALLENG IS CAPITAL, SO HOW DO YOU GET VENTURE CAPITALISTS COME INTO HOUSTON? HOW DO WE PACKAGE ALL THAT UP? AND I KNOW IT'S A BIG QUESTION, BIG TASK, BUT I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS.WE HAVE A PLATFORM, SO I'M READY TO START, START GETTING TO WORK.
SO, UM, QUICK NOTE, I USED TO WORK FOR GORDON QUANTUM WHEN HE WAS AT CITY COUNCIL HERE IN MAYOR PRO TEM.
AND THEN I WORKED WITH ED GONZALEZ WHEN WE WERE, WE LAUNCHED, YOU KNOW, THE MAYOR'S INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY TASK FORCE YEARS AGO.
SO I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS FOR LITERALLY DECADES NOW.
UM, THE THING IS THAT THE REASON WHY SYNC HUB NEEDS TO EXIST WHEN YOU WERE SAYING HOUSTON HUB, THE WAY WE CONNECT EVERYBODY AND FIND OUT WHO'S DOING WHAT, WHERE, AND HOW WELL THEY'RE DOING IT AND WHO THEY'RE SERVING IS BY HAVING A DIGITAL PLATFORM THAT CONNECTS ALL OF US, BECAUSE IT'S SO HARD TO HAVE VISIBILITY INTO WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE NORTHEAST SIDE WHEN WE'RE IN THE SOUTHWEST SIDE, FOR INSTANCE, RIGHT? SO IF AT FIRST WE CAN HAVE A FORM AND MAYBE WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION DO WE NEED FROM THE SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS, SO THEN WE CAN CREATE THAT FORM AND SEND IT OUT AS BROADLY AS POSSIBLE TO FIND OUT AGAIN WHO'S DOING WHAT.
AND THEN, UM, WE ALSO HAVE, THROUGH THE SYNC HUB PLATFORM, WE HAVE A, AN ENTREPRENEUR INTAKE FORM, A BUSINESS HEALTH DIAGNOSTIC.
WE WORK WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS TO DEVELOP OTHER DIAGNOSTICS.
SO, UM, I THINK THE, THE COMMITTEE HERE CAN MAYBE HELP US DEVELOP TARGETED TASK FORCES THAT CAN THEN ROLL UP INTO, YOU KNOW, ONE COHESIVE STRATEGY FOR THE GREATER EASTERN AREA.
SO, AND THIS LAST THING, SO OUTSIDE OF THE ION, WHICH WAS IN 20 20, 20 21, UM, THERE HASN'T BEEN THIS REALLY, UH, CO UH, COALESCING OF, OF THIS TYPE OF WORK.
UM, YOU'VE SHARED WHAT WE CAN DO, UM, WITHIN THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.
WHO'S A GOOD POINT PERSON THAT YOU THINK WOULD BE IDEAL? I, I CAN'T SAY RIGHT NOW.
UM, I WILL SAY THAT JESSE BOUNCE HAS ALWAYS HAS CONSISTENTLY SHOWN UP FOR US.
FROM THE DIRECT, YOU KNOW, THE DIRECTOR OF, UM, THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION.
UM, BUT I THINK IT ALWAYS TAKES A NUMBER OF PEOPLE, RIGHT? 'CAUSE LEADERSHIP ALWAYS CHANGES.
AND SO IT HELPS TO HAVE A GROUP OF PEOPLE AGAIN, LIKE FOR THE COMMITTEE OR PEOPLE YOU ASSIGN TO MAYBE THREE TO FIVE PEOPLE TO SPEARHEAD IT SO THAT IF SOMEBODY IS BUSY OR BURNED OUT OR TAPPED OUT OR, OR MOVES RIGHT? UM, THAT THERE'S OTHER PEOPLE TO TRANSITION THE WORK TO.
UM, SO THE CONSISTENCY PART IS MORE IMPORTANT TO ME.
UM, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO IT IS, IT'S, IT'S MORE HELPFUL IF IT'S SOMEBODY WHO IS LIKE DEEP IN THE WORK AND IS PASSIONATE ABOUT IT 'CAUSE THEY'LL CONTINUE DOING IT.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'VE GOT A FOUNDATION OF MAYBE JESSE BOUNCE, BUT WE NEED MORE THAN JESSE BOUNDS, RIGHT? YEAH, EXACTLY.
AND I THINK HE LOST HIS ONE STAFF MEMBER, SO I THINK HE NEEDS TO BE BETTER RESOURCED.
WE HAVE BEEN JOINED ONLINE BY STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS'S OFFICE AND STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER SALINAS'S OFFICE, AND WE'LL GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S STAFF FOR QUESTION.
UM, SO I'M INTERESTED IN THE WORKFORCE WORK THAT YOU DO.
SO THE COLLABORATIVE, Y'ALL ARE ONE OF THE 17 MEMBERS, IS THAT RIGHT OR NO? WELL, ACTUALLY IT'S MUCH LARGER NOW.
I THINK THERE'S OVER 84 PLUS MEMBERS OF THAT RESEARCH, UH, RESILIENCY WORKFORCE COLLABORATIVE.
AND SO YOUR ROLE IS MOSTLY TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION FOR FOLKS IN IT PROFESSIONS? IT DEPENDS.
SO ACROSS THE, THE COLLABORATIVE, THERE'S SOME PEOPLE WORKING ON CHILDCARE AND, AND HEALTHCARE AND WRAPAROUND SERVICES FOR IMPACT UP HOUSTON.
IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ASKING? YEAH.
FOR Y'ALL, LIKE, UM, SO INITIALLY WE WERE HELPING WITH A FACILITATE, FACILITATING THE ECOSYSTEM, DEVELOPING A PLAYBOOK, DEVELOPING A PLATFORM TO MANAGE THE, THE GROWING MEMBERSHIP OF THE COLLABORATIVE.
AND NOW WE ARE, UM, SINCE WE RECEIVED THIS GOOGLE FOR NONPROFITS KINDA SCHOLARSHIPS, WE RECEIVED OVER ABOUT 500 SCHOLARSHIPS TO GIVE TO PEOPLE TO GET CERTIFIED IN AI, UH, DIGITAL ANALY, UH, DATA ANALYTICS, CYBERSECURITY, ET CETERA.
AND SO WE HAVE SUBMITTED A PROPOSAL AT JP MORGAN CHASE TO FUND THAT WORK.
UM, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WITHIN THE STARTUP COMMUNITY THAT ARE HAPPY TO PROVIDE TRAINING, PROVIDE COACHING OR MENTORING FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING THROUGH THESE CAREERS.
UM, IT'S JUST A PENDING SUPPORT.
AND YOU'RE CURRENTLY FACILITATING THOSE OTHER ORGS? YES.
PROVIDING THE COACHING AND THE MENTORING, ET CETERA.
UM, OR NOT NECESSARILY FACILITATING, BUT OTHER FOLKS ARE DOING IT.
WE'RE FOR THE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, WE'RE HELPING PROVIDE CAPACITY, YOU KNOW, SO SOME PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T HEARD SOME OF THE TOOLS THAT WE USE, LIKE AIRTABLE OR MONDAY.COM OR EVEN SLACK, UM, WE HELP THEM LEARN HOW TO USE THOSE TOOLS BETTER.
UM, WE HAVE BEEN DOING LIKE ECOSYSTEM MAPPING AGAIN TO FIND OUT WHO IS DOING WHAT ACROSS THAT SPECIFIC COLLABORATIVE.
AND WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT SOME PEOPLE IN THAT COLLABORATIVE ARE ALSO PART OF THIS UPWARD MOBILITY NETWORK THAT WE'RE, UM, WORKING WITH AND, YOU KNOW, THE, UH, UH, READY SET NEXT INITIATIVE THAT'S COMING OUT OF GHP.
SO THERE'S JUST A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT AREN'T THREADED WELL TOGETHER.
AND SO THIS IS KIND OF WHERE WE CAN SIT BACK AND PLAY SWITZERLAND AND, AND SEE LIKE, HOW DO WE MAKE SURE EVERYBODY KNOWS WHO, WHO'S DOING WHAT, SO WE DON'T DUPLICATE AGAIN, BUT WE CAN COMPLIMENT AND REINFORCE
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EACH OTHER.AND SO HOW, HOW ARE YOU CURRENTLY FUNDING THOSE ACTIVITIES ON YOUR BEHALF? WE, WE INITIALLY WERE DOING IT UNDER THE JP MORGAN, JP MORGAN CHASE GRANT, AND A GRANT THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THE, UH, DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY THROUGH THE MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, UH, AGENCY.
UNFORTUNATELY, THAT WAS, UH, DEFUNDED, UH, AFTER DOGE, UH, WENT IN.
SO WE ARE LOOKING FOR FUNDING.
AND LAST QUESTION ON THE GOOGLE SCHOLARSHIPS PROGRAM, ANY DATA THAT YOU'RE GONNA BE REQUIRED TO TRACK OR REPORT AFTERWARD ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE STUDENTS? DID THEY GET JOBS? DID THEY INCREASE THEIR SALARY? ANY KIND OF DATA LIKE THAT? THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT TO TRACK THAT DATA, BUT WE DO WANT TO TRACK THAT DATA.
'CAUSE LIKE, THIS IS THE REASON WHY WE'RE BUILDING THIS PLATFORM TOO.
SO EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T, UM, START A BUSINESS, IF YOU WENT INTO THE WORKFORCE, AND IF YOU'RE WORKING FOR A COMPANY THAT'S ALSO IN THE ECOSYSTEM, WE WANNA TRACK THAT.
AND IF EVENTUALLY YOU SPIN OFF AND YOU DO START YOUR OWN STARTUP, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE FOLLOWING YOU BECAUSE THERE IS NO LONGITUDINAL DATA FOR AN ENTREPRENEUR THROUGH ANY OF THESE ECOSYSTEMS. WE'VE BEEN PARTNERS, UH, COMMUNITY PARTNER WITH SBA, WE'VE BEEN PARTNER COMMUNITY PARTNERS WITH THE GHP.
NOBODY HAS THIS DATA, OKAY? AND SO THIS IS WHY, LIKE, WE NEED TO START CAPTURING IT NOW JUST TO SEE WHAT'S WORKING AND WHAT ISN'T.
SO ONCE YOU, THIS IS NOT A QUESTION, I PROMISE.
UM, ONCE YOU ROLL OUT THAT PROGRAM, IF YOU NEED HELP SORT OF LETTING FOLKS KNOW THAT THOSE SCHOLARSHIPS EXIST AND THE TRAINING EXISTS, WE'RE HAPPY TO HELP PROMOTE THAT TO OUR NETWORK.
UM, CLEARLY THE WORK YOU'RE DOING IS MAKING AN IMPACT.
I THINK IMPACT HUB IS SUCH AN APPROPRIATE NAME, UH, FOR Y'ALL BECAUSE THIS IS ALL JUST VERY, UH, VERY IMPORTANT WORK AND IT'S, YOU KNOW, WE COULD SPEND THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON TALKING ABOUT ALL THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS YOU TALKED ABOUT.
UM, SO THANKS FOR COMING DOWN HERE TO, TO PRESENT.
WE CLEARLY WILL HAVE SOME FOLLOW UPS, UH, AS COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ WAS, WAS ALLUDING TO.
AND, UH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING TO WORK WITH YOU.
NEXT WE WILL HAVE THE MODERNIZING THE CITY'S HR LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE SYSTEM.
CRYSTAL BEEKS, CHIEF TRANSFORMATION OFFICER WITH HUMAN RESOURCES AND OUR DEPUTY CIO FOR IT APPLICATIONS FROM HITS, CALPANA, PILLAI.
AND WE ARE READY FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
GOOD AFTERNOON CHAIR, VICE CHAIR, MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL AND STAFF, CITY COLLEAGUES, AND ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT ARE HERE.
UM,
SEK, CHIEF TRANSFORMATION OFFICER FOR HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.
SO I AM EXCITED OR WE ARE EXCITED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HITS.
WE'RE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE OUR ABILITY TO MODERNIZE HR THROUGH LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE.
UH, WE ARE CURRENTLY HOUSED IN THE TALENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
TMS UH, TMS IS AT ITS END OF LIFE
OKAY, SO IT IS TIME, IT IS TIME TO EXPAND OUR INNOVATION ECO ECOSYSTEM, EXPAND UPON OUR HR ONE PLATFORM, UH, BY OFFERING EMPLOYEES, UH, WHO HAVE ACTUALLY DEMONSTRATED SINCE 2023 A HIGH ADOPTION TO THE HR ONE PLATFORM.
WE ALREADY GO THERE FOR OUR PAY STATEMENTS, OUR BENEFITS, ALL KEY HR SERVICES.
SO NOW YOU'LL BE ABLE TO GO INTO THE HR ONE FOR YOUR LEARNING, IDENTIFYING YOUR COURSES, YOUR TRAINING, RECEIVING A PERSONALIZED, UH, LEARNING PATH, AS WELL AS OUR HERE PROGRAM.
SO YOU'LL BE ABLE TO ACCESS YOUR HERE PLAN AND YOUR HERE ASSESSMENT.
UM, THIS BRINGS, UH, CITY OF HOUSTON AND HUMAN RESOURCES, UH, INTO A HIGH MODERN HIGH TECH ENVIRONMENT.
CURRENTLY WE HAVE ABOUT 22 OR 23,000 USERS WHO ARE IN THE TMS PLATFORM.
SO WE DO HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO, UH, TO GET EVERYONE READY AND PREPARED AND TRANSITION FROM TMS TO HR ONE.
UM, OUR CURRENT LEARNING PLATFORM SYSTEM, UH, MUST BE REPLACED.
UM, AND THEN WE WANNA KEEP THE CONTINUITY OF BUSINESS AND MAKING SURE THAT EVERYBODY HAS A SMOOTH, SEAMLESS TRANSITION INTO THE PLATFORM.
I BELIEVE WITH HR, WITH HR ONE, UH, WE'LL BE ABLE TO HAVE EASIER USE.
IT'S GONNA MAKE THE HEAR PROCESS EASIER AND SEAMLESS FOR OUR EMPLOYEES.
IT'S GONNA BE, IT'S GONNA MAKE IT MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR US TO BE ABLE TO LINK LEARNING TO POSITION AS WELL AS TO GOALS AND PERFORMANCE.
BY HAVING ALL, UH, BOTH LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE TOGETHER IN HR.
ONE, YOU'RE GONNA SEE, UH, A HUGE TRANSFORMATION, I THINK EVEN IN OUR CULTURE AS WELL.
IT WILL BECOME AN INTEGRATED HR EXPERIENCE AND IT IS TRULY THE FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE OF LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE FOR
[00:25:01]
THE CITY.ALRIGHT, FOR THIS PROJECT, WE'LL BE FOLLOWING A PHASED DELIVERY APPROACH.
UH, BASICALLY IN PHASE ONE WE'RE GONNA FOCUS ON BUSINESS CONTINUITY.
BESTEX MENTIONED, WE'RE MAKING SURE THAT EMPLOYEES HAVE A LEARNING PLATFORM AND, UH, PHASE ONE WILL FOCUS ON GETTING EVERYONE ACCESS TO THE SYSTEM.
EMPLOYEES AND SUPERVISORS ABLE TO GET IN AND ASSIGN, UM, YOU KNOW, AUTOMATIC ASSIGNMENT OF THE LEARNING ASSIGNMENTS.
AND ALSO ON THE PERFORMANCE SIDE, BE ABLE TO GIVE THEM, UM, HEAR GOALS, UH, PUT IN TEMPLATES FOR GOALS.
SO THAT IS THE FOCUS FOR PHASE ONE, WHICH IS GOING TO RUN FROM NOW THROUGH DECEMBER 31ST, 2026.
UM, ALSO THE ESSENTIAL REPORTING NEEDED WILL ALSO BE CONFIGURED IN THE SYSTEM IN THIS PHASE ONE.
UM, MOVING ON, UM, WE WILL ALSO FOLLOW THE PHASE TWO, WHICH WILL, UM, HAVE MORE ADVANCED FEATURES, OPTIMIZING THE BUSINESS PROCESSES.
THERE'S SOME, UM, INTEGRATIONS, ADVANCED INTEGRATIONS.
INITIALLY IN PHASE ONE, WE WILL INTEGRATE WITH THE HR ONE SYSTEM, BUT AS WE GO INTO PHASE TWO, THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT CAN BE, UM, INTEGRATED.
THE OTHER SYSTEMS. UH, FOR EXAMPLE, IF, UH, A TRAINING COORDINATOR IS HAVING UH, UH, INSTRUCTOR LED TRAINING IN, UM, THEY'RE USING TEAMS, THEN WE CAN HAVE THAT INTEGRATION BETWEEN TEAMS AND, UM, THE NEW PLATFORM.
SO THEN THE INSTRUCTOR WILL HAVE THE ATTENDANCE AND WHO HAS ATTENDED AND THE REPORTS AVAILABLE.
UM, THERE ARE SOME THIRD PARTY, UM, TOOLS THAT ARE USED IN DEVELOPING, UM, SOME OF THE TRAINING MATERIALS.
THOSE ALSO WILL BE INTEGRATED AS WE GO INTO PHASE TWO.
UM, MUCH BETTER USER EXPERIENCE ENHANCEMENTS AND UH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO, UM, MODERNIZING THIS EXPERIENCE FOR UM, USERS.
AND SINCE IT'S IN HR ONE, IT'S GONNA BE, UM, EASIER TRAINING EVERYONE.
SO THE BENEFITS OF THIS NEW MODERN LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE PLATFORM, UM, WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO CONTINUE BUSINESS AS USUAL, UH, AS KEANA JUST DEMONSTRATED WITH THE PROJECT PLAN, WE'LL BE ABLE TO HAVE THE LEAST DISRUPTION TO USAGE.
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE LEAST DISRUPTION TO OUR HERE PERFORMANCE AS WE ENTER THIS PHASE.
UH, IN ADDITION, IT IS A SEAMLESS HR INTEGRATION.
UM, ALL OF OUR EMPLOYEES ALREADY KNOW HOW TO ACCESS HR ONE.
SO THE LEARNING CURVE IS MINIMAL.
AND IF YOU'VE EVER UTILIZED TMS, THIS IS GOING TO BE LIKE NIGHT AND DAY ONE CLICK ACCESS, EASY TO USE IT, UH, INNOVATE.
AND THEN WE CAN EXPAND OUR CAPABILITIES AS A DEPARTMENT TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE LEARNING, UM, IN THE FLOW OR IN THE FLOW OF WORK.
UH, RIGHT, REAL TIME LEARNING.
IT GIVES US SO MANY DIFFERENT MODALITIES TO USE IN ORDER TO CONNECT WITH OUR EMPLOYEES.
AND IT OVERALL, IT'S GONNA BENEFIT EVERYONE AS AN IMPROVED, IMPROVED EMPLOYEE AND MANAGER EXPERIENCE.
I CAN'T COUNT HOW MANY TIMES MANAGERS AND SUPERVISORS CALL US FRUSTRATED WITH TMS AND TRYING TO DO THE HERE PLANS AND THE, THE, THE WIDGETS AND THE ASSESSMENT.
SO ALL THAT IS GONNA BE IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THIS, UH, INTEGRATION AND IT IS FUTURE READY AND AI ENABLED.
ANY QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME? GREAT.
THAT'S SOMEONE WHO USED TMS, UH, WHEN I WAS THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
UH, I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING THERE.
IT SEEMED CLOSE TO THE END OF LIFE BACK THEN.
UM, SO, UM, THIS IS, THIS IS GREAT TO HEAR.
ARE THERE GONNA BE ANY OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES OR COST SAVINGS WITH THIS TRANSITION? YES.
FROM AN OPERATIONAL PERSPECTIVE, YES.
UM, THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE WITH THE CURRENT PLATFORM RIGHT NOW WITH, UM, ALL THE TRAININGS, NOT, WE ARE NOT ABLE TO LOAD THEM THE RIGHT WAY.
THERE ARE SOME CHALLENGES FROM A TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE, SO THOSE WILL BE, UM, IMPROVED.
AND ALSO FROM AN USER EXPERIENCE WHEN EMPLOYEES LOG IN AND ARE TAKING UM, COURSES, RIGHT? AS DR.
BESK SAID, THERE'S ALSO UM, AI FEATURES IN THE FUTURE IF YOU WANT TO ENABLE THEM.
SO THOSE ARE ALL THE ADVANCEMENTS THAT THIS NEW TOOL BREAKS.
BUT NO EXPLICIT COST SAVINGS THAT YOU WOULD SEE FROM THE OLD SYSTEM TO THE NEW SYSTEM.
WELL, I WOULD SAY BECAUSE WE ALREADY HAVE EMPLOYEES ALREADY IN R ONE, WE ALREADY HAVE ON THE BACKSIDE, WE ALREADY HAVE THE EMPLOYEE DATA ALREADY THERE.
HALF OF THAT IS REDUCED BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE TO START OVER REMAP AND RECONFIGURE THE SYSTEM.
BUT YEAH, WE'RE ALREADY AHEAD OF THE GAME SAVING OPERATIONALLY AS WELL AS FINANCIAL BECAUSE OUR EMPLOYEES ARE ALREADY THERE.
ALL USERS ARE ALREADY THERE AND INTERFACE.
WE'RE JUST LINKING THIS NEW, TWO NEW MODULES
[00:30:01]
TO WHAT PEOPLE DO.UH, STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S OFFICE.
UM, ARE THERE ANY, UH, POINTS IN THE ROLLOUT PROCESS WHERE, UM, YOU'RE GONNA SOLICIT FEEDBACK FROM FOLKS EITHER FROM WORKER EMPLOYEES OR FROM MANAGERS ABOUT HOW IS IT GOING? ARE THERE PARTS THAT THAT WORK BETTER OR PARTS THAT ARE CONFUSING OR KINDA OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEEDBACK? SO WE ARE LAUNCHING A SURVEY NOW TO GET ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK FROM DEPARTMENTS, BUT UH, RIGHT NOW THE MAIN CHALLENGES THAT WE FACE IS THAT PARTICULARLY ON THE PERFORMANCE SIDE, IS WHERE YOU'LL GET MOST OF YOUR PAIN POINTS FROM EMPLOYEES AND MANAGERS.
UH, UH, RIGHT NOW JUST THE INTERFACE, THE USER INTERFACE, UH, CAUSES A LOT OF DIFFICULTIES.
IT'S MULTIPLE CLICKS TO EVEN GET TO A HERE PLAN.
UM, THERE ARE CHALLENGES WITH SAVING, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING SIMPLE AS SAVE.
SO ALL OF THAT WOULD BE ELIMINATED.
IT WOULD BE MORE SEAMLESS, UH, IN HR ONE, SINCE OUR EMPLOYEES ALREADY RECOGNIZE THE PLATFORM AND KNOW HOW TO ACCESS IT, UH, ALSO I SEE ADOPTION BEING REDUCED BECAUSE THEY ALREADY KNOW WHERE TO GO AND HOW TO GET THERE.
OF COURSE WE'RE GONNA SUPPORT THEM WITH ADDITIONAL TRAINING, SUPPORT AND RESOURCES, BUT IT'S GONNA MAKE IT LIKE A ONE STOP SHOP, UH, AHEAD FOR US.
UM, AND SO I THINK THAT'S GONNA REDUCE A LOT OF THE PAIN POINTS THAT WE'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING FOR YEARS.
YOU TOOK THE WORDS OUTTA MY MOUTH.
I'M ALSO EXCITED FOR TMS TO HAVE ITS TIME AND GO.
UM, SO ON A SIMILAR NOTE, UM, I KNOW YOU SAID THE COST SAVINGS ARE A LITTLE HARD TO QUANTIFY, BUT I THINK ANY EFFICIENCY IS GREAT.
ARE THERE ANY LINE ITEM LIKE ESTIMATED INCREASED COSTS FOR THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY? LIKE ARE WE PAYING ANYTHING MORE THAN WHAT WE WOULD BE PAYING FOR TMS OR IS THAT STILL KIND OF HARD TO HEARTED QUANTIFY? SO I DON'T REMEMBER ON TOP OF MY HEAD THE EXACT LICENSING COSTS FOR TMS, BUT WE CAN GO BACK AND GET THAT INFORMATION FOR YOU.
BUT FOR, FOR THIS PRODUCT IT'S AROUND $600,000 FOR BOTH LEARNING AND, UH, PERFORMANCE AND GOAL MANAGEMENT MODULES.
THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO KNOW AND WE CAN DISTRIBUTE THAT INFORMATION TO Y'ALL.
THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR THE UPDATE AND THE PRESENTATION.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT ITEM.
IF ANYBODY WOULD LIKE TO SIGN UP TO SPEAK, THERE IS A SIGNUP SHEET ON THE TABLE NEAREST THE ON THE TABLE, NEAREST THE DOOR.
UM, WE WILL NOW HEAR FROM INTERIM CIO KEVIN BARRY AND OUR CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER, JED GREENFIELD, ON A ITEM THAT WAS BEFORE US A COUPLE WEEKS AGO ON COUNCIL.
THIS WILL BE THE PURCHASE OF TECHNOLOGY RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THROUGH COOPERATIVE PURCHASING AGREEMENTS.
WE ARE GONNA GET YOUR SLIDES UP HERE SHORTLY.
ALRIGHT, GOOD AFTERNOON COMMITTEE.
UH, THANKS FOR HAVING US GO ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THE ITEM THAT WAS IN FRONT OF YOU, UH, LAST WEEK.
UH, THIS IS BASICALLY A MOTION TO APPROVE AUTHORITY, SPENDING AUTHORITY ON A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT, UH, PURCHASING AGREEMENT.
IT'S A ROUTINE AGREEMENT WE'VE DONE EVERY YEAR, BUT WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS A FIVE YEAR AGREEMENT.
UM, WE BUY ROUTINE TECHNOLOGY THROUGH THIS AGREEMENT.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THE WORD TECHNOLOGY.
I MEAN THAT IN A VERY BROAD SENSE.
UH, NOT JUST IT, BUT, UH, JED, OUR CPO HERE, WE WILL GO INTO SOME DETAILS ON THE STRUCTURE OF THAT.
YEAH, SO AGAIN, AS WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES FROM, FROM OUR END IN PROCESSING, THIS IS SOMETHING AGAIN, WE'RE TAKING THE APPROACH OF UTILIZING THE COOPERATIVES NATIONALLY, UH, COMPETED, UH, WITH MUCH LARGER BUYING POWER 'CAUSE IT'S LOOKING AT A NATIONAL.
UH, SO WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT PURCHASE POWER AND VOLUME, UM, WE SEE THOSE DISCOUNTS THAT COME IN FROM THE COOPERATIVES.
THE OTHER THING THAT'S A BENEFIT TO OF THE COOPERATIVES IS THEY SET THE CEILING.
SO WE HAVE ALWAYS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY AND WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE IT TO NEGOTIATE DOWN.
ONE OF THE BENEFITS THAT IT GIVES US IN MOVING WHERE WE HAVE BEEN IN DOING A YEAR, BY YEAR BY YEAR IS IT GIVES US THAT ABILITY TO LOOK MULTI-YEAR ACROSS WHAT OFFERS THAT WE, THAT WE EXTEND TO, UH, SOME OF THESE COMPANIES.
SO IT MAY BE THERE ARE INSTANCES WHERE A LOT OF THESE, UH, COMPANIES WILL HAVE THEIR QUARTERLY AND ANNUAL SALES GOALS.
UM, WE GET PEOPLE SHARPENING THEIR PENCILS A LOT BETTER IF WE ARE REALLY CLOSE TO THAT GOAL AND THEY NEED TO MEET IT.
AND SO IT GIVES ME THE REAL TIME FLEXIBILITY TO MEET A NEED TO SAY, HEY, WE NEED THESE HUNDRED PLUS WHATEVER LICENSES FOR X, UM, YOU OFF.
YOU OBVIOUSLY ARE VERY EXCITED TO GET THOSE TO US.
AND WE USUALLY GET OFFERED, IF YOU CAN GET US A PO BY THIS DATE, UH, WE WILL EXTEND AN ADDITIONAL 10%, WHATEVER THE
[00:35:01]
CASE MAY BE THAT WE NEGOTIATE.SO IT DOES GIVE US THAT REAL TIME ABILITY, UM, UTILIZING THE SAME STRUCTURE THAT WE'VE ALWAYS, UH, THAT WE'VE ALWAYS UTILIZED.
UM, SO AGAIN, UM, WE FOLLOW THE, UH, THE SAME ALL CITY DEPARTMENTS, THE SAME THING WE'VE DONE BEFORE.
THEY ALL HAVE ACCESS TO THIS, UM, FIVE YEAR TERM VERSUS THE ONE YEAR TERM.
ON AN OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY SIDE, IT ALSO HELPS US IN MANAGING THOSE CONTRACTS BECAUSE IT'S GONNA OBVIOUSLY CUT DOWN ON THE NUMBER OF CONTRACTS THAT WE HAVE, ONE INSTEAD OF FIVE UNDER THE OLD MODEL.
UM, AND THEN IT ALSO HELPS ME ON THE COMPLIANCE SIDE OF MONITORING THOSE CONTRACTS BECAUSE AGAIN, I HAVE ONE PERSON THAT CAN LOOK AT THAT CONTRACT AND, AND MONITOR IT.
SO IT FOLLOWS THE APPROACH THAT WE'RE UTILIZING ACROSS THE BOARD.
UM, YOU'LL RECALL WITH, WITH MAYOR AND YOU ALL SUPPORT, UH, WE DID OUR VEHICLE COOPERATIVE.
UM, THAT HAS CREATED A PHENOMENAL RESULT, UH, WHERE WE ARE REALLY NIMBLE AND BEEN ABLE TO PURCHASE.
SO WE'RE GONNA REALIZE THOSE SAME THINGS BY DOING THAT HERE.
LIKE I SAID, WE'VE DONE IT ALREADY TO POINT, BUT THIS GIVES US A LITTLE BIT MORE FLEXIBILITY.
UM, I'LL ALSO MENTION, UH, AS IT MENTIONS HERE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SLIDE, WE WILL STILL FOLLOW ALL OF OUR OBO POLICIES, UH, PROCEDURES.
THEY HAPPEN AT THE POINT OF US PROCESSING THAT THAT PO AND SO FOR ANY PURCHASE ABOVE A HUNDRED THOUSAND, WE GO AND WORK WITH OBO AND FOLLOW THAT SAME PROCESS.
THE OTHER THING THAT STAYS IN PLACE IS THIS THE SAME, UM, CONTROLS THAT WE HAVE HAD FROM THE BEGINNING OF UTILIZING COOPERATIVES FOR OUR TECHNOLOGY PURCHASES.
UH, THE BENEFIT, THE MORE BENEFIT NOW IS WE ARE NOW CENTRALLY, UM, CONSOLIDATED IN THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS.
SO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE ITEMS COME THROUGH OUR, THROUGH MY OFFICE, THE REQUISITIONS FOR THOSE HAVE TO GO TO THE HITS OFFICE TO, TO APPROVE.
AND SO THOSE CHECKS AND BALANCES THAT WE'VE HAD IN PLACE BEFORE THAT HAVE WORKED VERY WELL, THEY REMAIN IN PLACE HERE.
REALLY THE DIFFERENCE IS MOVING FROM THAT ONE TERM, UH, YEAR TO THE FIVE YEAR TERM.
UM, CERTAIN MATERIAL GROUPS THAT WE'VE MONITOR IN THE, UH, BEFORE WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED, UM, IN A SHARED, UH, PROCESS OF BOTH OF OUR DEPARTMENTS.
UH, AND THEN AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THAT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS THRESHOLD IS STILL THE OBO GOALS THAT WE WILL STILL WORK AT, UH, WITH OBO IN DETERMINING AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY MEET THAT.
THIS SHOWS YOU THE SIX COOPERATIVES THAT WE, UH, UTILIZE.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THE BIGGEST ONE THERE ON TOP IS DIR.
THEY'RE, THEY'RE THE STATE'S BIG TECHNOLOGY ARM, UM, NATIONALLY, UH, USED ACROSS THE NATION.
AND SO THEIR, THEIR BUYING POWER HAS BEEN, UH, GREAT IN TERMS OF GETTING US A, A GOOD PRICE POINT.
UH, BUT WE'VE ADDED OVER THE YEARS SOME OF THESE OTHERS TO GIVE US THAT FLEXIBILITY ON WHAT WE NEED TO PURCHASE.
SO WITH THAT, WE'LL PAUSE AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ON THE CHANGES TO THAT PROGRAM.
WE'VE GOT, UH, STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S OFFICE.
UM, QUICK QUESTION, IS IT, AM I REMEMBERING CORRECTLY THAT USING A A COOPERATIVE MEANS THAT YOU DON'T NECESSARILY GO TO BID, YOU CAN JUST SORT OF CHOOSE SO IT IT IS COMPETITIVELY BID CITY STAFF IS NOT BIDDING IT.
SO IN THE SENSE OF DIR, THEY ARE A, A BIDDING AGENCY FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS.
SO THEY WOULD HAVE ISSUED AN RFP, THEY WOULD'VE GONE THROUGH THE EVALUATION PROCESS.
SO FOLLOWING ALL THOSE SAME PROCEDURES THAT WE WOULD, IF WE WERE DOING IT OURSELVES, WE JUST HAVE THE ABILITY NOW UNDER THEIR PROGRAM ON ANY COOPERATIVE TO UTILIZE THAT COMPETITIVELY AWARDED CONTRACT.
SO DOES IT MEAN THAT EACH COOPERATIVE HAS GONE THROUGH THEIR OWN BID AND HAS CHOSEN THEIR ONE VENDOR OR THEY'VE CHOSEN A COUPLE VENDORS THAT WE THEN CHOOSE FROM? SO DEPENDING ON WHAT THEIR SOLICITATION REQUIRED, SOMETIMES IT'S MULTI-AWARD, SOMETIMES IT'S ONE WE'RE WE ARE PIGGYBACKING OFF OF WHO WAS SELECTED AND WHO HAD, WHO THEY HAVE A CONTRACT VEHICLE WITH ALREADY.
SO I GUESS IS IT, ARE WE CHOOSING A PARTICULAR COOPERATIVE BECAUSE IT'S CHEAPER OR SOMETHING? OR ARE WE CHOOSING IT BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THEY CHOOSE A VENDOR THAT WE LIKED? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? YEAH.
SO I MEAN A LOT OF, A LOT OF THIS DECISION IS DRIVEN BY OUR BUDGET.
WE HAVE RESOURCE LIMITATIONS AND SO WE WILL LOOK AT WHO'S OFFERING US THAT.
UH, THERE'S ALSO, UM, TECHNOLOGIES THAT THERE MIGHT NOT BE OTHER FOLKS THAT ARE DOING THAT.
IF WE WENT AND BID ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS, WE'RE NOT GONNA GET AS GREAT A PRICE POINT BECAUSE IT WASN'T NATIONALLY COMPETED.
AND SO IT'S, IT'S, I GUESS IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF, OF ALL, UM, BUT WE ARE, WE ARE UTILIZING WHO IS AWARDED THROUGH THE COOPERATIVE CONTRACT.
AND SO I GUESS, DO YOU KNOW IN ADVANCE WHEN YOU'RE CHOOSING, LIKE DO YOU KNOW THIS COOPERATIVE CHOSE THIS VENDOR, THIS COOPERATIVE OFFER? YES.
SO IS IT THAT YOU CAN GO IN SAY, OKAY, I WANNA WORK WITH THIS VENDOR AND SO I'M GONNA GO WITH THIS COOPERATIVE? SO FOR INSTANCE, YES, I COULD GO TO DIR AND SEE THAT THEY HAVE AWARDED ADOBE, UH, AN ADOBE PRO LICENSE CONTRACT.
[00:40:01]
SO I CAN GO AND UTILIZE THAT CONTRACT TO GET AN ADOBE PRO LICENSE FOR THE CITY.WE HAVE NO OTHER QUESTIONS IN THE CUBE.
AS SOON AS I SAID IT, ONE POPPED UP.
WELL 'CAUSE I WAS LOOKING FOR THE ACTUAL ITEM 'CAUSE IT'S A WHOLE BUNCH OF DIFFERENT COMPANIES THAT WERE SELECTED.
SO IT WILL BE, IT'S A, IT'S IT'S THOSE SIX COOPERATIVES.
BUT WITHIN THOSE COOPERATIVES THERE'S A WHOLE PORTFOLIO OF CONTRACTS THAT I CAN UTILIZE.
BUT I, BUT THOSE WEREN'T LISTED THE DIFFERENT CONTRACTS, THE, THE SIX, UM, OF THE COOPERATIVES.
THE COOPERATIVES WERE LISTED BUT NOT THE ACTUAL RIGHT.
'CAUSE WE, WE WOULDN'T KNOW IT.
IT'S ESSENTIALLY SAYING THIS COOPERATIVE AND THEIR WHOLE PORTFOLIO IS AVAILABLE TO US AND THEN YOU TO UTILIZE.
AND BECAUSE WE USED TO JUST GET THE DIR ONES, YOU KNOW.
AND THEN YOU HAD, SO THIS IS JUST DOING IT ALL AT ONCE FOR FIVE YEARS.
YEAH, SO WE HAVE OVER THE YEARS, I THINK WE FIRST STARTED THIS BACK STRICTLY WITH DIR.
THEN WE LOOKED AT IS OMNIA AND SOURCE, WELL BECAME NATIONALLY COMPETED.
THEY OFFERED EITHER DIFFERENCE, UM, OPTIONS IN THEIR PORTFOLIO OR SOMETIMES IT'S THE SAME VENDOR, BUT I CAN SHOP PRICING BETWEEN WHO RESPONDED.
SO THAT ADOBE PRO LICENSE, IS IT, IS IT CHEAPER THROUGH DIR OR THROUGH SOURCE? WELL, SO YOU'LL BE ABLE TO GO IN FOR EACH NEED AND PICK IT OUT? CORRECT.
AND AT SOME POINT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO QUANTIFY THE THE SAVINGS SOMEHOW? YEAH.
I MEAN WE CAN LOOK AT, UM, WE HAVE SOME BROAD MEASURES THAT WE LOOK AT ON, ON THE COOPERATIVES.
OBVIOUSLY THERE'S THE, IT'S LESS RESOURCE ON US.
SO JUST WITHIN OUR OWN OPERATIONS, THEIR SAVINGS.
UM, BUT IT'S STILL, AGAIN, I'LL, I'LL MENTION IT STILL GIVES US THE ABILITY TO NEGOTIATE DOWN.
SO OFTENTIMES IT WAS NATIONALLY COMPETE SO THEY GOT GOOD PRICING.
BUT I'M COMING IN WITH A LARGE PURCHASE BECAUSE WE'RE THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
SO WE CAN SAY, HEY, WE NEED 300 TIMES OF WHATEVER THIS IS.
AND SO WE WOULD LIKE TO UH, GET A DIFFERENT PRICE POINT.
AND, AND IS THE THREE DO YOU THINK YOU'LL GET TO THE 399? SO THAT'S FORECASTED OUT AND AGAIN, THESE ARE NOT TO EXCEEDS, RIGHT.
UM, I WOULD SAY EVERY YEAR TO THIS POINT WE HAVE GOTTEN CLOSE BUT NOT, UH, WE HAVEN'T NEEDED TO COME BACK IN THE YEAR AND ASK FOR MORE AUTHORITY.
UM, SO WE'RE PRETTY GOOD AT KIND OF FORECASTING WHAT THAT NEED IS.
AND SO WHAT THIS DOES IS IT TAKES WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST, WE LOOK AT COSTS AS THEY RISE AND THEN AS THERE'S MORE AVAILABLE FOR US TO PURCHASE, THAT'S HOW WE ESTIMATE THAT FIVE YEAR NUMBER.
STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S OFFICE.
JUST TO, I JUST WANNA BE SUPER CLEAR ON THIS 'CAUSE I KNOW OTHERWISE I'LL BOTHER YOU ABOUT IT IN TWO WEEKS.
SO, UM, IN MY IMAGINATION, AND I'M NOT A PROCUREMENT PROFESSIONAL, RIGHT.
THE CURRENT SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE TO PROCURE THIS STUFF HAS A LOT OF CHECKS AND BALANCES, I'M IMAGINING.
WE HAVE A COMMITTEE AND WE HAVE CRITERIA AND IT GOES THROUGH DIFFERENT PHASES AND THERE'S LIKE A LOT OF WAYS TO PROTECT AGAINST LIKE SOMEBODY'S BROTHER GETTING A CONTRACT OR SOMEBODY'S FRIEND OR RIGHT.
SO IN MY IMAGINATION, THE COOPERATIVE HAS LESS OF THOSE CHECKS.
CAN YOU TELL ME, EXPLAIN TEACH ME.
SO I GUESS I'LL, I'LL GIVE THIS EXAMPLE TOO.
THERE'S OFTENTIMES WHERE WE'RE NOW STARTING TO BE INVOLVED AS A LEAD AGENCY.
SO A FEW MONTHS AGO WE BROUGHT AN ITEM TO COUNCIL WHERE WE WERE PURCHASING UM, TRASH AND RECYCLING CARTS.
BUT WE DID THAT ON BEHALF OF, AND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A COOPERATIVE AGENCY, IT'S CALLED GOV MOVEMENT, WHERE WE WENT THROUGH OUR PROCESS AND WE BID OUT ALL THOSE REQUIREMENTS YOU TALKED ABOUT.
AND THEN WE CAME UP WITH A VENDOR THAT PROVIDES THAT THOSE GOODS GOV MOVEMENT NOW TAKES THAT CONTRACT AND IT'S MARKETED OUT NATIONALLY.
SO CITY OF PHILADELPHIA CAN USE THROUGH THE GOV MOVEMENT CONTRACT THE CONTRACT THAT I BID OUT.
SO IN SOME OF THESE CASES, LIKE DIR, THEY HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO BID AS AN AGENCY AND SOME OF THEM, LIKE OMNIA WILL USE A LEAD AGENCY.
SO THEY MAY USE CITY OF PHOENIX, UM, YOU KNOW, CITY OF WHATEVER.
SO THEY ARE STILL FOLLOWING THOSE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS THAT WE FOLLOW.
SO JUST TO SAY THANK YOU FOR COMING TO COMMITTEE AND I KNOW THAT IT IS BRINGING MORE AND MORE OF YOUR STUFF TO COMMITTEE, I KNOW IT TAKES TIME, BUT ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS IS A HUGE CONTRACT.
EVEN THOUGH IT'S OVER A COUPLE YEARS GIVES COUNCIL AND THE PUBLIC MORE OF A TIME TO DIGEST AND UNDERSTAND AND THAT'S GREAT FOR TRANSPARENCY.
WE ARE NOW GONNA MOVE TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
WE HAVE TERRANCE DAVIS SIGNED UP.
COME ON UP TO THE PODIUM AND YOU'LL HAVE THREE MINUTES, EITHER ONE.
ALRIGHT, SO I TYPE SOME STUFF IN THE EMAIL.
I AM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TEXAS FINANCE
[00:45:01]
ASSOCIATION AND I AM AN AI ENGINEER.AND I DON'T MEAN CHAT GBTI COULD CREATE A CUSTOM TYPE, UH, CHAT, GPT.
AND I AM HERE JUST TO PRETTY MUCH JUST TALK ABOUT MY DIRECT SUPPORT FOR THE IMPACT HUB.
UH, I AM A MEMBER, BEEN A MEMBER.
I'M ACTUALLY ONE OF THEIR EXPORT EXPERT VOLUNTEERS.
AND I ACTUALLY DIDN'T KNOW, YOU KNOW, IT'D BE GOOD TO MEET HER AND I JUST WANTED TO INTRODUCE MYSELF TO THE, UH, COMMITTEE AND JUST KIND OF JUST PUT MY COMPANY OUT THERE.
WHAT WE DO IS WE CREATE, UH, AI LEARNING GAMES LIKE VIDEO GAME TECHNOLOGY, WHICH IS THE FUTURE OF LEARNING TEXTBOOKS.
AND ALL OF THAT IS KIND OF DYING OFF.
AND WE HAVE TRAINED OVER 3,500, UH, PEOPLE IN LEARNING DIFFERENT SKILLS AND GET THEM CAREER TRAINING AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AND FOR COMING TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND FOR THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING.
WE WILL ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 2:47 PM THE NEXT MEETING OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION COMMITTEE WILL BE SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2:00 PM HERE IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS.