An experimental program has been undertaken to explore the process of identifying and transferring newer technology for the benefit of the city. This paper describes the nature of the problems involved in the experiment, some of the areas of supposed commonality with other cities and some of the prerequisites for any city to become involved with technological innovation

Berkowitz, B. L.

English

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PJASA
Technical Memorandum 79530
The City	 Its Deed for
Technology
(NASA-TM-79530) ISE CITY AVr ITS REED F©S 	 1978-21014
TECHNOLOGY (NASA) 9 F HC A02/RF A01
CSCZ 05A
Onclas
G3/85 12583
4
Bemard L. Berkowitz
APRIL 1978
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Goddwd Spue Flight Grew
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
by
GOHHARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
Greenbelt, Maryland
*Physical Development Coordinator
Mayor's Office, Baltimore City, MD
THE CITY AND ITS NEEDS FOR TECHNOLOGY
by
Bernard L. Berkowtiz
Physical Development Coordinator
Mayor's Office, Baltimore City, Maryland
ABSTRACT
There are a number of ways in which a large modern U. S. city
must become involved with technology. An experimental program
has been undertaken jointly by the City of Baltimore and the
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center to explore the process of
identifying and transferring newer technology for the benefit
of the City. This paper describes the nature of the problems
involved in the experiment, some of the areas of supposed
commonality with other cities and some of the prerequisites
for any city to become involved with technological innovation.
iii
FASCM PA W
CONTENTS
Page
Abstract ............................................. 	 iii
City Problems and the Response Thereto ............... 1
Municipal Problems, Municipal Activism and User "Pull" 1
Baltimore's Experience with Technology Innovation .... Z
Need for More Systematic Approach to New Technology... 3
Politics and Technology ............................... 	 3
Turf and Innovation ....................................	 4
Summary ............................................... 	 4
v
by
Bernard L. Berkowitz
Mayor's Office, Baltimore City, Maryland
City Problems and the ResDonse Thereto
Baltimore City, like most older central cities in the country,faces a host of complex and interrelated problems. The litany
is all too familiar--a high unemployment rate, particularly
among blacks and youth; a large dependent population of poor,
elderly and young; crime and other social problems; obsoles-
cence; middle class flight to the suburbs (hopefully being
slowed and reversed); slow growth in the tax base; a higher
tax rate than the surrounding suburbs; budgetary strain on
municipal services, etc.
Respite the seriousness of these problems, there is a sense
of optimism in Baltimore based on the response of City
Government, working in cooperation with the private business
sector and the communities of the City. Over the past two
decades, our downtown renewal program has transformed the
Charles Center and Inner Harbor areas and has created one of
the most attractive and exciting urban environments in the
country. In the City's neighborhoods, an array of local pro-
grams, such as urban homesteading and low-interest City
financing for rehabilitation of houses and retail facilities,
has been combined with federal resources to bring about
extensive rehabilitation and conservation. A system of over
a dozen neighborhood multi-service centers has been created
through a $4 million bond issue supplemented by federal resources.
Major transportation improvements are under way, including
the construction of a subway. A vigorous economic development
program has been initiated. The crime rate has been declining
and school performance measures have been improving. The
net result of these and other positive changes is a growing
confidence that Baltimore City will "mare it."
Municipal Problems, Municipal Activism and User "Pull"
My purpose in enumerating some of the positive developments
in Baltimore along with our problems is not boosterism. It
is rather essential to the understanding of the origin and
setting of the Baltimore Applications Project which we are
discussing today. Certainly, the existence of problems that
could be solved or mitigated by technology transfer underlay
1
the, initial request for assistance from NASA. however, it
unlikely that the request would have been made, or even thought
shut,
	
there hadn't been an atmosphere o activism and
entrepreneurship, and the confidence that goes with it, in
the C i ty Government,
In seeking NASA's help in achieving useful technology transfer
in Baltimore, we in City Government recognized the limitations
of technology. By itself, technology can not affect the
serious social and ecnnomic problems afflicting a large City
like Baltimore, but it can result in more economical and
efficient provision of services to citizens or in the improved
quality of services and it can result in reduced operating
costs--e g. for energy usage in buildings. Thus, it can make
a tontribut on to maintaining the financial viability of the
City and, through better services, to improving the quality
of life'. This was our objective in initiating the Baltimore
Applications Project.
The recognition that the nearby NASA/Goddard Space p light Center
might be receptive to providing a technology transfer went
to Baltimore is a reflection of a kind of municipal activism
or entrepreneurship which fortunately is characteristics of
Baltimore City Government. There is a constant seeking out
of new ways to deal with problems and an alertness to innova-
tion elsewhere in the country. It is this activism which
transformed the need for technology to deal with problems
into the request, or the user pull.
Baltimore's Experience with Technology Innovation
The receptivity of the Baltimore City :administration and key
agencies to the Baltimore Applications Project experiment is
in part related to the experience with technology in Baltimore.
There are a number of technological firsts which occurred in
Baltimore and which are well known to many citi-ens and offi-
cials. Baltimore was the scene of the first gaslight in the
U. S. that was used to light a room or a street corner. The
first grip in a steam car was made in 1830 by peter Cooper
from Baltimore to Ellicott City, 13 mild away. The first
regular steam vessel to cross the Atlantic left Baltimore in
1838. The first submarine was built in 1903. The list is
quite long.
More to the point is the interest in technology within City
Government, p roximity to the Johns Hopkins School of public
Health and the engineering school of Johns Hopkins has encour-
aged a high level of professionalism and innovation in the
City health and Public Works Departments. Graduates of the
I
City's Housing and Community Development Department have
included the current Assistant Secretary of Housing and urban
Development for Community Development and hi g counterpart dur-
ing the Eisenhower Administration.
The high level of interest in innovation is reflected in a
number of recent projects in Baltimore. Under a demonstration
grant from the Environmental protection Agency (EPA) and with
even larger City and State funding, the first large scale
pyrolysis plant has been built in Baltimore for solid waste
disposal. Although this planned 1,000 tons per clay facility
has not performed as expected, particularly as regards air
quality, the City has taken the project over from the Monsanto
Corporation and is installing electrostatic precipitators to
meet air quality requirements. tither examples include the
construction of separate sanitary and storm sewer systems
early in this century and the first centralized computer-
based system for traffic control in 1957.
The interest and experience in technology within the City
bureaucracy was a facilitating factor in the successful inter-
face between the technology agent assigned by NASA and City
officials.
is	 Need for More Systematic Approach to New Technology
With all of the interest in technological applications in
Baltimore City, the question might well be asked as to why
there was need for outside help. The answer quite simply is
that the City officials involved in new technology have on-
going operational functions that are their primary responsi-
bilities. Examination of new technological possibilities
might emerge from a particular project or program needs, but
no City staff have a continuing assignment to look for new
technology.
To the City Administration, the
applications, though impressive,
and comprehensive. This is the
Baltimore Applications Project.
City's efforts in technological
did not appear to be systematic
void that was filled by the
Politics and TechnojS
When the Baltimore .Applications Project was started, there
was concern that the project might become a political football.
It was recognized that a high profile in the media could arouse
unrealistic expectations on the part of the public and other
local elected officials. If those expectations were disap-
pointed, the result would be embarrassment for the Pity
Administration. In any case, it was felt that the start of
careful, deliberate investigations required under this project
could not be achieved in the atmosphere of a fishbowl. Thus,
deliberate effort was made to maintain a low profile for
the project and to insulate it from local politics.
As the City's Physical Development Coordinator, I was designated
y the Mayor to be the primary liaison with the Balimore Appli-
cations Project. It was my responsibility to protect the
project from politcel interference, to avoid political problems
and to facilitate the interface between the NASA technology
agent and the City Officials.
Turf and Innovation
The location of the technology agent in the Mayor's Office,
his relationship to the physical Development Coordinator and
hi:^ pr;.•=ence at cabinet meetings, all signaled the chief
executive's interest and commitment to the Baltimore Applications
Project. This undoubtedly facilitated the interface with the
agency offi,*als. However, T believe that the professionalism
and diplomacy of the technology agent are even more important
reasons for the successful relationships that developed between
the agent and the agency officials.
While defensive attitudes aimed at turf protection in the
agencies might have been expected, they did not generally occur.
The mode of operation of the technology agent was not threat-
ening and the professionalism of the City officials was reflected
in a positive rather than defensive attitude. In fact, agency
staff have often sought the advice of the technology agent
regarding technical problems, some not directly related to
technology.
The Baltimore Applications project has been helpful in miti-
gating turf problems among the agencies in a few eases. In
matters involving two or more agencies, the technology agent
has occasionall y served to reduce tensions and avoid conflict.
For exAmple, a recent investigation of the need to modernize
the Fire Department's communication system was fraught with
potential conflict among those involved--the Fire Department,
Bureau of Purchases, Telecommunications Office, planning
Department, etc. The presence of a respected outside authority
in the person of the NASA agent was a prime factor in being
able to undertake this analysis in a cooperative atmosphere.
Sum►,.ar
in summary, it is important to 'reemphasize the ley factors
beEJ nd the City's honest desire for help in technology transfer--
viz ., the existence of problems that could be alleviated by
technology, what I have characterized as municipal activism
or entrepreneurship and the self-confidence of a City Government
with experience in innovation.
4
BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA SHEET
1. Report No. kiverriment Accemilon No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No.
TM 79530
4. Title and Subtitk 5. Report date
r'1	 1278
9. Performing Organization CodeThe City and Its Need for Technology
7. Authoris} S. Performing Organization Report No.
9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No.
Mayor's Office
Baltimore City, Maryland 21202 11. Contract or Brant No.
13. Type of depart +rod Period Covered
Preprint of Presentati on12. Sponsoring Aasricv Name and Ads
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center April	 1978
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
.4. Swsoring Agency Code
15. Supplementary Notes
Presented at African Society for Public Administration 39th Annual
Conference
18. Abstract
There are a number of ways in which a large modern U. S. city must become
involved with technology.
	
An experimental program has been undertaken
jointly by the City of Baltimore and the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
to explore the process of identifying and transferring newer technology
for the benefit of the City.	 This paper describes the nature of the
problems involved in the experiment. sonte of the areas of supposed
commonality with other cities and some of the prerequisites for anv city
to become involved with technological innovation.
17. Key Words (Selected by Author(%)) 1$. Distribution Statement
Technology transfer-, local government
City of Baltimore, Baltimore Applica-
tions Project
19. Security Claaif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this	 ) 21. No.	 tPaWs 22. Price'
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