Innovation Series: The HUD Resource Locator

Let's face it, if local governments are rarely thought of as innovative then the federal government never is, but one ELGL member, Connor McDonnell, is going to share a project that he and team of people at the Department of Housing and Urban Development have been working on to better connect people to resources and programs. Currently in the development phase but set to release soon, the "HUD Resource Locator" will be a phone application and widget on the HUD.gov website that will help those in need of affordable housing and homeless services better connect to buildings and organizations that can help them.

What's really interesting about this project, more than the app itself is the process that created the app. it came from the use of something called "innovation time" which HUD got from Google. The ability to give staff opportunities and empower them to work collectively to solve problems and innovate has implications for all levels of government.

Here's a quote from the Office of Personal Management Director Katherine Archuleta on the project and the GovConnect program that it resulted from,"Earlier this year, OPM launched GovConnect, a mobile, innovative model where employees can spend a few hours each week working in teams across the country on projects that don’t necessarily fall within their current jobs. For example, a team at HUD, cross-country based, created an App to help people find affordable housing. That’s being piloted in Portland, Oregon and Minneapolis, Minn.”