ADD2598 London Design Festival – Designing London’s Future

1.1.    The GLA manages Challenge LDN, an open-innovation programme (MD2286 established the initial pilot) that works at the intersection between the Mayor’s strategic objectives, market demand and innovation supply. It connects innovators with London’s public, private and third sectors to co-design solutions to the city’s complex challenges. The years of work in this space have enabled us to build a strong network of interested and ambitious problem-solvers; and to be a recognised name in the place-based innovation ecosystem, both nationally and internationally. 

1.2.    The programmes have been running since 2018 and over 20 challenges have been delivered to date, across priorities such as climate change, community resilience, crime, planning, affordable housing, and regeneration. This work has leveraged £2m to support delivery and includes over 1,000 hours of expert support through working with partners such as the Design Council, the Social Tech Trust, Microsoft, National Grid, the NHS and London’s universities. Further details can be found in the case studies detailed below

1.3.    To date the programme has:

• shaped the direction of innovation to better meet the needs of the city and Londoners 
• leveraged expertise and resources from a diverse range of sectors – from global corporates and philanthropy to higher education institutions and community organisations 
• supported new forms of collaboration across sectors and systems, including between community groups, boroughs, innovators, academics and private-sector partners
• enabled the innovation process to be more inclusive, bringing communities directly into the innovation process, ensuring collaborators are diverse and representative of relevant lived experiences.

1.4.    The GLA’s ambition is to scale up the approach to drive innovation across London’s public and third sectors to help make our city greener, fairer, cleaner, healthier and easier to get around. Participating in this event enables: 

• showcasing new tools, mechanisms, ways of working and policy innovations to boroughs, third-sector partners, academia, investors and Londoners
• supporting a design-led, mission-led and collaborative approach to solving complex problems by pooling knowledge and expertise, sparking ideas across the city’s ecosystems.

1.5.    The London Design Festival (LDF), supported by the Mayor of London, celebrates and promotes the city as the design capital of the world. The 20th anniversary edition will take place from 17-25 September 2022 at the Victoria and Albert Museum; 22 September has been set aside for the GLA to exhibit and demonstrate the impact of innovation in policymaking. This is an opportunity to showcase previous work by the GLA on its innovation programmes, and to launch the next annual open-innovation programme. It will also act as the launch of our alumni community, bringing together four years of programme participants; and will bring together past and future collaborators and networks from the public, private and third sectors (including the general public) to demonstrate the GLA’s innovative policymaking work.

2.1.    Approval for expenditure of up to £20,200 is sought to enable participation at the LDF. The objectives are to:

• curate high-quality, design-led, impactful solutions that the Mayor has supported to promote jobs and economic growth
• nurture the growth of innovations, within the public sector, that meet the real needs of London and Londoners
• provide access to knowledge, skills, and opportunities for larger-scale change.

2.2.    The event will focus attention and resources on supporting the innovation ecosystem. The event will produce the following:

• a speed-networking event for current participants of the Designing London’s Recovery programme, and public-sector stakeholders, to help them understand how to scale their solutions following the programme; and how their solutions can help us better understand policymaking from a missions-based approach
• an exhibition showcasing the work of Designing London’s Recovery participants
• a panel discussion focusing on whether innovation and design can support London to overcome the next global crisis – bringing together thought leaders and practitioners from the world of equity investment, policymaking, academia and leading thinktanks 
• launch of the new Challenge LDN regarding poverty alleviation and cost-of-living increases
• launch of the Challenge LDN Alumni Community.

2.3.    To deliver the above benefits, the following expenditure is proposed:
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London must have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not. 

3.2.    Evidence has shown that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Londoners have been disproportionately impacted by the current crisis, in terms of both the health impact and often facing barriers to accessing support available from the government. Additionally, the economic impact on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Londoners is expected to be higher. 

3.3.    The priorities to enable London’s recovery as outlined in the London Recovery Programme and the Economic Recovery Framework (ERF)  aim to address issues that disproportionately impact Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Londoners and will be the focus of the innovation projects. 

3.4.    We aspire for the innovation ecosystem to be more diverse and accurately represent Londoners. As such, Challenge LDN will work proactively to ensure that the opportunity to participate in the programme reaches diverse innovators, including those who do not typically participate in this type of activity. 

3.5.    Challenge LDN will work with community partners to reach diverse community groups and access harder-to-reach communities, through proactive outreach, including those with lived experience of the challenges being addressed. This will enable both the innovation process to be inclusive and the product to better meet diverse needs.

4.1.    Key risks and issues:

4.2.    Links to Mayoral Strategies and priorities:

• In the 2021 London Manifesto, the Mayor pledged to “expand open innovation challenges for public services, research institutions and the tech sector to come together to make our city fairer, cleaner, healthier and easier to get around.”
• Economic Development Strategy: the programme meets the Mayor’s Economic Development Strategy objectives to stimulate innovation in response to London’s challenges; to support the adoption of innovation across the economy and society; and to enable the benefits of innovation to be more widely shared.
• The London Recovery Programme/ERF for London: the London Recovery Programme has identified a grand challenge to restore confidence in the city, minimise the impact on communities, and build back better the city’s economy and society. The London Recovery Board has agreed nine missions to help meet that grand challenge. The programme will work with boroughs, affected communities and wider stakeholders to identify challenge statements aligned to the priorities set out by the Board and in the broader ERF. 
• Culture Strategy: the event will support the Mayor’s vision for a more open London, encouraging good growth in arts and cultural spaces, sparking creativity in Londoners through good design and showcasing London as a World City. 
• Smarter London Roadmap: the Smarter London Roadmap has identified six priorities for the second Mayoral term, based on the Recovery programme and Mayor’s 2021 Manifesto. One of the six priorities is Grand Open Calls. Expertise in open calls enables challenges to be set by City Hall to the tech sector and anchor institutions; this allows for design thinking, rapid prototyping, and innovation in delivery beyond the current capabilities of the public sector.

4.3.    There are no conflicts of interest to note from any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.

5.1.    The detailed breakdown of this expenditure can be seen above in point 2.1.

5.2.    This expenditure will be funded by the approved Technology and Innovation Programme budget for 2022-23 which exists within the Economic Development Unit.