• The Liverpool City Region is one of 18 new municipalities to join the international Bloomberg Philanthropies i-team initiative, which has reached over 100 cities across 16 countries and four continents, representing more than 100 million residents.

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram today announced the launch of a municipal Innovation Team (i-team).

The i-team, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, will include three specialized staff charged with helping city officials and civic partners design and implement solutions that meet pressing local challenges.

The i-team will expertly deploy data, collect insight, and collaborate across sectors—crowding the energy and resources across the Liverpool City Region—to develop resident-centred interventions that improve people’s lives. The i-team will receive technical assistance from regional and global specialists, and benefit from learnings from peers in city halls across the region and around the world.

The i-team, led by a programme lead, will bring to the Liverpool City Region expertise in data analysis; artificial intelligence; digitisation; insight development; rapid prototyping; and project management and delivery.

The i-team will focus on developing interventions aimed at reducing the 25% of City Region households that qualify for, but opt out of, free energy efficiency adaptations to their homes which would reduce energy bills and aid Net Zero progress. With cars accounting for 76% of miles travelled in the City Region and transport making up 30% of emissions, the i-team will also help identify solutions to increase walking, cycling, and public transport use.

The i-team, which will be hired by the Combined Authority, will report directly into Kirsty Mclean, Executive Director for Public Sector Innovation, and regularly provide updates to the Mayor on progress, ensuring it is positioned to move efficiently and get results.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:

“Innovation has been at the heart of our strategy from day one because it’s essential to the kind of economy we want to build – one that’s fairer, greener, and driven by the needs of our people. But it’s not enough to simply be involved in innovation – we have to lead it.

“That’s why we’ve set ourselves the bold ambition of investing 5% of our GVA in research and development by 2030. It’s a target that could unlock £20 billion of economic growth and create 44,000 high-quality jobs for local people.

“This support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, is another major milestone on that journey. The organization’s Government Innovation expertise, and the municipal i-team we will establish, will help us tackle some of the biggest barriers facing our region from accelerating the shift to green transport to improving the energy efficiency of our homes.

“I’m excited to welcome our new i-team and to get to work building a cleaner, more connected Liverpool City Region that works for everyone.”

National and global policies increasingly depend on local progress – and in recent years, municipalities have served as intermediaries for infrastructure, recovery, and more. To seize their potential, local governments require access to the talent and tools that will help them solve problems across departments, harness data and emerging technology, and bring resident needs into the heart of policymaking and program design.

In Europe, this is particularly acute: more than 60 percent of mayors surveyed by Eurocities report that capacity to implement cutting-edge solutions is a top strategy to achieve their priorities – though most lack what they need to solve challenges currently at hand. The Bloomberg Philanthropies i-team program, part of the organisation’s Government Innovation portfolio, provides municipalities funding and expertise to establish a multidisciplinary, mission-minded unit that meets this need.

James Anderson, who leads the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies said:

“Realizing efficient, effective government is an inside job — and the Innovation Teams we support around the world are critical to building that engine within the city halls they serve.

“We are glad to expand this model to 18 new municipal teams in Europe, who will join the growing number of public officials working locally, creatively, and ambitiously to break down silos, break through problems, and deliver results residents see and feel.”

To date, the Bloomberg Philanthropies i-team initiative has reached over 100 cities across 16 countries and four continents—representing more than 100 million residents—and inspired hundreds of other local governments to embrace innovation systems and practices.

The Liverpool City Region is one of 18 new European municipalities selected to participate in the initiative, which includes eight countries and represents 25 million residents.

These new i-teams will focus on issues ranging from fortifying disaster response to reducing youth poverty to lowering household energy burden and will be in: Brussels, Belgium; Zagreb, Croatia; Helsinki, Finland; Turku, Finland; Vantaa, Finland; Freiburg Im Breisgau, Germany; Leipzig, Germany; Mannheim, Germany; Oslo, Norway; Madrid, Spain; Valencia, Spain; Zaragoza, Spain; Stockholm, Sweden; Edinburgh, UK; North East Combined Authority, UK; Liverpool City Region, UK; Greater Manchester Combined Authority, UK; and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, UK.