As part of its ‘City Possible’ program, Mastercard has launched a global network for urban co-development, connecting cities with academia and businesses to identify common challenges that can be best addressed through collaboration. Once key challenges have been identified, City Possible will provide a framework for co-creating, testing and scaling solutions.
The founding members of the network include: Athens, Aurora, Baltimore, Dubai, Dublin, Helsinki, Honolulu, Kansas City, Melbourne, Prague, San Diego, and Altamonte Springs, as well as the Greater Sydney communities of Campbelltown, Canterbury Bankstown, Liverpool, and Wollondilly. The network is open for additional cities to join.
“The superpower of cities is their freedom to collaborate – allowing them to build on each other’s progress,” says Miguel Gamiño, head of global city partnerships for Mastercard. “By bringing together city leaders from across the globe, City Possible promotes the sharing of ideas and best practices – aimed at advancing more connected and inclusive urban communities. What unites all our public, private and academic partners is their commitment to make technology work for all people, and finding scale-able solutions for universal needs.”
An important part of the program is, Mastercard’s partnership with the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University (TECH) which will host a series of programs to foster a regular learning exchange among global city leaders.
“As urban areas around the world continue to grow, cities face common issues – how to provide a healthy environment, safety, affordability and economic opportunity for their communities,” says professor David S. Ricketts, fellow at TECH. “Faced with limited resources and competing priorities, city leaders look for solutions that have been tested elsewhere. Through our learning exchanges, we want to equip CIOs and other urban leaders to better navigate this dynamic environment.”
