TOR155: Empowering Legacy Cities with Lev Gonick of DigitalC

Terms Of Reference Podcast

As you may have noticed over the past few months, I’ve been talking more and more about the “social sector.” As I’m sure you’ll have assumed, this has been intentional on my part to begin to reach out beyond my comfort zone of humanitarian aid and international development to the wider community of social actors; people who consider themselves social entrepreneurs, philanthropists and even intrapreneurs who see opportunity within their existing companies and organization to make change that will both serve those in need, but also improve our prospects for human flourishing.

It is in this context that I’m excited to introduce you to Lev Gonick, the CEO of DigitalC. As you’ll hear in our conversation, Lev is passionate about how technology can be used as an enabling platform to bring change to legacy cities.

Now, like me, you may ask what exactly is a “legacy city”? Here’s how DigitalC frames it: Many communities that were built on a 20th century manufacturing base now face the challenge of transitioning to a digital economy. Communities everywhere need strategies and practical programming that support their transition.

So, again as you’ll hear just a minute, places like Cleveland, where Lev lives, were once the pinnacle of modern civilization, but now find themselves with realities that are more akin to sub-Saharan Africa in terms of individual outcomes, like infant mortality or higher education.

And, while it comes out clearly in our conversation, I don’t think we could have a better guest on the show to talk about the needs of legacy cities and how powerful solutions can be crafted. From 2001 to 2013, Lev was Chief Information Officer at Case Western Reserve University and his leadership helped create the Case Connection Zone, catalyze national initiatives such as US Ignite, (which was launched by the White House Office of Science and Technology Planning), and Gig.U. As you can imagine, this work has resulted in Lev being recognized and awarded for his achievements in numerous place.

I know you’re going to love this show about how Lev’s team is helping people in need from Cleveland to Morocco by helping to build new civic agendas, introducing new technologies and opening access to the promises of big data.