Technological innovation is speeding up and reshaping the dynamics of our daily lives. Are cities prepared? The team at Madaffer Enterprises works on behalf of both public and private sector clients to help local governments proactively develop strategies and policies to capture the benefits of innovation while anticipating and mitigating unintended consequences.
Jim Madaffer had a reputation as a tech geek during his eight years on the San Diego City Council, so no one was surprised that his first job after leaving elected office was advocating for stronger automated external defibrillator (AED) policies in public buildings throughout the United States. Madaffer’s work to improve public health through the lifesaving technology of AEDs soon led to other issues at the intersection of government and technology, including small cell wireless communications and online travel technology.
Since 2009, Madaffer Enterprises has grown from a one-man shop to a vibrant team of former elected officials, business experts, technical engineers, geeks, policy wonks, writers, designers, and community builders. Today, the firm works on behalf of a wide variety of innovative clients: transportation network companies, online travel agencies, shared economy companies, parking operators, developers, education organizations, and more. In each case, Madaffer Enterprises strategically advances client objectives through a mix of coalition-building, lobbying, media relations, and strategic planning.
Representing and advocating on behalf of businesses is just one side of the Madaffer story. When the City of Chula Vista decided in 2016 to take a holistic look at its technological infrastructure and innovation policies, the City turned first to Madaffer Enterprises. Working closely with the City and community stakeholders, Madaffer Enterprises built a Smart City Strategic Action Plan designed to provide a roadmap for the City’s policymaking and investments in everything from traffic signal communications to water conservation. Chula Vista’s Smart City Strategic Action Plan was nationally recognized with an award by the American Planning Association and has become a model for smart city strategic roadmaps among other cities. A similar project with the City of Carlsbad soon followed, leading to the Carlsbad City Council’s adoption of the Connected Carlsbad plan in early 2020.
Working with these two cities in San Diego County inspired the Madaffer Enterprises team to broaden their audience and expand the community of local governments working to harness the power of innovation. In 2018, Madaffer Enterprises founded Connected Communities Collaborative, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to helping local governments strategically integrate and leverage technological innovation to enhance economic prosperity, environmental sustainability and quality of life. The organization delivers by hosting webinars and in-person events designed to educate government officials and facilitate the exchange of ideas on emerging approaches to public innovation.
At the first-ever CityLaunch Conference in March 2019, Madaffer Enterprises worked with Connected Communities Collaborative to bring together over 200 elected officials and staff for two days of programming focused on digital equity, community engagement, and strategic technology planning for cities. CityLaunch inspired a series of follow-up webinars and encouraged several California cities to pursue their own smart city strategic roadmaps and digital inclusion plans.
As technology and public policy continue to evolve, so will the work of Madaffer Enterprises. Whether the future is scalable tiny homes or self-driving cars, Madaffer Enterprises will be helping clients navigate politically charged landscapes to reach public policy solutions to meet client needs and benefit the public good.
