“Letting people know they can change things, or doing quick experiments, and seeing if it looks like there’s potential there,” is the way Brendan Babb describes his approach to serving as the first chief innovation officer for the city of Anchorage, Alaska.
“I feel like people who are closest to the problems usually have the best ideas on how to solve them,” Babb added in a recent interview.
Babb, who grew up in Anchorage, is that welcome combination of curiosity, experimentation and public service. He has a background in mathematics, computer science and research. Oh, and he has five patents. Before joining Anchorage City Hall in 2016, Babb had served as a data scientist with the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, as well as a research technician on NASA’s Mars Rover project, among other roles.
“I have been lucky to have people give me jobs where I’m allowed to fail over and over, and try different things,” he said. “There tends to be a lot of hesitation in government. We don’t want to make mistakes that could have large-scale impacts on peoples’ lives, but … if you want innovation or advances, you have to have room to experiment.”
Some of that experimentation has included introducing generative AI technologies to reduce friction when it comes to accessing city services, which is where he sees a lot of potential. But, he cautions, when it comes to artificial intelligence, the city is still “taking baby steps.”
Anchorage is part of the What Works Cities initiative from Bloomberg Philanthropies. This fellowship has been another valuable source of collaboration and innovation, Babb said.
“We’re a small but mighty team, able to use human-centered design and data-driven approaches, and really try to train government employees in different techniques.”
This story originally appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of Government Technology magazine. Click here to view the full digital edition online.
