Innovation in Philadelphia: it's not just all about tech. Government, retail, media and the way we work and live made major strides forward in 2011.
The University of the Arts' Corzo Center for the Creative Economy funded arts entrepreneurs this year, and businesses like Little Baby's Ice Cream, Kembrel, Gritty City Beauty, LevelUp and ReAnimator Coffee are just a few examples of the retail revolution underway in Philadelphia. Storably and Inhabi launched to re-imagine rentals. Milkboy Coffee expanded from Ardmore to Center City, and made plans to move its recording studio downtown as well.
Crowdsourced civic change is a major trend in Philadelphia's innovation efforts. We were named a
Code for America city the second year in a row; programs like
Open Access Philly and
Change By Us live at the intersection of technology and civic engagement, with government stewardship by Jeff Friedman. Adel Ebeid arrived to lead the city's newly formed
Office of Innovation and Technology in increasing broadband penetration.
TEDxPhilly,
Young Involved Philadelphia,
Philly Tech Week,
PhillyStake, the
Philadelphia Geek Awards and
IgnitePhilly mixed business with pleasure, merging crowds and companies in festive settings.
Gaming and
gamification continues to trend; local efforts include
Cipher Prime,
Port 127,
Play Eternal and networking group
PANMA.
Incubators and coworking spaces surged, with
Indy Hall making expansion plans for
K'House, Philadev's
Musemaka,
OpenDesks,
Startup Therapy, and
Novotorium in Langhorne.
In media,
Wharton Publishing went all digital; Ryan Seacrest opened
The Voice studio at CHOP;
G Philly,
Hidden City's Daily and
Generocity launched; WHYY's
Newsworks grew; and if it was relevant to technology,
Technically Philly covered it all this year, never missing a beat.
Writer: Sue Spolan