SXSW 2019: Hear Gov Tech Startup Founders Pitch the Mayors

For the fifth year, a group of mayors at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, played 'shark' as they judged a handful of civic-minded startups that sought to solve hard city problems.

March 10, 2019 •

With a $10,000 prize for a first-place finish, at SXSW a handful of startup founders pitched a panel of mayors convened by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the nonprofit Civic I/O, a group of self-styled civic innovators bound together by a commitment to solving intractable city problems through applied technology.

This year's pitches covered everything from redressing racism in setting car insurance rates while making city streets safer and using so-called job-killing AI to benefit job seekers to holding landlords accountable for keeping the heat on and providing networked access to psychiatrists to first responders responding to mental health emergencies.

Show Notes:

Paul W. Taylor

Paul W. Taylor is Programming and Media Manager at TVW, Washington's Public Affairs Network. He is the former Chief Content Officer and Executive Editor at e.Republic Editorial and of its flagship titles - Governing and Government Technology. He can be reached X/@pwtaylor or @pwtaylor.bsky.social

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SXSW 2019: Hear Gov Tech Startup Founders Pitch the Mayors

For the fifth year, a group of mayors at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, played 'shark' as they judged a handful of civic-minded startups that sought to solve hard city problems.