Client Case: Innovate Daytona

Attract Innovators & Nurture Start-ups

PROFILE

  • The City of Daytona Beach, FL has long been known as home to “the world’s most famous beach”. Tourism is the economy’s major driver, but the city of approximately 65,000 residents also benefits from the presence of healthcare, manufacturing and sporting industries, as well as a rich heritage of innovation and experimentation.

PURPOSE

  • Assess the current state of innovation across six domains: leadership; frameworks, infrastructure and policies; resources; activities and engagement; role models; and culture.
  • Build an actionable plan based on the issues uncovered – specifically to develop an even more welcoming culture toward innovation, innovators, and start-up organizations, across the entire metropolitan area.

OUTCOMES            

  • Six initiatives were developed, with an emphasis on strengthening the “Innovate Daytona” ecosystem to expand and enhance the existing innovation culture, and which can be monitored for measurable progress.

PARTICIPANTS & PROCESS

  • 43 business leaders convened for the one-day session. Input from an additional 12 people (unable to attend) was gathered ahead of time and incorporated into the data. 
  • Participants reviewed and discussed the results synthesized from the 55 total individual Rainforest Scorecard assessments collected. During the session the group identified strategic issues and actionable improvement opportunities.
  • In facilitated breakout sessions teams analyzed strategic issues uncovered by the assessment and developed action plans to address them. This event was a half-day version of our Rainforest Immersion which usually runs for a full day.

PROJECT TEAM

PRODUCTS

  • Rainforest Principles: educational keynote address on innovation culture and a “social contract” to aid in increasing trust across the Daytona innovation ecosystem.
  • Rainforest Scorecard short form assessment and synthesis of the area’s innovation culture. Data was visualized using the Rainforest Radar and bar charts.
  • A comprehensive event summary captured the participants’ work, the synthesized Rainforest Scorecard data, and the initiatives developed.
  • Innovate Daytona website was built by the chartering team as a repository for progress and a promotional tool to attract additional participation from the greater Daytona area.   

    WHAT NEXT? 

    If you find this Client Case inspiring, please contact an RFS Partner about how to get the same kinds of services and outcomes for your organization.