Innovation on agenda for 'technology mayor' Ed Lee

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee laid out his "innovation portfolio" for 2012 during an industry awards ceremony, articulating his plan to harness technology to improve city services and reiterating his self-appointed role as the "Technology Mayor."

"I think there's a technical, local solution to three-fourths if not four-fifths of a lot of the issues we're facing," Mayor Lee said ahead of the TechFellow Awards in San Francisco. "We'll think through everything, try to see how people are innovating in the private sector, and ask how we can use that same spirit in the public sector." Mayor Lee and his chief innovation officer, Jay Nath, said they hope to employ online technology, mobile apps, so-called hackathons and more to make strides in economic development, community engagement and making San Francisco "smarter." One of the highest priority projects will be to build an online platform that streamlines the city's famously cumbersome and confusing process for setting up a business.