Editorial

Defiance city officials are planning to move ahead with an effort to establish what they call an “innovation policy.” This set of guidelines — discussed at city council’s meeting Tuesday night — will govern certain initiatives that take advantage of technological innovations.

One of them is a phone app in the police department that will allow officers on the road to deal with paperwork more efficiently. Paperwork has done nothing but increase for police in recent years so this may have some immediate benefit.

Other innovations will address the tweaking of water and wastewater services, both as vital to the public as police protection.

The city’s plan to adopt an innovation policy makes sense as government becomes ever more sophisticated and technology just keeps marching on.

This policy path is akin to an initiative being pursued by Ohio Gov Mike DeWine’s office called “InnovateOhio.” The goals of the two efforts at the state and local levels are the same — to provide citizens with efficient services at the lowest cost.

As such, the city is hopeful that an “innovation policy” will help it receive grant funds through the state for implementation of new technologies. That outcome certainly would be welcomed.