COVID-19 has imposed difficult challenges on how governments provide critical services, from overwhelmed social benefits systems to a lack of information channels. To face the challenge, city governments have turned to digital technologies to broaden their reach and streamline the delivery of citizen services. During the panel “Designing the future of city innovation in North America,” we learned from technology experts who are bringing these innovations to public service at the local level, learned which are the biggest barriers for establishing new public interest technology solutions, how the digital innovation ecosystem is growing, and what we can do in North America to foster technological cooperation as we move towards a growing digital future.