Program Rules & Regulations

Date issued: August 19, 2025

I. Introduction and Timeline

Introduction

PGH Lab is a six-month partnership program that connects local businesses with City of Pittsburgh (“City”) departments to pilot innovative solutions. Our program helps businesses grow while enhancing City services. We aim to make Pittsburgh more efficient, transparent, sustainable, and inclusive.

Program Timeline

Pilot testing is estimated to begin the January following the close of application. Pilot testing runs January of the cohort year through June of the same calendar year.

II. Background

Founded in 2016, PGH Lab was created to give local startups and entrepreneurs the opportunity to test their market-ready products in a real-world government setting. The program connects local companies with City of Pittsburgh departments, fostering collaboration that benefits both the business community and the public sector. Over the years, PGH Lab has supported diverse projects across sustainability, public engagement, health and safety, and civic technology — helping participants refine their solutions while advancing the City’s goals.

III. Financial Compensation

Participants in PGH Lab will receive a stipend for testing their products and services in the City of Pittsburgh. The opportunity to provide any product or service piloted through PGH Lab shall only extend through pilot period and shall not continue thereafter. Furthermore, the City provides no guarantee of future use, purchase or procurement of any products or services tested through PGH Lab. Participation in PGH Lab should not be construed in anyway as an advantage or benefit vis-à-vis any other vendor in subsequent solicitations or procurements held by the City of Pittsburgh or any participating entity.

IV. Program Categories

All applications are welcome, but alignment to the following areas of interest may be given priority for final bid:

• Process Improvement and Optimization: Streamline City services to make them simpler, faster, and more cost-effective.
• Sustainability and Environment: Help the City reduce pollution, improve resident access to resources, and integrate environmental considerations into decision-making.
• Equity and Inclusion: Boost equitable access to all City services and opportunities.
• Health and Safety: Help the City address new and long-standing health, safety, and justice issues that impact its residents.
• AI Innovation: Leverage artificial intelligence to solve City challenges in new, effective, and responsible ways.

V. Submission Requirements

Submission requirements are outlined in the ITQ solicitation on the City’s procurement portal, OpenGov. Please refer to the solicitation for complete details.

VI. Contact and Questions

All inquiries about program eligibility, requirements, process, application, or rules should be submitted through the Q&A section of the ITQ solicitation on the City’s procurement portal until the question deadline passes. After the deadline, please direct questions to pghlab@pittsburghpa.gov.

VII. Evaluation and Selection Criteria

Evaluation criteria are outlined in the ITQ solicitation on the City’s procurement portal, OpenGov. Please refer to the solicitation for complete details.

VIII. Award

A City of Pittsburgh review committee will select the PGH Lab cohort and assign a department leader, or ‘City Champion,’ to work with each company during the pilot phase. Final selection is contingent upon confirming the applicant’s full compliance with the City’s eligibility rules and regulations herein.

IX. Pilot Period Company Expectations

A. Department Champion Meetings and Expectations

Each company will be working with a City department leader or “City Champion”. When the program period starts, companies must meet with their respective champion in order to set clear expectations, agree on a project timeline, progress check-ins, and an overall communication plan. PGH Lab participants must keep their City Champion updated and informed of their progress throughout the program period. PGH Lab participants must obtain prior written approval before initiating contact with any external entities or organizations in relation to PGH Lab.

B. PGH Lab Program Manager(s)

C. Companies are expected to do monthly check-ins with the PGH Lab program manager(s) in order to provide feedback, discuss milestones, and address any issues. Project Milestones

Companies are expected to execute their plan of implementation for the duration of the six-month pilot program.

D. Promotional material

Companies will be highlighted via different public avenues of the City of Pittsburgh. This includes but is not limited to City press releases, PGH Lab Medium Blog, PGH Lab website, Department of Innovation & Performance Twitter account, and the Pittsburgh City Channel. Companies are expected to collaborate and provide information for published public material.

X. Other Terms and Conditions

Marketing and Communication - Finalists will be required to adhere to the rules and regulations promulgated by PGH Lab herein with respect to marketing materials and communications about the finalists’ participation in PGH Lab. The City shall have the sole and exclusive authority to make all decisions for any and all marketing and promotional materials related to PGH Lab.

Proprietary Information, Trade Secrets and Confidentiality Concerns - As a municipal corporation, the City is subject to Right To Know Requests and Sunshine Laws. The City is unable to guarantee that such information, if divulged to the City, will remain confidential. To that end, in your applications to participate, the City strongly encourages you to please refrain from divulging proprietary information, trade secrets or other confidential information. In the event you need to share information that fits one of these classifications, note that in your application and we will address that separately from the application process, consistent with applicable law. Furthermore, the City understands that startup companies may hold intellectual property rights over their respective products or services. To the extent that any documents or other deliverables are protected by these rights, startup companies must mark each document as such. Any unmarked pre-existing data shared with City or any new data developed during this program may be owned, utilized, or disclosed by the City for the public benefit.