For the first time a majority of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Increased urbanization brings new demands for technology to make city life more pleasant, healthy, and efficient. New low-cost sensors and advanced data analytics, among other technologies, have given rise to smart cities across the United States. However, many cities are struggling with how to best select, deploy, and maintain smart city technologies. In its recent report, the Center for Data Innovation (CDI) said that national governments have an important role to play in accelerating and coordinating smart city development.
On Monday Cisco announced that Michigan is the first state to join Cisco’s State Digital Acceleration (SDA) program, a 3-year targeted collaboration program to advance the state’s digital agenda. Cisco announced the SDA initiative in Detroit at the 2017 North American International Cyber Summit hosted by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.
CA Technologies and Chordant released their Smart City Benefits Index, which the companies describe as the first comprehensive study designed to examine the relative potential benefits of Smart City technology in America’s major metropolitan areas. In terms of the rankings, tech hub Boston unsurprisingly topped the list. Other tech giants in the top 10 include Austin, Seattle, and San Diego. However, the big surprise was that typically industrial cities dominated the top 10.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation announced a deployment of analytics software that is expected to improve customer service and reduce costs across the department. The NCDOT chose to partner with SAS to deploy its SAS Platform, including SAS Viya.
Illinois CIO Hardik Bhatt announced that he is leaving the public sector for a new role at Amazon. While he didn’t discuss specifics of his new role, Bhatt said he would be joining a new public sector-facing team primarily focused on the Internet of Things (IoT), transportation, and smart cities.
Successful smart city initiatives rely on cities collaborating with each other, the Federal government, the private sector, and citizens, according to city mayors and Federal experts who spoke at the Global City Teams Challenge Expo on Aug. 28.
The Federal Transit Administration’s Mobility on Demand Sandbox program will fund 11 projects that allow transit providers to try Internet of Things (IoT) enabled services.
Las Vegas wants to be a leader in technology. The city is working with Cisco to test new Internet of Things technologies via pilot programs in the Innovation District.
“A lot of IoT focuses on the intake of information,” said Stephen Walter, a program director for the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston. “We are really interested in how IoT can push information out. How can an IoT device augment a physical space? How can IoT be delightful?”
San Jose, Calif., wants to be America’s most innovative city by 2020, and it’s hoping that a recent $200,000 investment will help get it there. In an interview with 21st Century State & Local, San Jose CIO Shireen Santosham discussed how the city used the investment to support IoT strategic planning, as well as its technology plans for the future.
