Smart Cities Connect News

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority Opens Applications for 12-Month Dockless Scooter Pilot

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has opened up applications for a 12-month dockless scooter pilot, called the “Powered Scooter Share Permit Program,” that will give five companies permits for up to 500 scooters Read More

Bloomberg Philanthropies Launches $70M American Cities Climate Challenge

Michael R. Bloomberg, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and co-chair of America’s Pledge recently announced the Bloomberg Philanthropies launch of a $70 million American Cities Climate Challenge – an initiative that Read More

Canada Smart Cities Challenge Announces 20 Finalists

The 20 finalists for the Canada Smart Cities Challenge were recently announced at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ annual conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia: Akwesasne/Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Ontario and Quebec (Mohawk Nation) Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, Read More

UPPlift Toronto Announces 8 Urban Pilot Program Winners

UPPlift Toronto, a start-up which seeks to bridge the gap between smart city technologies and infrastructure operators seeking tech that can enhance Toronto’s liveability, recently announced the eight winners of its first-ever Urban Pilot Program. Read More

Colorado State University Uses Grant from Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research to Understand Local Food Systems

The food systems research team at Colorado State University has received $1 million in support from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) which will be matched by several other organizations, for a total Read More

Adelaide Implements More Than 400 Smart Sensors Through Region’s Water Utility

The city of Adelaide, Australia has been using an integrated network of more than 400 smart sensors since July of 2017. The network enables SA Water, the region’s water utility company, to proactively identify and Read More

NASA, Airbus and Uber Study Drone Interactions

NASA has recently entered into partnerships with Airbus and Uber to study drones and their interactions with other flying vehicles and urban environments. NASA stated that the goal of the agreement with Uber is to Read More

Hong Kong Polytechnic University Opens Research Facility in Big Data Analytics

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) recently opened the University Research Facility in Big Data Analytics (UBDA), with the aim of fostering cross-disciplinary research collaborations in PolyU, establishing strong partnerships with industries on big data Read More

In Sweden, Smart Means Sustainable

A “Not Boring” Approach to Smart Cities In late May, I had the opportunity to spend a week in Stockholm, visiting with smart city leaders and experiencing their smart city developments. One thing became immediately Read More

Florida Legislature Approves A Community Association Law to Accommodate Electric Cars

The Florida Legislature recently approved House Bill 841 – a community association law which includes new provisions to accommodate electric cars. A preamble to the new law says: “The Legislature finds that the use of Read More

from Smart Cities Connect Media & Research

Speaker Highlights Include:

Kerry O'Connor
Chief Innovation Officer, City of Austin

Jane Nickles
Chief Information Officer, City of Greensboro

Kimberly LaGrue
Chief Information Officer, City of New Orleans

Chris Castro
Director of Sustainability, City of Orlando

Anthony Lyons
City Manager, City of Gainesville, Florida

Josh Carpenter
Director of Innovation and Economic Opportunity, City of Birmingham

Donald Phillips
Chief Information Officer, City of Cleveland

Michael R. Pegues
Chief Information Officer, City of Aurora

Jean Duncan
Director, Transportation and Stormwater Services, City of Tampa

Lauren Poe
Mayor, City of Gainesville

Emily Silverman
Smart City Program Manager, City of Denver

Ruthbea Yesner
VP, Government Insights and Smart Cities, IDC Government Insights

Out of the many conference choices for Smart Cities, I prioritize attending the Smart Cities Connect conference each year. This conference brings together all the high-powered decision makers from every part of the Smart City ecosystem – city leaders, vendors, academics, researchers and non-profit organizations. The atmosphere is energetic and warm which fosters open, honest conversations and making new connections. I recommend this conference for everyone involved in the Smart Cities movement.

Ruthbea Yesner, VP, Government Insights and Smart Cities, IDC Government Insights

We were excited to host Smart Cities Connect; it gave us a chance to highlight some of the great successes of our departmental leaders in smartification of their teams and, perhaps more importantly, allow them to meet some of the amazing leaders in this space from other communities.

Bob Bennett, Chief Innovation Officer, City of Kansas City

The quality of attendees, speakers and exhibitors at Smart City Connect Kansas City was very impressive and also very targeted for our business. It's so helpful to be together, in one place at one time, with so many of the smart city leaders from around the country.