Coming out of a Smart Cities Council Grant win in February, the city of Austin recently hosted a full-day readiness workshop with city leaders, staff, and key community members to tackle issues of housing, mobility, and economic development for the city’s underserved communities.

smart cities

Two years after the launch of its What Works Cities national initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced its new Smart City certification. The What Works Cities Certification seeks to support local leaders in leveraging Smart City best practices, as well as reward achievements and provide a clear path to success.

San Diego, in partnership with GE, is launching the largest deployment of a city-based Internet of Things platform in the world. Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced that the city is upgrading streetlights, and is using IoT sensors to transform the lights into a connected digital network that can improve parking, traffic, and public safety, as well as track air quality.

The Smart Cities Council awarded the Readiness Challenge Grant on Feb. 8 to Orlando, Miami, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Austin, which gives the cities mentoring opportunities and a workshop in which to develop new IT projects that will best help their populations. 21st Century State & Local checked in with these cities to find out how they plan to use these resources.

Over the next year, the city of San Antonio will deploy sensors that monitor both foot traffic and vehicle traffic. In late January, Mayor Ivy Taylor announced that her city was selected for the Envision America smart city initiative, which helps cities develop major Internet of Things projects.

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