The smart cities conversation is almost always dominated by large metropolitan areas. This makes sense since global trends show the world is becoming increasingly urban. But that narrative leaves out the growing importance of small and mid-sized U.S. cities. The U.S. census classifies areas as either urban (50,000+ people), urban clusters (between 2,500 and 50,000 people), or rural (everything else). According to the 2010 census, there are 497 urbanized areas and 3,104 urban clusters.
When you search online for images of a city, chances are you'll find pictures of buildings, roads, bridges and lights. It's natural to think of a city in terms of its physical infrastructure. But today, we are in the emergence of a new digital reality in which a city's invisible infrastructure is just as important as the physical.
WEBINAR | The State of Cities: How Does Statewide Policy Affect Smart Cities?
State policy can have a profound impact on smart cities by influencing priorities, establishing advanced infrastructure, and emphasizing regional initiatives that cross municipal boundaries. In Indiana, the state’s Technology and Innovation Council has a pulse on innovation and believes that IoT could accelerate the state’s innovation economy over the coming years.
Since the US Department of Transportation (DOT) issued the Smart City Challenge in 2016, US cities have been fast tracking their smart city efforts. Today, you see greater levels of activity on all fronts. There are more pilot projects activating, more collaborations forming, more organizations are hosting conferences, more people are writing articles. The volume of the conversation has increased and this is a positive step.
Can City CTOs Save the World?
We used to live in silos where the role of certain sectors was clear. Companies provided products and services to generate a profit. Nonprofits and NGOs performed selfless act to save the world. Cities silently made the world run in ways that most of us never even noticed. With the advent of smart cities, things look quite different. Cities are now at the epicenter of the technology evolution with the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data and connected technology.
So What Happened at Smart Cities Week?