Safer cities. Less pollution. Better quality of life.
Since upcoming elections are front of mind, you might think I’m offering snippets of campaign promises. Actually, I’m talking about a nonpolitical type of movement designed to make everyone a winner.
We at the Arizona Technology Council are getting ready to host our 8th annual Smart City + IoT Conference, which will be held in partnership with the Arizona Commerce Authority from 1 to 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at ASU SkySong Innovation Center in Scottsdale.
Advancements in smart city development and the Internet of Things (IoT) will be the focus as speakers take you into their world of innovation to explore the latest in communication technology and share how urban landscapes will transform into smart, connected communities. Their goals are to ultimately make our lives better.
Arizona is fortunate to have talent already leading the charge in these growing sectors. And we’re even more fortunate to have smart city and IoT leaders in these fields on hand to share their expertise and answer your questions at the conference.
To launch the discussions, our opening keynote will be delivered by Marisa Walker, executive director of the ACA’s Institute of Automated Mobility, which provides technical guidance and coordination to ensure wise implementation of automated mobility in Arizona. A project on the institute’s front burner is DRIVE Arizona, a coalition of inclusive community-based partnerships to demonstrate the potential of next-generation cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) applications using 4G/5G networks. The goals are to enhance safety and mobility, reduce travel time, promote travel conformability, and improve the environmental landscape of the region.
Walker will be followed by the panel “AI Accelerating Smart City Deployment & Data Sharing.” Speakers will include Dean Duncan, managing director of The Connective, a smart region consortium of public, private university, and community partners that want to empower Greater Phoenix communities to build the nation’s largest, most connected, and smart region by developing and deploying technology scalable solutions rooted in connectivity, mobility, equity and sustainability.
Promoting skilled workforce development
Also on the panel will be Dario Solis, business development director – Innovation Technology Partnerships at Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. The National Science Foundation recently awarded a grant to one of its professors for a “smart campus” initiative to help sustain the growing scale of computing, networking and storage resources at ASU. The goal is to integrate data collection and computing applications into the blue campus emergency call boxes.
Rounding out the panel will be Dominic Papa, chief government relations officer of the Institute for Digital Inclusion Acceleration, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the globe through purpose-driven innovation and digital inclusion. Members of the nonprofit work across sectors to ensure individuals and communities have the tools, support and resources needed to fully and meaningfully participate in the digital world.
Moderator will be Kirk Busch, CEO of BigData Southwest, a consulting/media group advocating adoption of IoT and cloud technologies. By the way, Busch is a member and past chair of the Council’s IoT + Smart Cities Committee, where members can learn, collaborate, advocate and disseminate information about how IoT and smart-cities strategies can help organizations create real-time business solutions in a sensor-enabled, analytics-driven world.
Chris Lucero, the committee’s current chair and director of Industrial IoT Emerging Technologies at Intel, will moderate the panel “Advanced Technology & IoT.” He will be joined by Larry Head, director of the Craig M. Berge Engineering Design Program at The University of Arizona’s College of Engineering. The program is key to recruiters seeking to hire U of A engineers. Students begin tackling team projects in their first semester with hands-on design challenges taking them immediately from theory to application and laying a foundation for a four-year program that ties manufacturing and commercialization.
Adding to the conversation will be Peter Costa, CEO and co-founder of Baltu Technologies, a social impact company accelerating the development of a skilled workforce. For example, its Industry 4.0 Upskilling Program prepares and certifies workers to fill entry-level positions and beyond to meet the demand for skilled labor in automation, robotics and advanced manufacturing technologies.
Joining them will be Hermann Plank, president of TecnoKal, an international marketing and technology consulting firm. Its areas of concentration include Industry 4.0, which uses smart technologies and automation to let manufacturers produce goods more efficiently, quickly or sustainably. Another area is design for manufacturing and assembly, an engineering method to simplify product design for improved ease of manufacture and efficiency of assembly.
The day will be rounded out with Papa returning to moderate “Arizona Broadband & Digital Equity Initiates.” The speakers are being finalized as I write this column.
Smart cities and IoT are more than just dreams for the future. The efforts are underway now. I invite you to join us and learn how you can play a part. Follow this link to learn more details.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Steve Zylstra
Quelle/Source: The Business Journals, 08.0ß9.2024
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