Honolulu, San Antonio, Boston, and Raleigh-Durham have been investing in residents and the planet.
Last summer, the Honolulu City Council approved the city's first-ever Climate Action Plan, a detailed strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over the next five years and reach carbon neutrality by 2045. The plan had been years in the making and involved community meetings, working groups with stakeholders including local utility companies and other partners, and resident engagement.
Nearly half of Americans feel uncomfortable about the prospect of living in a smart city, a place where electricity grids, traffic lights and other infrastructure components are networked and internet-connected, an Axios-Momentive poll found.
Why it matters:
Cities have embraced smart technology in fits and starts. They're lured by the promise of better citizen services, but fearful of the expense and the potential for security and privacy breaches.
Read more: US: Smart cities: Public acceptance may take time
Amidst the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing that remains constant is your community’s need to stay connected. But stay-at-home, work-from-home and learn-from-home measures have highlighted a glaring gap in the availability and distribution of reliable, high-speed internet networks, and many citizens and businesses are still unable to access the online resources needed to maintain a sense of normalcy.
As we move into the third year of the pandemic, addressing that gap in resources is critical for local governments and communities to prosper. Fiber and wireless broadband investment and ownership by municipalities, utilities, electrical co-ops and tribal governments is the solution. With access to fiber broadband, everyone from residents and visitors/tourists to government entities can benefit from the ability to telework, access online education, offer and access online services, use telehealth, take advantage of economic opportunities and stay connected.
Read more: US: Municipal broadband: Using today’s technology to support your community’s future
Adoption of IoT is increasing everywhere, but particularly in smart city applications, according to a study co-authored by the Wi-SUN Alliance.
The IoT (Internet of Things) has become a buzzword in recent years as more companies seek to leverage the connectivity and information available on the Internet, but how real is this trend? According to the industry group the Wi-SUN Alliance, IoT is increasingly a key priority for organizations across multiple sectors, including smart cities and industrial companies.
Read more: US: Smart City Initiatives Drive IoT Surge, Says Wi-SUN Alliance
As the pandemic subsides, governments find they still need to support transformation initiatives.
The global pandemic had a massive impact on how state and local governments deliver services to their citizens. With social distancing policies in place across the U.S. and around the world, governments needed to provide services digitally.
However, while the pandemic has shown signs of subsiding, the demand for digital services has not. In fact, a recent report from the National Association of State CIOs stated that 94 percent of CIOs said the pandemic had increased or accelerated the demand for digital government services.
Read more: US: Demand for Digital Services Drives IT Modernization Efforts