36 municipalities recognized for success in leveraging emerging technology and innovation to support Smart City initiatives

IDC Government Insights named finalists this week in the seventh annual Smart Cities North America Awards (SCNAA). The awards were designed to recognize the progress North American municipalities have made in executing Smart Cities projects, as well as provide a forum for sharing best practices to help accelerate Smart City development in the region. Finalists include cities, states, counties, and universities.

As the next step in the nomination process, IDC invites the public to vote on the named finalists at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SCNAA24. Voting will be open through Friday, March 8th. Winners will be announced March 27th and honored at Smart Cities Connect being held May 7-10 in Raleigh, NC. To learn more about the event, please visit https://spring.smartcitiesconnect.org.

Finalists in the SCNAA illustrate best practice examples of how forward-thinking municipalities and regional governments are effectively leveraging technology and innovation to offer new services and economic opportunities and to meet the needs and expectations of residents, visitors, and businesses. 42 municipalities, states, and educational institutions are recognized for unprecedented progress in creating and sustaining smart city projects across the following 14 categories:

1. Administration (e.g., Back Office, Digital Legislating)

• City and County of Denver – Denver, CO
• Multi-Sourcing Service Integrator (MSI) based Financial Management Innovations – Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) – State of Virginia
• Smarter Together Initiative – San Antonio, TX

2. Civic Engagement (e.g., Open Data, City Portals, 311 apps)

• Cherokee Nation Tribal Citizen Access Portal – Cherokee Nation
• Rural Texas Transparency and Engagement Through Innovation – Seguin, TX
• City of Dallas Digital Equity – Dallas, TX
• Long Beach Collaboratory (CB Co-Lab) – Long Beach, CA

3. Data-Driven Policing

• Addressing Hate Crime Through Data Storytelling: The City of Austin's Approach – Austin, TX
• New York City and Dedrone: Protecting the US Open and Beyond – New York, NY
• Smart Parks – Las Vegas, NV

4. Digital Equity and Accessibility (e.g., Public Wi-Fi, Accessibility Services, ADA Compliance)

• Inclusive Design Initiatives at the City of Seattle – Seattle, WA
• Irving Parks Public Wi-Fi – Irving, TX
• Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport – Erlanger, KY
• Surge Link^TM: Equitable Broadband Access – Syracuse, NY

5. Economic Development, Tourism, Arts, Libraries, Culture, Open Spaces (e.g., Connected Museums, Event Management, Digital Currencies, Augmented Reality Tourism)

• Cheatham County School District – Economic Solutions through Solar Innovation – Pleasant View, TN
• Cedar Hill Library in a Park – Cedar Hill, TX
• Fairfax City Smart Restroom Pilot Program – Fairfax City, VA

6. Education (e.g., Smart Campus, Smart Classrooms, Virtual Offerings, Online and Remote Services)

• MyCPP Student Portal – Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA
• JA Discovery Center at Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) – Suwanee, GA
• UTC's Quantum Initiative & Research Institute – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

7. Next-Generation Emergency Services

• City of Glendale Community Alert System – Glendale, AZ
• City of Allentown Fleet Services – Allentown, PA
• DHS Flood Sensor Program in Virginia, exemplified by Roanoke College – State of Virginia and Roanoke College

8. Public Health and Social Services (e.g., Addiction Monitoring and Prevention, Predictive Disease Management, Humanitarian Services)

• Alerting Elders to Indoor Environmental Risks – Knoxville, TN
• Bloomington Civiform Project and Collaboration with Google.org – Bloomington, IN
• Dallas County Health and Human Services Disease Surveillance and Investigation System – Dallas County, TX

9. Smart Buildings (e.g., Capacity Planning, Return-to-Work Programs, Sustainability and Security Systems)

• Wisper Valley – Austin, TX
• City of San Diego's Building Housing Stock Analysis – San Diego, CA
• Morrisville's Facility Vision – Morrisville, NC

10. Smart Water (e.g., Water Conservation and Management, Smart Metering, Waste Reduction Efforts)

• FloodVISION-AI – Virginia Beach, VA
• Republic Services Garden at Margaret T. Hance Park – Phoenix, AZ
• Kando Pulse IoT - Smart AI Sewer Monitoring – Phoenix, AZ

11. Sustainable Infrastructure (e.g., Smart Lighting, Waste Collection, Environmental Monitoring, Resiliency)

• Connect @Mesa with Public Wi-Fi – Mesa, AZ
• Coral Gables Custom Smart City AI-Powered Modular Poles – Coral Gables, FL
• The City of Hamilton Air Quality & Noise Levels IoT Data Collection to Inform Truck Route Planning – Hamilton, ON

12. Transportation (e.g., Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, Public Transit, Ride-Hailing/Ride-Sharing, Electric Vehicles, Universal Mobility)

• Alexandria Smart Intersections – Alexandria, VA
• Commuters Trust – South Bend, IN

13. Transportation Infrastructure (e.g., Parking, Transit Hubs; Traffic Management and Equipment for Connected and/or Autonomous Vehicles. EV Charging Infrastructure)

• S.A.F.E.-T. (Smart Aerial Fleet for Enhanced Transportation) Initiative – NJ TRANSIT
• CARTA – Equitably Transforming Public Transportation – Chattanooga, TN
• Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) Traffic Flow Modeling – Erlanger, KY

14. Urban Planning and Land Use (e.g., Permitting, Licensing, Inspection & Zoning; Digital Twins, Community Resiliency)

• Rebuilding Trust Through its Parks Master Plan – Hercules, CA
• Using Microclimate Modeling and Digital Twin to Envision Raleigh's Future – Raleigh, NC
• Glendale GIS Center of Excellence – Glendale, AZ

"This year's Smart Cities North America Award finalists continue to showcase how the public sector is creatively using technology, community engagement, and ecosystem partners to provide secure, effective, efficient, and perhaps most importantly, sustainable and equitable services," said Ruthbea Yesner, vice president, IDC Government Insights, Education and Smart Cities. "Awareness and adoption of leading-edge technologies is now top of mind for government leaders as they look to revitalize and modernize the employee and constituent experience."

For additional information about these awards or to speak with Ruthbea Yesner, please contact Mary Conroy at mconroy@idc.com.

About IDC Government Insights

IDC Government Insights assists government policy, program, and IT leaders, as well as the suppliers who serve them, in making more effective technology decisions by providing accurate, timely, and insightful fact-based research and consulting services. Staffed by senior analysts with decades of government and IT industry experience, our global research analyzes and advises on business and technology issues facing the Federal/Central and local/provincial Governments. International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology market. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading tech media, data, and marketing services company. For more information about IDC Government Insights, please visit www.idc.com/prodserv/insights/government or email info@idc-gi.com.

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IDC Government Insights today named 36 finalists in the seventh annual Smart Cities North America Awards (SCNAA). IDC invites the public to vote on the named finalists at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SCNAA24.