October 26, 2011 09:45 PM UTC

Let's make another Colorado city a Smarter Cities challenge winner

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• by: Raf

Last year, I wrote over on Colorado Pols about the Smarter Cities Challenge.

This is a program whereby IBM will award $50 million worth of technology and consulting services to 100 cities around the world – 50 of them in North America. The program has been ongoing for the last two years, and the application process has just been opened up for 2012.

Given that Boulder won a grant, as a once-and-future Coloradan, I’m especially eager to see another Colorado city win.

The Smarter Cities grant would be helpful in dealing with any number of challenges that Denver, Colorado Springs, or Pueblo face, ranging from from finding ways to streamline city administration to helping transit management through innovative technology applications. IBM sends experts to the winning cities to help them address major issues like traffic, public safety, economic development or sustainability – all things that could prove useful.

A program like this helps cities foster citizen engagement, services and efficiency through technology, resulting in an better standard of living citizens. It fascinates me because it marries two of my interests: public engagement and technology.

Pericles of Athens – who was perhaps the first mayor of a city – once said:

“All things good of this earth flow into the City because of the City’s greatness.”

IBM’s Smarter Cities program helps cities foster citizen engagement, services and efficiency through technology, resulting in an better standard of living for the people of the city.

It fascinates me because it marries two of my interests: public engagement and technology, at a level that affects us immediately and regularly: the local level. And this isn’t just theoretical.

In Boulder, city officials worked with the IBM team to analyze the technical capabilities of the SmartGridCity™ that Boulder created with Xcel Energy in order to revamp the energy grid and enhance its capabilities.

The team made recommendations on expanding the potential of the system which were in line with Boulder’s focus on energy and its Climate Action Plan. Among the specific proposals were:

– launching pilot programs to increase local renewable sourcing;

– promoting the adoption of solar plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, something that makes perfect sense in a place with upwards of 300 days of sunshine a year;

– and promoting energy efficiency in large building stock and small and medium businesses.

The catch is (and you knew there was one) that cities have to apply by December 16th in order to be eligible to win. Here’s what it takes to join Austin, Rio, Baltimore and others:

1. Fill out the application here.

2. The proposal has to include the following criteria in order to be successful:

– Describe 1-3 potential problems or opportunities to address with the grant

– Provide clear, compelling evidence that the city is well positioned to utilize the resources offered in the Smarter Cities Challenge

– Outline how a grant of IBM talent and technology has the potential to substantially enhance the city’s capacity to act on key issues

– Highlight recent efforts to develop innovative solutions to public problems, including any initiatives to implement new technologies or open data policies

– Demonstrate the city is ready to match IBM’s investment with its own commitment of time and talent, including access to the city agencies and personnel relevant to the project

I know that any one of Colorado’s cities can benefit from this; but the only way to do so is by applying. If you’d like to know more, you can watch a short video here (YouTube link).

(full disclosure: then as now, I’m assisting IBM in their publicity surrounding the Smarter Cities challenge).