CH2M HILL, DNV GL and Sungard Public Sector Join the Fast Growing
Smart Cities Council
Three More Global Leaders Demonstrate Commitment to a Smarter, Sustainable Future
(Washington, DC) February 19, 2014 - The Smart Cities Council, an industry coalition to advance smart city development and innovation, continues to gain momentum and expand its global reach with the addition of three more leading companies. The coalition was formed in 2012 to support and educate cities about the best ways to improve their livability, workability and sustainability.
CH2M HILL, DNV GL (formerly DNV KEMA) and SunGard Public Sector are joining two dozen leading companies in the Smart Cities effort, including IBM, Bechtel, Grid2020, MasterCard and Microsoft. The three additions demonstrate the growing global movement towards creating a sustainable future by collaborating across industries. "No single company can possibly supply every aspect of a smart city," explained Council Chairman Jesse Berst. "The Council provides the platform where companies can collaborate on a holistic framework for the cities of the future."
CH2M HILL, DNV GL and SunGard Public Sector will add critical intellectual capital to the Smart Cities Council’s goal of providing city leaders with access to technology counsel, financial tools, policy frameworks, visibility campaigns and advocacy.
CH2M HILL is a global leader in consulting, design, design-build, operations and program management with 28,000 employees on six continents. Their project experience, which ranges from major sewerage programs in Abu Dhabi to nuclear cleanup in Scotland to major highways in the United States, will bring valuable infrastructure knowledge to helping cities build smarter.
“Across our major markets, CH2M HILL is involved in urban planning projects to create a more sustainable and livable world,” said Ken Thompson, CH2M HILL’s Intelligent Water Solutions Deputy Director. “As a member of the Smart Cities Council, CH2M HILL looks forward to building relationships and looking for opportunities to partner on projects to help cities better manage and use resources.”
CH2M HILL’s vast infrastructure experience will compliment DNV GL’s world-renowned testing and advisory services to the energy value chain.
DNV GL, which was formed by the recent merger of DNV, GL, DNV KEMA and GL Garrad Hassan, is the world’s largest ship and offshore classification society, the leading technical advisor to the global oil and gas industry, and a leading energy expert in strategic advice, planning, implementation and energy delivery optimization, including T&D, renewables and energy efficiency. The company operates globally in more than 100 countries with 16,000 professionals dedicated to helping their customers make the world safer, smarter and greener. The expertise of DNV GL’s 3,000 energy experts spans onshore and offshore wind power, solar, conventional generation, transmission and distribution, smart grids, and sustainable energy use, as well as energy markets and regulations. They are helping advance smart grid demonstration projects in the Netherlands, US, Brazil and Singapore.
“We want to collaborate with like-minded leaders to offer the innovations that effectively address the pressures facing cities today and in the future, including the growing demand on water, energy, heating and cooling, waste, transportation and data and telecommunications networks,” said Hugo van Nispen, Executive Vice President, Energy Advisory, DNV GL. “We have a favorable track record on balancing energy efficiency into the grid, as well as in distributed generation. The challenge is to combine all of this expertise and develop cities that consume less energy per capita and optimize the use of locally produced – preferably renewable – energy.”
SunGard Public Sector will bring critical software knowledge to the mix of industry leaders.
SunGard Public Sector serves more than 1,400 cities, counties, public safety and justice agencies, and non-profit organizations in North America. Their products and solutions help their customers envision the future happening today. The company is a business unit of SunGard, one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies, serving approximately 25,000 customers in more than 70 countries.
"Our local government and public safety and justice customers are eager to find innovative solutions that can help them better serve their constituents," said Jillian Macau, vice president of support operations for SunGard Public Sector. "We are excited to participate with the Smart Cities Council and collaborate with our peers in helping guide municipalities toward the tools they will need to meet citizen expectations in a rapidly-changing technology landscape."
Next week, CH2M HILL, DNV GL and SunGard Public Sector will join other Council partners at the regular quarterly meeting of the Smart Cities Council to identify additional cities to support in their use of the Council’s Readiness Guide, the first comprehensive, vendor-neutral smart city handbook. Designed with input from member companies and leading independent experts, the Guide enables city leaders to assess their current state of readiness to become a smart city. It also lays out a proven smart cities roadmap and provides 27 foundational principles. The Council will meet directly with several city leadership teams to discuss their biggest challenges and opportunities, as well as offer counsel and advice based on best practices and lessons learned from their many and varied smart city projects.
About Smart Cities Council
The Smart Cities Council is the trusted advisor to equip cities with smart technology plans in the face of expanding populations, shrinking budgets and failing infrastructure. It is comprised of a growing number of the sector's foremost firms and independent experts – to date, two dozen leading global companies have joined the effort advised by more than five dozen of the world's top universities, national laboratories, standards bodies, climate advocacy groups and development banks. The Smart Cities Council’s goal is to accelerate the growth of smart cities worldwide by providing city leaders with access to technology counsel, financial tools, policy frameworks, visibility campaigns, and advocacy. In 2013, the Council opened its first regional chapter in India, expanding both its footprint and impact to key geographies with diverse and pressing urbanization challenges. For more information, visit www.smartcitiescouncil.com.
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Media Contact:
Sarah Blanchard
PARSONS PR for Smart Cities Council
206.789.5668 / sarah@parsonspr.com
