The city of Scottsdale, AZ -Our First 2022 Readiness Challenge Winner
For immediate release
Washington, DC. – February 2, 2022 – Smart Cities Council, the sector’s largest coalition, today announced the ‘first’ winner of the 2022 Smart Cities Council Readiness Challenge. – City of Scottsdale, AZ, USA. A full list of Readiness Challenge Winners from the past five years can be found here.
To learn more about this project and participate go here.
Are you a city that wants to accelerate your projects? Apply to the current Readiness Challenge here.
Scottsdale Scaling Innovation
Located in the beautiful Sonoran Desert, Scottsdale is an internationally recognized visitor destination and a thriving location for businesses of all kinds. Now, the high-performing city is looking to accelerate innovation and scale the use of technology to solve community challenges and improve people’s lives. The city plans to engage with the community around SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center, to build an innovation hub. Scottsdale will explore innovative scoping, procurement and contracting processes that can scale workable solutions throughout the city.
”Our goal is to engage with the people of Scottsdale to gauge their interest in using technology to help solve community challenges and improve their lives,” explained Brent Stockwell, Assistant City Manager, city of Scottsdale. “We are looking forward to participating in the Smart City Readiness Challenge to accelerate our ability to scale smart city solutions throughout our community.”
Replicating
“The Council is excited to have this opportunity to develop a blueprint for scaling innovation with sound governance that will benefit Scottsdale and that other cities can use’ explained Philip Bane, Managing Director of the Smart Cities Council. ‘Scottsdale’s willingness to learn and share with other cities is a hallmark of our Readiness Program.’
The Readiness Challenge will help Scottsdale build capacity over the next several months focusing on:
- Identifying technology solutions that meet the needs of city residents.
- Prioritize processes that accelerate the deployment of these solutions.
- Integrate sound governance practices (digital trust, scoping, procurement and contracting) into each process so that city residents can both be involved and trust outcomes.
The effort will involve several virtual sessions followed by ‘in-person’ workshops in Scottsdale on April 6-7.
“We are thrilled to select Scottsdale as a Readiness Challenge Winner,” said Connie Heath, Executive Director for City Engagement and program manager for the Readiness Challenge. “They have already made substantial progress in developing their vision, and we are excited about working hands-on with them.”
Scottsdale will receive a full year of expert, vendor-neutral mentoring, access to Smart Cities Activator, the world’s only online collaborative planning platform and an opportunity for city employees to receive a Smart Cities Practitioner Certificate at no cost.
Previous 2021 Smart Cities Council Winners
- Morrisville, NC applied to the Smart Cities Council for a grant to accelerate the reduction of traffic congestion in Wake County, NC. Morrisville applied in early 2021 and after a thorough review of its plans, was declared a Readiness Challenge Winner in the summer of 2021. Morrisville had sought assistance as the number one complaint of its residents was ‘traffic congestion’ and data showed that Morrisville and other residents in the Raleigh metropolitan region drive more miles in their cars in any other metropolitan region in the US.
- Nashville showed immense courage in 2020, persisting through COVID and non-COVID crises in planning to mitigate the impact of urban flooding, all while passing a massive $1.5B transportation plan. Nashville intends, with the help of the Smart Cities Council and its global network of experts, to continue refining its plan to mitigate the impact of urban flooding and will deliver a roadmap for review by its leaders that can also be replicated by other cities.
- Orange County showed its vision to integrate growth and sustainability by proposing a Smart & Healthy Building project that includes in its scope the County’s 530 buildings with plans to extend its work to the 11 other cities in the County, including Winter Park and Orlando.
- Brisbane goal is to explore how innovation, technology and data can help accelerate the city’s progress towards achieving broader goals of livability, sustainability, and prosperity. The ability to collect accurate and timely data provides the foundations for the Brisbane City Council to make informed decisions. The significant geographic spread of the Brisbane Local Government Area means Council has thousands of kilometers of land and assets to manage, which in turn requires a sophisticated data collection plan. Brisbane’s City Council is in the process of implementing several initiatives to support the collection of operational and city data.
About the Smart Cities Council
The Smart Cities Council, the longest-running global smart cities ecosystem, was founded in 2012. The Council envisions a world where innovation, technology and data leverages smart, sustainable cities with high-quality living and high-quality jobs. The Smart Cities Council serves as an objective and neutral network for sharing knowledge
About the City of Scottsdale’s Smart City Initiative
Scottsdale’s Smart City Initiative is focused on combining traditional public infrastructure with technology to improve the quality of life of residents.
For more information: Connie Heath, Executive Director, City Engagement - connie.heath@smartcitiescouncil.com
