Some recent remarks from Gregory Curtin might grab the interest of companies developing smart cities solutions. Curtin is founder and CEO of SCC Associate Partner Civic Resource Group (CRG) International and recently spoke with CEOCFO Magazine. He shared several insights he’s gained over the last decade while introducing digital technologies to the public sector. Here are a few excerpts from the interview.
On working with governments and public institutions:
“A key differentiating factor especially in this new digital world is that governments and the public sector are now operating on almost a triple bottom line: First, looking at how to provide better services and better information to citizens and businesses; second how to stimulate economic development and enhance the quality of life for all of their constituents; and third, and very important in recent years, is sustainability where we are looking at the environment, lowering costs, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and doing things in a way that governments and communities can sustain themselves well into the future.”
On how governments are becoming more transparent:
“What we are seeing around the globe is a true concerted effort on the part of governments and public agencies to overcome … distrust. There is a huge open data movement across the globe for governments to open up their treasure troves of data. There are new mandates here in the US across the board from local and state governments to be more transparent with city, county and state budget and financial information. There is a big move across the US and the globe for a “new breed” of government leaders and we are seeing the rise of Chief Innovation Officers, Chief Data Officers, Chief Digital Officers, new leadership, whose very charge is to be open and transparent and connect with their constituencies. We are seeing a true effort to be transparent and accountable.”
On what’s involved in implementing a smart city:
“The key steps: solutions are 100% cloud-enabled. The good thing with the cloud is that much of the “involvement” that would have been required previously is no longer there and we do not have to build infrastructure or set up networks and servers. The solution is in the cloud. We work with the city or whatever agency it is that we are working with, as our starting point. It could be a transportation agency or utility, or it could be healthcare, for example. The key initial piece of the implementation is to configure the data sources.”
Curtin also talks about CRG's evolution over the years and the development of its CivicConnect platform. You can read the complete interview at CEOCFO Magazine.
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