Council Cities Director Sandra Baer was interviewed by Greg Otto of Fedscoop in conjunction with the NIST global cities workshop, a gathering of leaders from government, private industry, nonprofits and academia focused on ways cities can leverage the Internet of Things. Below is an excerpt; read the full report here.
“There are so many diverse interests,” Baer told Fedscoop. “Somebody wants to work on transit or data or energy infrastructure. If you look at a big framework which NIST is planning to create, the idea is that you create this framework so that everybody has a piece in it, but in general we can work together.”
Baer said this technology helps serve as a path forward for many cities who are hesitant to devote already-tight funds to ambitious new products and services.
“If I’m a company, and I knock on the door of a city leader, big or small, they may or may not be receptive to that knock,” she said. “Should I talk to this company or should I talk to five other companies that are going to help me with my problem? How do I move forward with that priority? It’s not the technology. It’s much more ‘Can we get organized to set a focus and start making decisions?’”
