Officials with the San Antonio, Texas Municipal Court system wanted to ease courtroom congestion with virtual transactions identical to that of the  municipal court.

Dallas Primary School in Melbourne, Australia decided to explore how Web 2.0 teaching and learning tools might help improve literacy skills. In one project, teachers devised an alternative learning program using Microsoft Research’s Kodu –a video game production tool – to engage students facing particular reading and writing challenges.

Cities everywhere are challenged by congestion, pollution, crime, aging infrastructure, falling budgets and many other issues. They need new strategies and new technologies to address those challenges.

Certainly smart technologies are a solution. But they come with a price tag.

This video introduces the Smart Energy Solutions program that SCC Global Partner National Grid developed and is now piloting in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. It covers the smart electrical meters, apps, and customer controls available to the 15,000 National Grid customers participating in the pilot.

Disposal of biosolids--the sludge produced in the wastewater treatment process--is challenging and costly for many cities. This video presents the onsite gasification system for disposal of biosolids that SCC Associate Partner MaxWest Envionmental Systems has developed. You'll learn about the gasification process as well as the environmental advantages and cost-efficiencies of this disposal method.

In 2010, the fast-growing city of Phoenix, Arizona's Street Transportation Department embarked on a project to reduce both travel times for commuters and operational expenses.

This video provides an introduction to AllJoyn, an open, universal, secure and programmable software and services framework developed by Qualcomm and hosted by the AllSeen Alliance. AllJoyn enables hardware manufacturers and software developers to create interoperable products that can discover, connect and communicate directly with other products enabled by AllJoyn.

Not sure you need the Smart Cities Readiness Guide -- the Council's groundbreaking resource designed to help public officials envision and apply "smart" solutions to city challenges?

New Zealand's Ashburton District Council wanted a modern, mobile computing platform for employees who provide frontline services. Before it deployed smartphones to mobile workers, the council subscribed to the Windows Intune PC and device management solution to manage these devices and corporate data.