(Philadelphia, September 26, 2016) – The White House today announced a new partnership among Philadelphia and 20 other U.S. cities, along with the newly formed Council of Global City Chief Information Officers, to ensure the responsible and equitable deployment of smart city technologies.
The announcement comes two months after the Philadelphia’s Office of Administrative Services put out a call for ideas on ways to use “smart” connected technologies, commonly known as the Internet of Things, or IoT, to make the government more efficient and productive. The Request for Ideas resulted in 106 responses.
“Smart city technologies are a vital component of my Administration’s plans to modernize our government,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “We are currently reviewing more than 100 responses received to our Smart City Request for Ideas, and will soon be determining next steps to make the Internet of Things a major force in how we provide city services to Philadelphians in the future.”
By 2020, it is estimated that the number of IoT technologies will exceed 50 billion. When used effectively, IoT devices—like sensors that capture pollution in the air or lights that only turn on when someone is in the room—can produce cost savings, bolster civic engagement, and strengthen public health and safety.
The White House effort was applauded by Chief Administrative Officer Rebecca Rhynhart. “This partnership will be a cornerstone of Philadelphia’s Smart City efforts. Philadelphia, like all major cities, has limited resources, so our forays into IoT will be speedier and more productive if we can all share our experiences.”
The multi-city partnership effort has three primary goals: (1) provide a common framework to help governments develop and expand policies and procedures related to the Internet of Things; (2) ensure openness and transparency regarding the use of public space or assets for smart city technologies; and (3) advance the public dialogue about how government, the private sector and academia can collaborate to ensure these technologies are used in a way that maximizes public benefit.
In order to maximize the public benefit of these technologies while taking strong and proactive steps to protect residents, the following 21 U.S. cities—spanning a dozen states and together representing more than 25 million residents—have committed to a common set of guiding principles that emphasize privacy, security, sustainability, resilience, equity and efficiency in their use of IoT technologies:
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Austin, Texas
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Chicago, Illinois
- Dallas, Texas
- Greenville, South Carolina
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Los Angeles, California
- New York, New York
- Palo Alto, California
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Portland, Oregon
- San Antonio, Texas
- San Diego, California
- San Francisco, California
- Seattle, Washington
- Spokane, Washington
- Washington, District of Columbia
About the IoT Guidelines:
The guiding principles for smart cities are based on a first-of-its-kind set of IoT guidelines developed by the New York City Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation. In partnership with International Data Corporation, more than 450 best practices from 50+ cities around the world were gathered and consolidated into a preliminary set of guidelines. These guidelines were reviewed by subject matter experts from universities, regulatory and standards bodies, public interest groups, private companies, and city governments around the world before being condensed into the final set of guidelines. For more information, visit http://www.nyc.gov/iot.
About the Council of Global City CIOs:
The Council of Global City CIOs (CGCC) brings together technology executives from major cities across the globe to share data and harness technology to transform cities. The CGCC is focused on building a common framework to develop a Smart Cities model, bring broadband connectivity to everyone, and accelerate the digitization of government through open source code-sharing. The CGCC is co-led by San Francisco CIO Miguel A. Gamiño, Jr. and Washington, DC CTO Archana Vemulapalli, along with founding cities New York City, The Hague, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, and Dubai. To learn more, visit http://www.globalcitycios.org.