Today, Smart Cities Council, the world’s largest smart cities network, announced that Austin is one of five winners of the Smart Cities Council Readiness Challenge Grant program.
As a result, Austin will receive products, services, and a Readiness Workshop to develop a roadmap for applying smart technologies to help solve civic challenges. In particular, according to the Smart Cities Council’s press release:
Austin will use its Readiness Workshop to develop strategies to invite under-served populations to participate in designing solutions for their mobility needs as well as affordable housing and economic development. The city, which is growing rapidly, is concentrating its efforts on reaching people who could benefit from a government that’s more responsive to their needs, but rarely take part in traditional forms of civic engagement. “This will help Austin use new technologies to meet old challenges of mobility and affordability,” said Mayor Steve Adler. “Winning the Smart Cities Council Challenge Grant puts us that much closer to creating a comprehensive and inclusive strategy to use technology in a way that benefits communities that are usually left behind.”
Austin Tech Alliance is a member of Austin CityUP, a consortium of companies, organizations, and individuals who collaborate on activities that advance Austin through digital technologies, data collection, analytics, and modeling. Austin CityUP’s Founder and President Jay Boisseau co-led the Smart Cities Council Readiness Challenge Grant proposal with the City of Austin’s Data Architect Ted Lehr.
During the interview process, they were joined by Mayor Steve Adler, Council Member Ann Kitchen, Assistant City Manager Mark Washington, Chief Innovation Officer Kerry O’Connor, Chief Information Officer Stephen Elkins, and several department heads — evidence that the City itself is invested in utilizing tech-enabled solutions to help solve community challenges.