Research agency IDC has revealed the winners of IDC Smart Cities North America Awards 2018.
IDC selected the 14 winners of the inaugural smart city awards after receiving nearly 3,000 votes from the public across 14 smart city categories.
IDC said winners will be honored at Smart Cities New York event.
IDC said it designed the new awards to recognize the progress North American communities have made in executing smart cities projects.
IDC Smart Cities North America Awards (SCNAA)
Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, Public Transit, Ride-Hailing, Ride-Sharing
Ann Arbor, MI – Safety Pilot Model Deployment and Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment
City of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan have created, operated, maintained and upgraded the Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment to further the development of connected vehicle technology enabling safer streets, reduced pollutant emissions, and improved travel efficiency. The deployment includes all forms of vehicles, bicycles and pedestrian handheld devices equipped with Connected Vehicle technology.
Transportation Infrastructure
Detroit, MI – Smart Intersections
Detroit is making its intersections smart as the core tool to improve mobility in Detroit and serve as the backbone of the city’s smart city strategy. The smart intersection system incorporates sensors, video-based detection, intelligent traffic signals, mobile monitoring tools and alerts, and other elements. The smart intersections will result in improved traffic flow, increased road safety for all road users, and provide real time traffic data, control, and analytics for the city.
Smart Buildings
Miami, FL – How Miami-Dade Water Gets Smarter with the Internet of Things
Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department is leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud databases to manage and supply water from its 1,000 separate pump stations and 4,000 miles of infrastructure. Interconnected data and analytics allow staff to respond to system failures and overflows more quickly.
Sustainable Infrastructure – TIE
Spokane, WA – Urbanova
Spokane city, in association with Urbanova, has created a living laboratory to design cities for the future. It is driving three initial projects: Smart and Connected Streetlights Pilot Project, Shared Energy Economy Model Pilot and Gallup People-Centered Analysis Research Project. Urbanova’s multi-disciplinary collaboration is harnessing data to gain insights, empower people and solve urban challenges (such as air quality) in new ways. Spokane has also achieved net zero energy consumption across all of its municipal facilities and services.
San Diego, CA – San Diego Deploys World’s Largest Network of IoT Sensors on City Streetlights
San Diego is deploying 3,200 intelligent nodes on city streetlights to establish a smart city infrastructure and provide data for developers to create apps for the community. The data will be used to direct drivers to open parking, help during emergencies, track carbon emissions, and identify improvements for pedestrians and cyclists. The project includes 14,000 streetlight upgrades that will save $2.8M annually in energy costs.
Smart Water
Virginia Beach, VA – The StormSense Project
Virginia Beach’s StormSense deployment consists of a system of sensors that forecasts rising sea levels and coastal flooding 36 hours in advance. It helps citizens mitigate the impacts of rising sea levels and coastal flooding.
Civic Engagement
Kansas City, MO – KCMO – The World’s Most Connected Smart City
Kansas City developed a unified smart city platform to manage new systems operating along its downtown Streetcar corridor. Video sensors, pavement sensors, connected street lights, a public WiFi network, and parking and traffic management have supported 40 percent reduction in energy costs, $1.7 billion in new downtown development, 3,247 new residential units.
Administration
Arlington, TX – Operations and Asset Management Platform
City of Arlington has implemented a system to manage over 50,000 assets like roads, signs, playgrounds, water/irrigation and all aspects of operations from equipment to labor. 200 employees use the system on mobile devices and have improved flood response, equipment usage, criminal trespass warnings, volunteer hours and more.
Emergency Management
El Paso, TX – El Paso Regional Communications
The EPRCC is a virtualized communications and Next Generation 9-1-1 center which brings together 150 public safety professionals from all local communications, emergency management, and crime analytics into one technologically advanced location.
Education – TIE
Abilene Christian University Campus, Abilene, TX – Light Walk
Abilene Christian University designed and installed an interactive exhibit on its campus. The project includes 20,000 smart LEDs, infrared and temperature sensors, and a software architecture that lets any visitor interact with the installation via a web page such as choosing effects or the lights’ reactions to nearby people.
State of Arkansas – Arkansas Public School Computer Network (APSCN)
Arkansas completed its broadband initiative in late 2017, providing broadband to all public K-12 schools, charter schools and education service cooperatives in this predominantly rural State. The APSCN meets the current 2018 ConnectED Internet access goals in all districts, fits within ADE’s $11 million budget, lowers the cost of internet access for schools, and ensures cost effective network provision beyond 2018.
Urban Planning and Land Use
Austin, TX – Austin, TX Tests Waterproof and Environmentally Controlled Mini-Vaults Placed Under ADA Curb Ramps at Street Intersections for the Placement of Smart City Technology and Battery Backup
Austin has installed mini-vaults under its ADA curb ramps at intersections that provide waterproof and air-conditioned space for the placement of small cells, antennae, edge computing, sensors, and other electronic equipment.
Public Health and Social Services
Boston, MA – Boston’s Safest Driver
Boston has launched a smartphone app that improves road safety that provides drivers a score out of 100 based on five criteria – acceleration, harsh braking, cornering, speeding, and phone distraction. The app runs in the background of a phone and offers tips on how to improve one’s score. The goal was to improve driver habits through a fun mechanism.
Digital Equity and Accessibility
New York City, NY – Free TransitWirelessWiFi
New York City has enabled cellular service, a public safety band, and free public wifi in all 277 underground subway stations in the New York City Transit Authority system. Cellular connectivity is available on the four major US wireless carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.
Tourism, Arts, Libraries, Culture, Open Spaces
Little Rock, AR – River Lights in the Rock
River Lights in the Rock is a project that provides lighting on three bridges over the Arkansas River with over 2,000 LED lighting fixtures that can be controlled remotely and coordinated with one another, using a cloud-based remote management software. The project can generate revenue as organizations meeting at the nearby convention center can brand the lighting.
Police and Law Enforcement
Baton Rouge, LA – Baton Rouge Public Safety Common Operational Platform
PSCOP is a digital interactive mapping application utilizing GIS technology to provide a single source for users to access near-real time data and other information. This mapping information helps increase situational awareness, improve officer safety, and deploy limited resources in support of daily operations, crime analysis, and emergency management for all public safety agencies in the City of Baton Rouge and metro area partners.
