Smart Cities Council Launches IoT Tech Challenge Grants for American Communities

The Smart Cities Council, the world’s largest smart cities network, has announced the beginning of its application period for the Smart Cities Council Readiness Challenge Grant, open to American cities. Five winning cities will receive a grant in 2017 designed to inspire innovation, inclusion and investment in their environments. The grant program’s goal is to help cities apply smart technologies as part of the current White House commitment to accelerate the development of smart cities in the U.S. The application period closes on December 31.

“Our members and advisors are the world's leading smart city practitioners,” said Jesse Berst, Chairman, Smart Cities Council. “We are bringing those experts together to help these cities craft action plans that are innovative, inclusive and ‘investment-grade.’ And then we are donating products and services worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to jump-start their efforts.”

The Readiness Challenge Grant program provides a significant contribution of professional services; access to best practices from some of the world’s top smart city practitioners; access to the expertise of leading smart cities technology providers in a vendor-neutral setting; the opportunity to learn from peer cities; and international visibility on the Council’s website and newsletter.

Winning cities will receive a one-day Readiness Workshop at which city leaders will learn from Smart Cities Council experts, members and advisors while building or enhancing smart city roadmaps for each community.

In addition, the grantees will receive products and services from Council member companies, including: Smart Lighting consultations from Ameresco; IoT Starter Kits from AT&T; follow-up workshops on Smart City ecosystems from CH2M and Qualcomm; free training, software, and access to Computing Technology Industry Association educational materials; building design optimization advice from Dow Building and Construction; a progress assessment from IDC, based on its Smart City Maturity Benchmark; free city wide hosted communications network from Sensus; free access to Telit IoT Platform; TM Forum will help cities assess progress through its Smart City Maturity and Benchmark Model; and up to three days of technical assistance to investigate new and more efficient urban mobility options thanks to Transdev.

To apply, click here. Winning cities will be announced in January 2017.