Kansas City Launches Smart City Initiative

Kansas City, Missouri is clearly dedicated to being the Smartest City in the U.S. this year, launching its SmartPort supply chain initiative a few weeks ago, and now the city is taking it all the way with a new smart city plan in collaboration with Cisco, Sprint and Think Big Partners.

The program includes Sprint Wi-Fi, which will be a free outdoor public Wi-Fi deployment across more than 50 square blocks downtown; 125 smart streetlights along a two-mile stretch of the new KC Streetcar line; and 25 interactive kiosks to engage citizens. Sprint, in collaboration with Cisco, will build, own and manage the Wi-Fi network.

“I’m excited to see our Smart City open to the world,” said Bob Bennett, Chief Innovation Officer, Kansas City. “This effort helps us connect to 21st century citizens in 21st century ways, understand our city better through use of big data and enable city leaders to prevent problems instead of just solving them.”

Wi-Fi connectivity along the KC Streetcar route will enable smart lighting, digital kiosks and sensor technology in addition to reducing municipal

power consumption and enabling better tracking of total energy used. The kiosks on the platforms and around downtown will provide information to residents and visitors about local businesses and events.

“Sprint is excited to be part of this important initiative to enable greater connectivity in our hometown, Kansas City,” said Tim Donahue, President, Kansas and Missouri Region, Sprint. “We view this as a mutually beneficial partnership that will make Kansas City an even better place to live, work and visit.”

Entrepreneurs are developing new applications in the city through a Living Lab partnership between Cisco and Think Big Partners to connect entrepreneurs to smart city data.

“At Cisco, we know that there’s never been a better time to make Kansas City’s urban center more vibrant by using technology to get people where they want to go,” said Kim Majerus, VP, State, Local and Education West, U.S. Public Sector, Cisco. “Cisco and Kansas City know that its smart streetcar debut this week is going to make their smart city even smarter.”