Three steps for leveraging smart technologies to support growing cities of any size

America is a country on the move. According to a report from Freddie Mac, the population in the South and West grew seven times faster than in the Northeast and Midwest between 2017 and 2019. Some smaller and medium-sized metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) have seen faster growth rates than larger MSAs, and, for most locations, the suburbs are growing faster than the cities themselves. So, what does this all mean? As smaller metro areas face the challenges and opportunities associated with an influx of residents, now is the time to look at how smart technologies can be used to help improve the quality of life for those who live, work or play in the area.

At a fundamental level, rapid population growth may mean more traffic and less available public parking spaces. Smart intersections and smart parking are two solutions that can improve public safety, boost business development and increase satisfaction of residents and visitors alike. However, often smaller cities seem to think they need to reach a certain critical mass of population or a certain budget figure to be large enough to start smart city initiatives. But a city of any size has the potential to become a smart city. Most already have the cable network infrastructure in place in their communities—they just need to effectively leverage it as a springboard for supporting transformative innovation.

Since I am frequently asked how to get started, here are three suggested steps to set a smart city journey on a successful path:

1. Identify Partners

When we think about smart cities, it’s not about having one sensor, one software application or one data collection system—it requires a breadth of technology solutions and people working together. A strong partner ecosystem makes it possible to solve a city’s challenges because these relationships bring additional insights, expertise and resources. They can help cities elevate the discussion away from perceived limitations—such as a small budget, lack of technical expertise or legacy IT systems—to a discussion about the art of the possible.

Partnerships can free up city leaders to focus on the use cases and the initiatives that are important to their residents, rather than worry about which type of sensor or device should be used, how they will connect with each other or the communication protocols that are needed to send and analyze data. Leveraging the community’s cable network infrastructure provides a foundation that can be used to ingest and analyze data from essentially any sensor or device, expanding the realm of possible solutions. Having access to a strong partner ecosystem not only helps in the design and deployment of technical solutions, but, importantly, can also help maintain and build on these solutions over the long-term.

2. Engage the Community

It is beneficial to have resident involvement all along the smart city journey. Some cities are engaging residents from the beginning, either by forming committees or by involving them in ideation events. Resident stakeholders can help with defining the problem. For instance, if improving parking downtown is the goal, does the city know enough about how the current parking is being utilized? Hearing the perspective from drivers and businesses can be helpful.

It is also helpful to socialize with the community the vision of what the smart initiative will achieve. Educate the public on the value the city and the residents will gain. Keep the community engaged with your progress and continue to share the milestone successes. This could take the form of hosting a showcase and inviting residents to see the technology in action.

3. Secure Funding

Budget is always part of the smart city discussion, but it doesn’t need to be as limiting to innovation as some may initially think. That’s because becoming a “smart” or “smarter” city is a journey, not a one-time effort. It is about having iterative improvements over time. I encourage cities with smaller budgets to begin with one specific initiative and build on it. Smaller budgets can foster testing and learning from a pilot project. When milestones are met and successes are socialized, this, in turn, can drive more dollars into these projects.

It is important to note that most cities don’t rely solely on a single type of funding. Some common funding avenues that can be explored include:

• Grant funding: Many third-party websites keep track of newly released grants. Federal, State and Community Block Grants can be great ways to help finance the beginning of the smart city journey.
• Shared revenue or energy savings: While some smart initiatives provide a return on investment (ROI) that can be harder to calculate in dollars, such as improved efficiency and faster response times, others can help generate an income stream for the city—such as enjoying savings from reduced energy consumption with smart lighting or obtaining advertising revenue with the implementation of digital kiosks featuring local restaurants and events.
• Public/private partnerships: Some cities have created an innovation alliance or district. These are aligned with city initiatives but can have the flexibility to leverage public and private resources to help kick off the smart city initiatives.

Innovation is not something reserved for the biggest and most well-funded cities. While every city may be unique about their residents, initiatives and challenges, they are not unique with regard to being able to tap into smart technologies to increase efficiencies, improve services and enhance the community experience. Initiating or expanding upon a smart city strategy can help smaller metro areas remain attractive destinations for both residents and visitors.

Patti Zullo is senior director of Smart City Solutions for Spectrum Enterprise, a part of Charter Communications. Zullo is responsible for defining and executing the Spectrum Smart City go-to-market strategy. She has more than 20 years of enterprise leadership experience in the areas of IOT/analytics, cloud, Internet security and mobile communications. For more information about Spectrum Smart City Solutions, visit spectrumsmartcities.com.