23 Sep President Obama Announces Smart Cities Initiative
On September 14th, President Obama announced a new “Smart Cities” Initiative that will invest over $160 million in federal research and leverage more than 25 new technology collaborations to help local communities tackle key challenges, such as reducing traffic congestion, fighting crime, fostering economic growth, managing the effects of a changing climate, and improving the delivery of city services. Read more here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/14/fact-sheet-administration-announces-new-smart-cities-initiative-help
There is a great deal of information to digest under this Initiative, including but not limited to new grant opportunities coming in FY16. Now is the time to plan where you have the best fits and to start preparing for solicitations before they’re announced. Our calls to agencies to advocate early for a project is timely and will get you on their radar.
It is worth noting that more than 20 city-university collaborations are launching the MetroLab Network, with more than 60 Smart City projects in the next year. Supported by a newly announced grant of $1 million from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the MetroLab Network will leverage university expertise to address challenges facing cities and regions across the country. The Network will provide a platform upon which established and emerging city-university relationships can share successful projects, coordinate multi-city, multi-university research efforts, and compete for research and project funding. The founding members have collectively committed to undertaking more than 60 projects over the next year, which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure and services in our cities and communities and increase the productivity and competitiveness of our regional economies. Communities and their university counterparts signed onto the network with a joint letter to the President including HCG’s client, the City of Memphis, and its higher education partner, the University of Memphis.
Let us know which opportunities are of interest to your organization and put you in the most competitive position to secure federal resources for your initiatives. HCG and its partners can develop a tailored strategy and discuss plan implementation and execution as next steps.
Please contact Ron Hamm at 202-596-8384 or rhamm@hammconsulting.warnholz.pro for more information or to discuss your interest in the Smart Cities Initiative.