Panel maps out how Birmingham will become a Smart City
Birmingham’s Innovation Week is a celebration of the disruptive ideas and ventures evolving in the city’s technology community. In line with the city’s growing tech ecosystem are various initiatives to transform Birmingham into a Smart City using data and technology to make it more livable and sustainable. These plans were outlined Tuesday during an Innovation Week session called Think Next: How Birmingham’s Becoming a Smart City. Touching on various initiatives underway that helped the city win a Readiness Challenge Grant from the Smart Cities Council earlier this year, speakers mapped out projects using digital technology to help improve public safety, energy and transportation. Projects in the pipeline include an open data portal, smart street lighting, community Wi-Fi and a bus rapid transit. The City of Birmingham’s crime reduction initiative, Operation Step Up, also is included. Resources from the readiness grant will accelerate the efforts. The session featured a panel of individuals who were instrumental in the Smart Cities Council grant process and who are closely involved in ongoing innovation efforts: Brandon Johnson, City of Birmingham Director of Community Engagement; John Smola, Alabama Power Director of Business Transformation and Administration, and Paula Alvarez Pino, University of Alabama at Birmingham Program Director of Sustainable Smart Cities Research. The conversation was moderated by Mashonda Taylor, chief Community Relations officer for the Woodlawn Foundation. The panel provided updates on these projects, and touched on potential opportunities for further collaboration and expansion in the future. Check out how the grant is accelerating Birmingham’s Smart City efforts on the session’s live stream below. Think Next: How Birmingham is Becoming a Smart City from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Alabama Power puts focus on Birmingham’s smart city efforts for Innovation Week
Key players from the team responsible for Birmingham winning a 2018 Readiness Challenge Grant from the Smart Cities Council will discuss smart projects already underway during an Innovation Week event July 10 at Alabama Power Corporate Headquarters. “Think Next: How Birmingham’s Becoming a Smart City” will focus on plans to use digital technology to improve public safety, energy and transportation and how resources from the grant will accelerate efforts. Mashonda Taylor, chief Community Relations officer for the Woodlawn Foundation, will moderate the conversation. It will feature people who were instrumental in the Smart Cities Council grant process and who are closely involved in ongoing innovation efforts: Josh Carpenter, city of Birmingham director of Economic Development. John Smola, Alabama Power director of Business Transformation and Administration. Paula Alvarez Pino, University of Alabama at Birmingham program director of Sustainable Smart Cities Research. “We hope our session will spark conversation on how Birmingham is becoming a future-focused city by weaving in technological advances to improve the quality of life through cutting-edge services and connectivity,” Smola said. Session attendees can share ideas on how Birmingham can incorporate technology to make the city a better place to live and work while improving social equity and economic competitiveness. Before and after the session attendees can see a display of Alabama Power’s Smart Neighborhood™ project. Republished with permission from the Alabama NewsCenter.
Birmingham wins 2018 Smart Cities Readiness Challenge Grant
The City of Birmingham has been selected as one of five winners in the 2018 Smart Cities Readiness Challenge Grant competition. Announcement of the grant award came Thursday. In awarding the grant, the Smart Cities Council called Birmingham “an inspiring example of how a mid-size city can lead the way toward livability, workability and sustainability,” and said that the city “works diligently to ensure that its initiatives benefit multiple departments and multiple populations.” The council also noted that Birmingham will use the grant to provide a collaborative framework for projects under way including an open data portal, smart street lighting, community Wi-Fi, bus rapid transit and the city’s recently announced crime reduction initiative Operation Step Up. “It’s important to acknowledge the good work that’s already being done as it relates to having an inclusive economy and government that infuses technology and innovation to provide better and more effective and efficient services to our citizens and small business owners throughout the city,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. “This grant shows that we are a city not only on the move, but making the right investments.” Woodfin reacts to the Magic City winning a Smart Cities Readiness Challenge from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo. The Readiness Challenge Grant is intended to help cities use technology and data to tackle local challenges, and improve services and connectivity. Winners will receive on-site Readiness Workshops provided by the Smart Cities Council. In addition, to help accelerate the initiatives funded by the grant, Birmingham and the other winners will receive mentoring, and tailored products and services from the council’s technology partners. The Council will also bring to each winning city some of the world’s experts from the private, philanthropic, academic and research sectors to offer advice to advance smart city initiatives. Birmingham’s winning application emphasized the city’s plans for accelerating ongoing progress in advancing innovation, particularly in the areas of public safety, energy and transportation. Alabama Power, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority, Jefferson County and the City of Hoover all provided input and support for the strategies outlined in the successful submission. “Awarding this grant to Birmingham demonstrates the growing national awareness of the progress our city is making,” said John O. Hudson III, senior vice president for marketing and business development for Alabama Power. “And that progress is gaining momentum every day. We look forward to continuing to work with the collaborators for this successful grant application and others to make Birmingham a national leader in creating the jobs and opportunities of the future. The Readiness Challenge Grant will boost those efforts.” In addition to Birmingham, 2018 Readiness Challenge Grants were awarded to Cary, N.C.; Las Vegas, Nev. ; Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky.; and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Birmingham also was a finalist in last year’s inaugural competition, in which grants were awarded to Austin, TX.; Indianapolis Ind.; Miami and Orlando Fla.; and Philadelphia, Pa. The Smart Cities Council is an industry coalition formed to accelerate the move to smart, sustainable cities. The council seeks to lower the barriers to adoption of technology and data as tools for enhancing livability, workability and the expansion of economic opportunity. Comprising more than 120 partners and advisers around the world, the council has contributed money and resources to more than 11,000 projects that incorporate smart cities principles. “The five winners had three important things in common, including a focus on uncovering synergies and cost-efficiencies between departments,” Smart Cities Council Chairman Jesse Berst said of the 2018 winners in a news release. “They also fostered coordinated collaboration between internal departments, external stakeholders and nearby regions. Finally, they exhibited a determination to include underserved and vulnerable populations.” This story originally appeared on Alabama News Center.
