This past weekend I spoke at Smart City Day at SXSW in Austin along with fellow TAO Smart Cities Lab member, Brad Gleeson of CIVIQ Smartscapes. The day-long event of 10-minute speed presentations included mayors from around the U.S., as well as academic, nonprofit, and private sector leaders focused on various aspects of smart cities. Apart from expanding our network of smart city contacts at large and mid-size cities around the U.S., it was fascinating to hear from so many cities about all of the progress that is being made and the common challenges that are popping up in this complex and still-emerging field. Additionally, U.S. Ignite announced a new, $100M initiative, funded by the National Science Foundation, to create a platform for advanced wireless research in four communities around the U.S.
On Monday I joined Christine Kendrick from the City of Portland in a workshop organized by the UK Office of Science and Innovation to discuss smart city challenges and opportunities and for collaboration between U.S. cities, cities in the U.K., and MetroLab, which is a consortium of universities focused on smart cities research.
It was great running into folks from Wacom, Moovel, and Opal on the flights down and back. And if this raging bull is any indication, the stunts required to get noticed at SXSW continue to get more expensive and outlandish with each year.
