Dive Brief:

• Los Angeles and Virginia Beach, VA were among the cities lauded by the Center for Digital Government (CDG) for integrating data and technology into city services. Bellevue, WA; Westminster, CO; and Coral Gables, FL were also named top cities for their population size in the 2018 Digital Cities Survey.
• Los Angeles was named the top city with a population of 500,000 or more for its Open Data platform with more than 1,100 data sets and cyber security efforts to protect citizen privacy. Other cities, like Virginia Beach and Coral Gables, were commended for integrating internet of things (IoT) sensors into the city.
• "This year’s Digital Cities Survey winners are leading the nation when it comes to leveraging data to improve a wide range of city services and initiatives," Teri Takai, executive director of the Center for Digital Government, said in a statement. "Thanks to the efforts of these innovative cities, citizens now benefit from enhanced services as well as improved transparency and privacy protection efforts."

Dive Insight:

The survey results emphasize that cities large and small can take strides to integrate technology into civic functions. Los Angeles may have more resources to invest in a cybersecurity lab and boost security across the city, but even cities with a population below 75,000 were given credit in CDG’s survey. Coral Gables was given top marks among small cities for creating business intelligence dashboards, open data portals and smart city projects with IoT technology. The planned community uses IoT sensors to collect data that can protect it from hurricanes.

In an interview with Smart Cities Dive earlier this year, Raimundo Rodulfo, director of the city’s information technology department, said that adopting smart cities technology "came organically as part of our continuous effort to improve customer service and quality of life." CDG also highlighted Virginia Beach for using sensors to support disaster preparedness and recovery and sea level rise mitigation.

Westminster was given high marks for completing more than 25 technology projects in the past year, including adopting the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity framework. Bellevue was named the top city with a population between 125,000 and 249,999 people for its work on the 30-organization eCityGov Alliance, which puts city services online for easier access for citizens and businesses.

The top 10 ranked cities will be honored at a Nov. 8 awards dinner during the National League of Cities’ annual summit in Los Angeles.