IDC Government Insights announced the winners of its third-annual IDC Smart Cities North America Awards (SCNAA). The winners are as follows:
| Category | Government | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Administration | Houston, TX | Harris County Homestead Exemption Audit Program |
| Civic Engagement | Albuquerque, NM | Albuquerque 311: Digital Voice Channel |
| Economic Development | Topeka, KS | Open Data and Project Portal |
| Police, Law Enforcement and Emergency Management | Chattanooga and Hamilton County, TN | 911 Project: Predicting Hotspots for Accidents |
| Public Health and Social Services | Sonoma County, CA | Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self-Sufficiency |
| Public Health and Social Services | State of Oklahoma | OK Benefits |
| Smart Buildings | Washington, DC | Using Open Source Tools to Acquire Energy and Performance Data from Municipal Buildings and Advance Washington DC’s Climate Action Plan |
| Smart Water | Towns of Cary, Morrisville, and Holly Springs, Cities of Raleigh and Wilson, Wake County, and North Carolina Emergency Management | North Carolina Regional Water Level Monitoring Data Sharing Pilot |
| Smart Water | Markham, Ontario, Canada | Smart City Accelerator Program |
| Sustainable Infrastructure | St. Petersburg, FL | University of South Florida: College of Marine Science |
| Transportation — Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, Public Transit, Ride-Hailing/Ride-Sharing | Peachtree Corners, GA | Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners |
| Transportation — Transportation Infrastructure | Miami-Dade County, FL | Adaptive Signal Control Technology: 300 Traffic Controllers |
| Urban Planning and Land Use | Santa Clara County, CA | Assessment Appeals Data Management System |
The projects were selected following a period of public voting, which resulted in 2,500 votes. Each winner has a particular focus on the use of tech and data, partnerships, funding models and/or community involvement.
Ruthbea Yesner, vice president of IDC Government Insights and Smart Cities Strategies, said in a statement the winners represent "the best and brightest change agents within government." And it's not only cities that were honored in these awards. Counties and regional collaborative efforts were recognized as well, indicating the importance of "smart region" projects.
IDC is involved in smart city work outside of the awards, most recently sharing a Worldwide Smart Cities Spending Guide. The organization forecasts that smart city initiatives will total nearly $124 billion this year, with Singapore, Tokyo, New York and London to be the top smart city investors.
The SCNAA winning cities will be honored at the Smart Cities Connect event held in Denver in April.
