By Terrance Thornton
Twitter: @ININEWSMAN

The Scottsdale Economic Development Department is spearheading an effort to usher the next generation of municipal operations: The smart city.

In unanimous fashion, Scottsdale City Council Nov. 12 approved the acceptance of two grants --- one from the Industrial Development Authority, the other from the Arizona Institute for Digital Progress --- to fund a 16-week effort in partnership with Kansas City-based, Think Big Partners.

In all, the total grant is $50,000 and will provide funding for citizen-input-gathering efforts including an open house tentatively scheduled for early December at the Mustang Library, 10101 N. 90th St.

“'Smart city' is a catchphrase for implementing digital networks to enhance a municipality’s ability to gather and process data for the benefit of the community,” said Scottsdale Councilman Guy Phillips regarding the 21st Century endeavor.

“I think, at this point, the city is looking to access county, state or federal funding to help figure the costs associated with providing the infrastructure necessary to implement smart city technologies before engaging in discussions of what to implement.”

Economic Development officials contend Think Big Partners will provide the necessary analysis of data to be collected over the 16-week program period en route to the creation of what is coined, the “Smart City Strategic Roadmap.”

Councilman Phillips says the idea is to find out where services ought to be deployed --- and, most importantly, not wasted.

“Smart city technology can enhance a city’s ability to reduce crime through real-time camera operation, reduce travel time through enhanced traffic control measures, reduce consumption by utilities through sensors indicating leaks or inefficient controls and create WiFi-equity throughout the city,” he said.

Mr. Phillips says a balance between data point and practical application should be struck.

“But there’s a caveat: Although smart city technology is meant to enhance the city’s ability to be efficient, the overuse or even abuse of smart technology can also create an environment where personal choice may be at risk,” he said. “Therefore any smart technology should be thoroughly examined before implementation to protect against such abuse for our citizens.”

Assistant City Manager Brent Stockwell frames the effort --- and partnership with Think Big Partners --- as seeking a new view of resident needs.

“Think Big approaches this process using a design thinking-inspired methodology specifically to gain insights into the needs of our citizens, and will overlay that with leadership’s vision and goals,” he said. “It’s important that this plan is designed for our citizens to improve their quality of life and business as well as the city, and not just one group.”

Furthermore, Mr. Stockwell outlines the program's two phases:

• First, a discovery and citizen engagement phase will consist of internal city staff interviews, external stakeholder interviews (business community), citizen engagement workshops and a youth citizen engagement program; and
• Finally, a design phase where the Think Big team will use insights from phase one to create a “Smart City Master Plan.”

Josh Utterback, Scottsdale economic development specialist, is the municipal liaison for the program and says the term, 'smart city,' can mean different things to different people --- and that’s kind of the point.

“The term smart city is very ambiguous and can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people,” he said alerting to the idea Scottsdale’s roadmap will be unique to the needs of the greater community. “All of that information will be gathered and analyzed using technology as a skill-set. It is all going to depend on the needs of the citizens. That is going to be determined during the citizen-engagement and design phase.”