10 U.S. Cities Selected to Kickoff Envision America Smart Cities Acceleration Initiative

10 U.S. Cities Selected to Kickoff Envision America

Smart Cities Acceleration Initiative

Smart Cities Effort Announced at White House Will Launch in January 2016

Charlotte, North Carolina, Dec. 3, 2015 -- Envision America, a smart cities initiative that was announced at the White House this fall, is proud to select 10 U.S. cities to participate in 2016.  The cities will leverage technology collaborators and businesses to address the challenges of climate change and improve city services. They include Cambridge, MA; Dallas, TX; Greenville, SC; Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; New York City, NY: Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; San Diego, CA and Spokane, WA.

"We appreciate Los Angeles being selected as one of the country's first Envision America cities," said Mayor Eric Garcetti. "L.A. has always been on the cutting edge of innovative technologies that tackle the biggest challenges of our time. This new partnership will help us continue to nurture ideas that can be developed today to better serve residents, businesses, and visitors tomorrow."

Envision America, a program under the nonprofit Envision Charlotte, will host the 10 cities to attend a smart cities workshop from January 12-14th, 2016. The three-day workshop in Charlotte brings city leaders, smart cities experts and corporate partners together to facilitate project planning and implementation.

The Envision America program will help other cities use successes and lessons learned of Envision Charlotte in the City of Charlotte, North Carolina. Envision Charlotte began its smart cities initiative in 2011 with a goal of reducing energy use by 20% over five years in collaboration with companies such as Duke Energy, Cisco, and Itron. The City of Charlotte is also working to produce cleaner air, decrease the amount of waste going to landfill and reduce water use in buildings through the Envision Charlotte effort.

“Envision Charlotte is excited to share our experiences with cities from across the country and to help ignite a smart and sustainable cities revolution in the U.S., “ said Amy Aussieker, Executive Director of Envision Charlotte and Envision America.

Corporate partners for Envision America are Accelerated Innovations, AT&T, Autodesk, Bank of America, Black and Veatch, Cisco, Duke Energy, Esri, GE, IBM, Intel, Itron, Landis+Gyr, Microsoft, Qualcomm, SAS, ThingWorx, and Wells Fargo.

“Itron is proud to be a part of Envision America, and we look forward to helping advance smart cities initiatives both nationally and around the world. For participating cities and communities, this initiative will drive outcomes, including improved city services, enhanced energy and water management and increased economic opportunity, through collaboration and shared technologies,” said Philip Mezey, Itron president and chief executive officer.

For more information, please visit http://envisionamerica.org/

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Dallas Innovation Alliance Launched to Execute Smart Cities Strategy

Dallas Innovation Alliance Launched to Execute Smart Cities Strategy

-- Initiative launched at the White House during inaugural Smart Cities Week --

--Charter Members of the Public-Private Partnership include the City of Dallas, Corporations, Civic Organizations and Universities--

DALLAS, TX AND WASHINGTON DC – Sept. 14, 2015 – Today, at an event hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in conjunction with the inaugural Smart Cities Week, Dallas announced the formation of a public-private partnership dedicated to executing a smart cities plan for Dallas. The Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA) is a coalition of stakeholders from the City of Dallas, corporations, civic and NGO organizations, academia and private individuals who are invested in Dallas’ continued evolution as a forward-thinking city where social and technological infrastructures and solutions facilitate and accelerate sustainable economic growth, resource efficiency, and importantly, improves the quality of life in the city for its citizens. Operating from a foundational vision that smart cities are about people – and not just technology – DIA is focused on the end user, and building a critical mass of the most highly-engaged citizens in the country.

“Dallas has been a pioneer in driving innovative, entrepreneurial solutions in the US, and many organizations across the city are undertaking creative solutions to address urban challenges,” stated Trey Bowles, CEO of the Dallas Entrepreneur Center and Co-Founder of the Dallas Innovation Alliance.  “As a major metropolitan area with a strong business climate and 21 Fortune 500 companies located in the region, this is the right time for Dallas to undertake a dedicated, comprehensive smart city plan with the goal of creating the most consumer focused Smart City strategy in the world. We are thrilled to have so many pivotal organizations on board as charter members of the Dallas Innovation Alliance, and are looking forward to executing a smart cities program with the goal of creating the most consumer focused Smart City strategy in the world.”

Led by the Dallas Entrepreneur Center (The DEC), today, the Dallas Innovation Alliance also revealed the founding Charter Members of the organization: Mayor Mike Rawlings and the City of Dallas, AECOM, AT&T, IBM, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Dallas Regional Chamber, Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Dallas Inc., Texas Research Alliance and The Real Estate Council (TREC). 

DIA’s work will be complemented through the City of Dallas and the Texas Research Alliance’s participation in the MetroLab Network, a national effort also announced today at the White House, a national consortium of university-city teams focused on sharing solutions to difficult problems in urban infrastructure. The Metro Lab Network will bring together university researchers with city decision makers to research, develop, and deploy (“RD&D”) technology and analytically-based solutions to the problems facing the systems and infrastructure on which our citizens, cities, and regional economies depend. The Network will focus on common challenges facing cities in order to develop shared, scalable solutions that can be deployed across the Network.

"The MetroLab Network is an opportunity for universities and cities to team up and share solutions to the difficult urban issues that cities are dealing with today. Our regional universities have extraordinary and unique capabilities that will be unleashed on urban challenges across North Texas," said Geoffrey Orsak, Executive Director of the Texas Research Alliance and head of North Texas' MetroLab. "Already, projects are emerging that will benefit significantly from the collaboration of university researchers with our city leaders and planners."

Across the city, innovative projects have been implemented in recent years, from organizations including the Dallas Arts District, Dallas Police Department and DART. An initial goal of DIA is to collate and aggregate all of the good work being done, and leverage results and lessons-learned into a comprehensive plan focused on a single neighborhood that can be replicated throughout the city. Initial efforts will be centered in the West End district of downtown, where a confluence of multi-modal transit, walkability, historic buildings and a burgeoning innovation district will be ground zero for the city as a living lab, where a three-pronged strategy will center on infrastructure, mobility and connected living. DIA will leverage insights and momentum stemming from recent initiatives including the 2014 New Cities Summit, Downtown Dallas 360 Plan and results from Dallas’ IBM Smarter Cities Challenge Grant as a catalyst to execute a multi-phased strategy reflecting Dallas’ commitment to sustainability and strengthening the urban core.

For more information on the initiative and to get involved, please visit www.DallasInnovationAlliance.com.

About the Dallas Innovation Alliance

The Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA) is a public-private partnership dedicated to the execution of a smart cities plan for the City of Dallas, defined as a city where social and technological infrastructures and solutions facilitate and accelerate sustainable economic growth, resource efficiency, and importantly, improves the quality of life in the city for its citizens. DIA’s overarching goal is to elevate Dallas as a city that is not only prepared for – but a driving force in shaping – the future of cities, and providing opportunities for prosperity for its citizens. Its mission is to develop a scalable smart cities model for the City of Dallas that leverages the region’s distinctive strengths and leaves a legacy of innovation, sustainability and collaboration for future generations. For more information please visit www.DallasInnovationAlliance.com.