Contributions to this post were provided by CCC Executive Council member, Daniel Lopresti from Lehigh University.
The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program (NITRD) Smart Cities and Communities (SCC) just released a Task Force Guide on “Connecting and Securing Communities: A Guide for Federal Agencies Supporting Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment of Technology for Smart Cities and Communities.”
The purpose of this document is to guide and coordinate ongoing Federal activities that enhance the efforts of smart cities and communities and private sector partners. It describes recommended practices and approaches for research, development, coordination, and engagement by Federal agencies in support of U.S. cities and communities expanding their use of digital technologies to build “smart” infrastructure, system, and services.
Coordinating efforts across Federal agencies will help accelerate the development of smart city/community solutions that maximize the value of investments, optimize benefits to residents, and improve the way infrastructure is designed, built, and maintained. The Smart Cities and Communities Task Force identified a set of five high-level recommended practices that can inform Federal agencies in supporting smart city and community efforts:
- Empower local and regional communities to identify their unique needs and develop solutions;
- Accelerate innovation in infrastructure and city/community services;
- Support job growth and drive economic competitiveness;
- Facilitate cross-sector collaboration and bridge existing silos; and
- Boost exports and promote U.S. global leadership.
This guide envisions Federal agencies working together and engaging with industry, local leaders, civil society, academia, and other key stakeholders. The aim is to accelerate the development and implementation of new discoveries and innovations that enable cities and communities to achieve their local goals and address their most important challenges. To view and download this Smart Cities Guide, visit this website.
The Computing Community Consortium’s (CCC) Intelligent Infrastructure task force has also been focusing on exploring the challenges and opportunities in the intersection between infrastructure, the Internet of Things, and other relevant technologies that are vital to the creation of smart cities and communities. Here is some work that the NITRD SGG task force guide recognizes as important research that still needs to be done and the related efforts by CCC to engage the community and scope out this territory.
- Investigating the differential impacts of technology—including rapidly changing and potentially disruptive technologies—on urban, suburban, and rural communities
- In 2017, the CCC had an Intelligent Infrastructure for Our Cities and Communities Panel at the 2017 Computing Research Symposium that touched on this topic.
- Understanding and integrating the roles of people in smart systems, including social, behavioral, economic, cultural, legal, and ethical factors
- CCC has a new collaboration with a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Global City Team Challenge Public Safety Super Cluster co-chaired by Michael Dunaway, who is a member of our Intelligent Infrastructure Task Force. The goal is to identify research that can be collaborative between computing researchers and those who are already involved in GCTC activities.
- In 2017, the CCC had an Intelligent Infrastructure white paper series that was a collaboration between the CCC and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association(ECEDHA).
See more about the task force and their work here.
