After more than a week of public voting with over to 2,500 votes, IDC Government Insights announced the winners of the third annual IDC Smart Cities North America Awards (SCNAA). The awards are designed to recognize the progress North American communities have made in executing Smart Cities projects, as well as provide a forum for sharing best practices to help accelerate Smart City development in the region. Winners were named in 11 categories and 13 cities were represented, underscoring the overwhelming success and efficiency of smart city projects implemented across the country. To learn more about these winning projects, please visit https://www.idc.com/insights#government-smart_cities_awards.
Winners in the SCNAA illustrate best practice examples of urban innovation with a particular focus on the use of technology (cloud, platforms, analytics, IoT, mobile solutions) and data, unique partnerships, funding models and/or community involvement. This year’s winners by category are:
Administration
- Civic Engagement
- Economic Development, Tourism, Arts, Libraries, Culture, Open Spaces
- Police, Law Enforcement and Emergency Management
- Public Health and Social Services
- Smart Buildings
- Smart Water
- Sustainable Infrastructure
- Transportation – Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, Public Transit, Ride-Hailing/Ride-Sharing
- Transportation – Transportation Infrastructure
- Urban Planning and Land Use
“It is clear from the overwhelming number of impressive responses we received to our third annual SCNAA awards, government officials across the country are committed to implementing innovative Smart City initiatives, designed to bring about meaningful changes to the way we live, work, play and interact,”
said Ruthbea Yesner, Vice President, IDC Government Insights and Smart Cities Strategies.
“Winners on this list represent the best and brightest change agents within government and their successful projects offer a roadmap to others looking to implement effective change and radically transform urban environments for the better.”
Below is the description of the Topeka project
Topeka, KS — Open Data and Project Portal
When the City exercises an open and transparent government, it increases accountability and builds trust with people by sharing information and engaging in ongoing conversations with employees and the public. To increase transparency and accountability we have created data portals for budget, checkbook and projects. This information is machine readable and easy to understand and filter. The checkbook shows all expenditures and the project portal shows all active projects. We are continuously shifting to proactive disclosure of frequently requested public information of any kind, with the goal to reduce staff time and costs by 10 to 20 percent. As citizens utilize open data, it begins to provide public value. Open government is about changing the way the City operates and its internal culture. While open government work often involves new technologies and sharing collected data with the public, at its core, open government is about building and fostering relationships. One of the dashboards is designed to offer insight into the associated costs and timelines for the city’s active Capital Improvement Projects. Currently we are providing detail project information on approx. 160 projects with an estimated budget of $220MM. Higher visibility results in higher accountability.